ANCIENT HISTORY
August 2006:
Construction re-started.... and stopped again.
The guy who wanted to shut down construction fortunately backed off his demands (but we're no totally in the clear yet). He obviously found some other way to get what he wants. So now again the builders wanted to start pooring concrete for the new builds only to find that electricty cables are in the way and that the extended arm on their machine is about 2m short to be able to reach the site. There was nothing left to do than pack it in and wait for permission to use an extra piece of land to move their machines to.
Although this may all sound a bit pessimistic and gloomy we're still in a good mood. A lot of work has been done already and even the set backs are not stopping Yiannis (the builder) and his men and they are doing the best their can to reach deadlines. As a prove of this, just take a look at these pictures!!
Building stopped!!!!!
I was planning to show you some beautiful pictures of the progress. Unfortunately we have had some problems. Somebody is claiming that there is an old mule track running through or plot and has threatened to call the police if we don't stop building immediately. It's a ridiculous claim but we have to tackle it if we want to go on.
I'm using a new program to edit this website. As soon as we have some cooler weather and we have solved our building progress we will come back with a renewed site. In the meantime be patient as we are and keep checking back on us.
And yes they are digging!!
new pictures and the final designs(gallery)
June 6th: Progress!!
Finally we have some progress. Next week they will start digging. All the problems about furniture and acces roads have been cleared. The only set back is that the building of a new small house has been postponed to next year (maybe). So very soon some pictures of construction works.
For now some pictures of the status quo on the end of May:
May 17th: Deadlines, dung and dead goats
Last Monday the 15th of May it should have happened.........the beginning of construction. But you've probably guessed it, it hasn't. The former owner has not signed the contract for the use of his land yet because he doesn't agree with the way "his" furniture is stored and as long he doesn't give permission the builders can't bring in their digging machines.
Last February we were told that we could just make it in to open up in February next year as long as building would start within a month. Now, with a delay of three and a half months they are still claiming this. Well, perhaps using the old Julian calender (still being used by the Greek orthodox church) they will.
To brighten up things it now seems that we have almost used up the 400 m2 that are allowed build on our property. This means that we can't build a fourth appartment that we were planning to build on the north side (the side with the best views on the bay) and that we have to settle with three units.
Although we've been planning four units since February they now suddely found out that we are at our maximum because of the division of the stable in two floors and the extra storageplace we have to build. Ofcourse apologies were offered for this slight oversight and immediatly a cunning plan was construed to enable us to build the fourth unit after all; if I sell some of the land to my wife and the surveyor shifts the bounduary with 1 centimeter (it's true, really!) then my wife would own a piece of land in another construction zone and would be able to build another 300 m2. If this will work we could really start anew again because when my wife and me met, we were neighbours. And with this scheme we would be just that..... all over again!
With all this it's time to start our first leson in Greek. The most important words in Greek are not "Nai" (yes), "Ochi" (no), "Efcharisto" (thank you) or "Kalimera" (good morning), as all language guides try to tell you, it's "Ti na Kanoume;" (it can't be helped!). When you say this, lower the corners of your mouth and raise your hands in utter dispair.
Our agent Stuart keeps on telling us "not to be so European" but is cursing even harder than we are. Certainly after he came into collision with some goats crossing the national road (goats are allowed many things but using the higway is strictly forbidden) after which he luckily survived but left one, as he witnissed, "very dead goat" and a totalled car. When he approached the sheperd rightfully claiming damages, the sheperd just shrugged saying that he had no money after which he drove off in brandnew Toyota Landcruiser (value approx. 60.000,- euro's).
Speaking of our horned friends, our own sheperd seems to have finally left our property leaving back a stable full of dung as a souvenir of his long overwellcomed stay.
A new issue is that of the bathrooms. Everyone who has ever stayed in Greece knows the often deplorable state of the restrooms; used toiletpaper in overfilled waste baskets, showers you can hardly get wet in and rabbitcages presented as bathrooms. This is not what we are prepared to do. After a long hot day in the sun, a rich dinner in the taverna or after a long journey, people want to freshen up in a room that offers soothing to both mind and body.
But our architect looks at us if we have lost our marbles when we say that a bathroom of 1m x 2m is simply unacceptable and even our very British agent regards us as crazy continentals (or maybe even incontinentals) on this subject. But we are not going to back down on this one!! (Although we fear the finishing stages of construction). And we booked our first victory; the bedrooms in the stable are going to have separate en suite bathrooms. The battle on the furnishments is still going on however.
The real (expected) setbacks have come in. But we're still very happy with our old cretan farmhouse and the real pain is that it is going to take longer untill we can settle ourselves. Anyway, time for the second Greek lesson: "Etsi edo!" (that's just the way it is).
April 27th: Stolen property
It finally happened! When you tell someone that you've bought property in Greece, everybody starts telling stories about complete fortunes being lost because of fraudulent real estate deals or deals in which something went horribly wrong!
And today Stuart called us to report that the original topo was not in compliance with what we thought we had bought. In the Netherlands we have a saying: "When you are being shaved, you have to sit stil." And so we did, we quitely listened to Stuart's explanation and were trying not to panic. Stuart told me that the former owner showed him other borders than he did when Andreas (the topographer) came along to measure the property. Consequently we lost a piece of land on the northside (the one with the great view) and to the back of the house.
A more careful study of the map showed that the damage was not as painful as we thought. The land the former owner cunningly reclaimed is worthless to him (if he ever wants to build on it) and ownership will only be an academic matter. We will however try to get this piece of land because it will put our mind at ease if we own it and unobstructed views will be guaranteed.
What's worse is that we have stumbled on some local rivalries
concerning the former owner and the other villagers. The
construction workers had moved some of the furniture from the
house to the courtyard (we bought the house including the
furniture which consists of some old barrels. chairs, beds,
pottery). A neigbour thought that these goods would land on a
junkyard and took them. When the old 
owner found out
about this he got furious and demanded his
furniture back. It turnes out that the person who took the
furniture was involved in a feud with te former owner. He was
gladly prepared to return our stuff and was even willing to store
them for savekeeping. The old owner however refuses all further
cooperation with us as long his furniture
(again: we payed him 500 euro for it) was in the possession of
his enemy.
This means the construction workers won't have a good access to the construction site which will mean a substantial drawback in construction time and money.
So let's summarize:
But luckily we still got the sheep!!
April 20th: Lifeguard wanted
Does anyone know how to become a lifeguard? And if so, does anyone know how to become a Greek lifeguard? All questions Mr. Google can't answer.
The question is this. In order to rent out you'll need an EOT (Ministery of Tourism) license. In itself this is quite OK. It is important to uphold a minimum standard with respect to safety and hygiene and to guarantee the traveller he get's a fair price.
But as things go
with well intended legislation there is a tendency for
legislators to exagerrate. New rules in Greece states that
swimmingpools on tourist accomodations should have a maximum
depth of 1.40m. For deeper swimming pools there should be a
qualified lifeguard present all the time.
Thus forgetting that shallow swimming water is much more dangerous. You can easily break your back or neck in it! Boys will be boys and they want to dive no matter what with all risk of serious injuries. That's why EOT says: Signs with "No diving" should be visible on the site.
I've been young myself and to me a swimming pool meant making the coolest dives in the water and no sign could keep you from it!
But as everywhere also in Greece "lex dura, dura lex" (The law is harsh, harsh is the law) and a cunning plan has to be construed to get a swimming pool with an acceptable nd save depth. This plan will be that I myself will apply for a license to become a lifeguard. Having a license as a first aid assistant is almost a social necessity but what do you need more?
I call upon all lifeguards for their assistance: What kind of qualifications do you need to become a lifeguard and where do you get this qualifications? Please react to info@huisopkreta.com
At the moment Greece is coming to a standstill. Greek easter is imminent and that means that construction will not continue as from the 15th of May. Stuart, our agent, has also left for a well deserved break and we shall have to miss his updates for a while.
But although construction has stopped we already have booked
our first reservations.
There is no stopping us now and we will see where the ship will
hit land.
Meantime in Luxembourg spring has finally started and the traditional noise of lawn mowers is sweeping the country. Was it just us or was this a very long and annoying winter? In order not to alienate myself from the rest of Luxembourg I will attend to my duties shortly.
March/April
Because of a new computer and problems this always seems to involve this site hasn't been updated for a while. But also without technical problems there wasn't much time to work on it either.
The sale of our property in the Netherlands took longer than expected and we had to really stir things up in order to close the deal in time. The Greeks are friendly and easy going people but they are not working on just a promise.
Besides that, the weather on Crete was extremely bad. In february the whole North of Greece was struck by heavy snowfalls and on Crete it was cold, windy and wet. To asses the condition of the walls they had to remove the old plaster and this plaster was the only thing protecting the walls against further decay. In this bad weather removing the plaster would certainly not be a very good idea.
The sheep occupying our land proved to be very attached to their base. Although the contract ended on the 28th of February and they should have left, they were still chewing on our trees. The former owner rents out our land (!) to the sheperd and as long we don't say anything he keeps his sheep in our stable. The problem is that we can't just say: "Get the hell out of our property!" because the sheperd is also our neighbour and we need the help of the former owner during construction. European politics (agriculture vs. tourism, north vs. south) in a nutshell!
Six weeks after our last visit we landed on Cretan soil again and we could finally feel the sun. This time we arrived in Iraklion which gave us the opportunity to rediscover the rest of the island. Although some things have chaged, Crete still is a beautiful, authentic island.
Again we had a busy schedule which Stuart, our unsurpassed agent guided us through. After half a year of intensive contact I can recommend Stuart Simon to everyone planning to buy real estate on Crete or who's planning to settle there otherwise. In this week we spent a lot of time with him and our architect Kassiani to draw up first designs (click here for the designs).
In a small office and with three other ladies working there we gathered around Argiroula (the CAD operator) to shift walls, lay stairs and let windows and doors pop up on the screen. Meanwhile Kassian was answering dozens of calls, accepting presents, giving instructions to contractors and at the same time managed to exactly know what we were doing and making fun of Stuart.
During the day we spent a lot of time planning the garden, sitting areas, the pool etc. etc. Our new neighbour Spiros and his wife Evgenia feasted us with moonlighted Raki and wine from their own vineyard. Spiros, a retired marine, will probably appear on this pages many times in the future. The house he and his wife lve in is also an old renovated house and he ill insist to share his knowledge with us..
March 2006
It's the end of March already and it is just now that I have found some time to work on this diary. Let's start of with our last visit to Crete in February.
It was very exciting to finally see the property. Ofcourse I had seen pictures and even a short clip so I already had somewhat of an impression and when I saw it in the flesh it was roughly as I had expected it to be. The house had a very nice atmosphere but the state of it was worse than I had imagined. I immediately fell in love with the courtyard although it looked a lot wetter and worn down as on the pictures.But I didn't notice it; in my mind it was filled with flowers and plants, a huge table and chairs. This was going to be our outdoor living room.
Our view to the left to gramvousa
Based on the pictures only I couldn't help but making some sketches and to design the interior including a small appartment for guests. But that idea was soon abolished when I saw the house. It has beautiful spatious rooms with high ceilings which are all connected.
We'll be living in the house itself without stuffing in another appartment. The layout of the rooms will be roughly the same as it is now. On the top of the house there is another big room, perfect to turn into spacious studio. It has beautiful wooden window frames with ancient wooden (!) lintels. Not just a straight beam but bend branches. Outside there is a huge roofterrace where we plan to build another appartment.
The stable is beautiful too, although it was not easy to have a look at it because of the horrendous smell of the sheep shit. It's one large, high space and in a fairly good shape.
The terrain is very rough and has several stunning views to the sea and to the mountains. The view on the bay of Kissamou is breathtaking. Land inwards you can see olivegroves as far as the eye reaches. The terrain looked a bit gloomy; everything was soaking wet, it was cold and muddy everywhere.
About 50 sheep and their lambs are occupiying the property. They eat everything they see (the sheperd rented the land from the previous owner and asked if he could stay a little longer because of the lambs).
We went up there nearly everyday to have a look and walk around. It was a funny notion to realize all of this was ours now! It was very nice that the plans seem to form themselves in this one week. For example: after a few strolls you suddenly knew where the pool was going to be. The rest of the time we spent with our agent and architect and we even went shopping for tiles and other materials.
The atmosphere on Crete was totally different as I had experienced before. Many tavernas and other places where closed. When we went out for dinner we sometimes were the only guests and the etablishments were barely heated. Having dinner in a big sweater and a leather jacket was standard practice!
Kastelli was much bigger than I remembered but very nice, full of life and Greek. From this liveliness you only drive two minutes and you arrive at our hamlet and in peace and quiet..... We went out for a drive a few times and everything looked familiar. Interesting how you store everything you've ever seen. It has after all been seven years since our last visit
And now it's the 25th of March already and our next visit is imminent. In the meanwhile we have an intensive mail contact with Stuart our agent on contracts and costs. Far too complicated to elaborate on here but let's just say that some things are a real bummer. Ofcourse you know this beforehand but if you are in the middle of it all, it has a quite different feel. Construction hasn't even started yet but already we are behind on schedule. The wheather on Crete has been very bad so they couldn't start stripping the old plaster. This is important because it allows a better assesment of the general condition of the building. Only after this has been done we can start the renovation works and cost estimates can be made. Next week we'll be back and hopefully we are able to rock the boat a bit. Also very curious about how it looks like in spring.
It has been 23 years since my first visit to Crete - also in April - but back then I didn't pay much attention to natures beautyt.
January 2006
We finally booked! In February I will at last see (after 4 months) what we have bought!
I would declare every woman a certified fool if they would sent their HUSBAND ALL ALONE to buy a house abroad, but anyway I did.I
Not that I wasn't the one who made the initial choice, In spring 2005 I saw our property on the Internet hidden among hundreds of other offers. But I was constantly drawn to the site I found the house on. I knew the pictures and text by heart.
So when Raymond flew to Crete by the end of September I urged him to give special
(foto: Paul de Ruiter ©2005)
attention to my favourite. Would it really be something special or wuld it turn out to be just another shattered dream?As it seemed it proved to be just what we were looking for (or it will be in any case).
Sometimes I feel a bit awquard because I only jnow the place from pictures. I can't picture the plot as it is or what picture belongs to what room.
I'm longing to go to Crete, to our home! What will I think of it? How will it feel? How much did everything change? I haven't been there in seven years!
During the week we will spent on Crete we hope to be able to make some plans with our architect. We are planning to start our renting business in 2007 so everything should be finished by the end of 2006. These are exciting times because right now we haven't got a clue about all the mishaps we will come across with. Not that I'm a negative person but who ever heared of a reconstruction that was completed without any problems?
December 2005
On the 9th December 2005 we received this e-mail:
Hi Raymond and Arianne
You will be pleased to know that from about 15 minutes ago, you own the property at Kounopitsa! The contract was completed without problems tonight.
I am going with the previous owner tomorrow morning, to list the contents, secure the doors/windows from inside with wire, and collect the key. We'll get the list translated into Greek early next week for signature.
We should have the final figures on Monday or Tuesday (we have to adjust the pennies for interest calculations etc) and we'll email you a completion statement then.
I hope this starts your weekend with some good news ... congratulations!
With kind regards,
Stuart Simon
Crete Complete Property
This was on a Friday at about 5 o'clock. Boy these Brits sure have a way of timing! PARTY!!!
Because of the Christmas holidays, it's very unlikely lots of exciting things will happen in the old year. Impatiently we wait for January where things really start to roll. Were it not that January in Greece is filled with holidays and namedays. It's also likely that notaries, tax offices and construction companies will receive torrents of work because of the new legislation.
We'll just wait and see.
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November 2005
LIVESTOCK
In November everything was going quite smoothly. I only had to go back to my hometown Maastricht once to collect my birth certificate. The Maastricht administration was kind enough to deliver it in all EU-languages so an official translation (and translation costs) could be avoided.
The house and stable were occupied by a herd of sheeps and goats that had free entrance and toilet facilities. The result was a pile of manure of about half a meter.
To avoid any further damages we wanted to close off the property.
lve years later I returned to this place and decided that "sometime" had arrived.
But this proved to be a bit difficult. Some of the sheep were expecting lambs and it would be cruel to drive them out of their warm and dry shelter. Christmas was coming and the sheperd was our future neighbour so we agreed to keep the livestock on the property untill constuction starts.
Other animal crackers were provided by our own notary who got so upset over one of her dogs that she made a shamble of some important documents. We have two dogs and a cat ourselves and understood her anxiety. Ah well, no reason to get excited; everything would just work out fine. And so it did!
We were beginning to like this. It was almost frightening how smooth things were going.
The contract still wasn't completed and their were some odd developments at the Greek tax office and with our Greek bank.
Was this the first sign of the disaster that was awaiting us......
October 2005
TAKE OFF
Ofcourse we loved Greece and Crete as almost anyone does after having visited the country and the island. In earlier years we went to Crete (7 times), Naxos (2 times), Samos, Skopelos, the mainland north of the Andros peninsula, Thessaloniki, Athens, Milos, Santorini, Sifnos and Chios. In 1991 my wife (at that time only my nextdoor neighbour) even drove, all alone (!),to Greece in an old 2CV(!!!) and survived it (the 2CV didn't; it burned down, fortunately without my wife (to be), not in it).
We sometimes discussed the possibility of buying a property in Greece but only as a far away option to be implemented only after our retirement. First we had to raise a family and after that we could eventually consider buying a second home.
This cruelly changed as it turned out that, because of medical difficulties, raising a family was not an option for us. It took us a while to recover from this devastating fact. We decided that now it was clear that we couldn't get "the best", we would go for nothing less than "second best". Not being able to have children meant total and absolute freedom: We didn't have to save lots of money for putting them through University or help them buy their first house and we didn't have the worry about the best education for the children (Greece and even Luxembourg don't have a good reputation on their educational systems).
We turned something bad into something good and "something good" to us meant to live and work in one of the world's most beautiful places which can be found. not only in Luxembourg, but also and especially in the Hellenic Republic.
In 1994 we were walking to the village of Polyrinia, south of Kastelli/Kissamos, in the northwestern part of Crete and were strucken by the amazing views on the bay of Kissamos and the two peninsulas Gramvousa and Rodoupou that form an embrace in the sea. We looked at eachother and mumbled: "If we only could find a house here somehow, sometime .."
Twe
IN SEARCH OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN THE WORLD
As I left for Crete my iterinary was almost completely filled with appointments with agents/developers. I had reserved some time off to just cruise the west and to find out if and how things had changed and to get the feel of the island.
The initial idea was for me to go alone (cheaper and more efficient) gather a lot of information and then return and report to my wife. We planned a full emigration meaning selling all of our assets (except our house in Luxembourg which would be rented out) and living in Greece all year round.
In order to do this we had to buy a commercial property and earn a living renting out to tourists. On a trip to Jamaica we saw a resort that would be exemplary for our plans: a big main house with a library and internet facilities and room for dinners, parties etc. with some sattelite maisonettes (look at: http://www.jamaicaescapes.com/cullodencove
/cullodencove5.html ). A place far away from the mass tourism in eastern Crete meant for the real "Greece lovers". Basically we wanted to open a resort which we ourselves would like to stay; private and quiet but not far away from taverna's, bars and beaches and beautiful sites and cities/villages
Just shortly before I left we came with a second option in which we would sell only part of our assets and "gradually" emigrate. An idea which, after a couple of days on Crete, I was thankful for.
I was shown some beautiful properties along with the worst "traditional old houses" imaginable. The really beautiful ones were, compared to westeuropean prices, cheap but still had to cost around a million (for five villa's with separate swimming pools) and although beautiful not what we were looking for.
I learned that you had to strictly keep your budget in mind but not to be too open to the agents on what you can or are prepared to spent. Ofcourse you have to be clear to them about what you are looking for but they have a tendency to "scale" you on the basis of your solvability. You are treated differently when being a "six figure client" as to a "five figure client" and you can gather lots of useful info.
This strategy is also useful to explore your own "bandwidth"; what are the extremes in your possibilities and expectations on a scale of "perfectly acceptable" to "unacceptable". You will find that there are a lot of parameters influencing the rating on this scale.
Be that as it may, after a few days I hadn't seen anything that could get my heart ticking faster and the idea of a full emigration scared me. A full emigration would mean a huge investment and the pressure of getting high profits to get your investment back. It would mean owning a beautiful property but als being confined to it. I had already started up a (succesful) business once and wasn't sure if I wanted that kind of stress all over again.
On the fifth day I had an appointment with Stuart Simon from Crete Complete Property. It was my last meeting with an agent on this trip and had to keep in mind that this was not a last chance; if nothing came from it, no harm done, I had to just keep on looking and come back another time. This was easier said than done as I'm a bit of an unpatient character.
first scetches
My first impression (which is always completely wrong) was that he was by far the most chaotic man I've ever met only to discover that behind this seeming chaos was someone who can play 3D simultaneous chess, sing the Lumberjack Song, write an article about construction in earthquake areas, explaine string theorie, knows the names of every horse on Crete and sells the Acropolis at the same time.
He also showed me our dream property.
Located not far from Polyrinia and having the same view my wife and me admired twelve years ago he showed me a big old house and a stable on a beautiful (but barren) plot in Kounoupitsa just outside Kastelli.
This was the place we were looking for! Okay, it was a dump but with a bit of work it could be transformed in a marvelous location with possibilities for expansion.
After carefully explaining me the procedures and negotiating with the owner we came to an agreement. I arranged for a power of attorney, a lawyer (my public notary's husband) and a bank account and prepared for my return to Luxembourg.
A PROUD OWNER?
On my return home I was immediately reminded that the country I was born in changed from a melting pot into a virtual meltdown; it took me three hours to drive 100 km.
I agreed with Stuart that I would transfer the downpayment immediately on my return. After having received the downpayment the machinerie would start. There were some stressy moments as the owner had second thoughts about the deal and was threatening to sell it to a local construction company. But this is appearantly standard practice.
Because of Greek law you are never certain if the seller is entitled to sell the property untill the lawyers have finished their work. The only thing we could do is to sit back and be patient.
