More flexibility for investors has meant a burgeoning number of people are looking at the overseas property market to secure their piece of the pie.

Like many other couples looking to match a secure investment for the future with a holiday home, Mervyn Pickard and Christine Saunders have taken the initiative and decided a new home in the sun will provide that all important nest egg.

Having spent a great deal of time looking at and researching the markets, Mervynand Christine decided that Crete was the destination for them. Not only would Crete provide a great return for villa rental but would offer a sunny, safe and tranquil place to retire to in years to come. It wasn’t long before Mervyn and Christine had booked a holiday to the island with the intention of including a little r&r with looking for their ideal home in the sun.

In the early summer of 2005, after a short search of the properties available, Mervyn and Christine found the right site to build a house. They soon started the ball rolling by making a deposit on an off-plan 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom stone built house with a pool.

Much like the UK, any number of things can go wrong with a property sale or purchase and it didn’t take long before things started to go wrong for Mervyn and Christine. Thanks to an excellent English speaking lawyer however Mervyn and Christine were made aware of the problems immediately. They decided to pull out of the sale and had their deposit returned to them straight away. It turned out that the builder did not own the land that he was proposing to build Mervyn and Christine’s house on! The searches made by the lawyer at the time of conducting the purchase showed this and all was not lost.

Mervyn and Christine were very disappointed of course; however they are philosophical about their experiences and believe that it was maybe not meant to happen for them with this particular plot of land. They were not put off by their bad experience and explain that “Greece is much like the UK in many ways, property markets everywhere have their problems but systems are in place to provide security for the purchaser.”

The one major down side to their failed purchase was the fact that they had lost valuable time and would now have to wait another year before making another foray into the Greek property market. This of course meant that prices would also be higher the next year so they would have to find extra money to cover cost of the price increase.

In September 2005 Mervyn and Christine visited A Place in the Sun Live, the exhibition based on the successful Channel 4 television show hosted by Amanda Lamb.

Mervyn and Christine met a number of developers and agents exhibiting their property and services at the show; they told us “We were impressed with the variety on offer and staggered at the sheer number of people visiting the show. It seemed like “Last one to leave England please turn off the lights!”

In May the following year Mervyn and Christine visited Crete for a second time were determined to secure their new home in Greece.

One of the developers Mervyn and Christine had visited at A Place in the Sun Live was Lifestyle Homes on Crete. They explain; “Right from the start Lifestyle Homes gave us confidence. They explained everything in great detail and even told us the down-side to what we were looking at and the problems we may face.”

“We knew there would be no problem renting out the villa as we had done our research. All the amenities were close by. The house came with everything fitted to accommodate a large family group. It was just perfect!”

Ultimately Lifestyle Homes also had to have the right plot and style of building to suit Mervyn and Christine and happily for them they hit the nail on the head. Mervyn and Christine fell in love with a half finished 4 bedroom stone house near Almerida on the popular Apokoronas peninsular.

“The views were beautiful and there was plenty of land to put in a pool and have a small garden.” They told us, “We knew there would be no problem renting out the villa as we had done our research. All the amenities were close by. The house came with everything fitted to accommodate a large family group. It was just perfect! Looking back now we realise that the first property was not for us and we have managed to get a great deal from Lifestyle Homes so we don’t feel we have lost anything at all.”

Mervyn and Christine take possession of their new home in early 2007.

Property prices in north western Crete have risen sharply over the last 12 months. In some areas around Vamos, the capital of the Apokoronas region, property has risen by up to 25%. This trend looks likely to continue as people switch-on to the fact that Crete really does offer the best all round package when it come to purchasing property overseas. With the lowest crime rate in Europe, officially the world’s healthiest diet, great value for money compared with other European destinations and a summer season lasting from May to October, Crete offers a great deal to the investor and to those looking to retire to sunnier climes.

By early 2006 Pam was coming to the end of her search for the perfect place to retire. Having studied many of the major European destinations in detail, france, Spain, Portugal and Italy Pam finally settled on Greece and Crete was the obvious choice as two previous visits had been very happy.

Although not having visited Crete for nearly 25 years, it didn’t take long before Pam realised that the island was ideal for retirement and had much to offer in addition. Pam was quick to establish that the north western coastline has everything one needs for a peaceful and relaxed lifestyle. It also offers all the modern conveniences and amenities that people in the UK take for granted. Pam set about researching the property agents and developers selling on that stretch of coastline. Due to retire in two years’ time Pam wanted to make sure that everything was in place for that wonderful moment.

Visiting A Place in the Sun Live exhibition in 2006 offered Pam the perfect opportunity to meet some of the more established agents and property developers operating on Crete without having to make the trip to there once again. She decided on four high profile companies that were offering a range of properties and services. Armed with that prior knowledge, she booked her return visit to view the plots and houses each had on offer.

Says Pam, “This was a complicated time as I was new to the market and there is so much on offer and so much to learn about buying in a foreign market. It is difficult to know who to trust so you have to proceed with caution. Making contact initially in the UK was a helpful step for me and allowed me get a feel for the expertise and competence of the agents. Yes, this helped me a lot.”

“The renovations and resales varied enormously in quality and many seemed to have been on the market for some time. Some of the layouts were a little odd and overall I found few that met all of my requirements”.

Pam viewed many properties, traditional renovated houses, standard resale properties and off-plan new build projects. She says: “the renovations and resales varied enormously in quality and many seemed to have been on the market for some time. Some of the layouts were a little odd and overall I found few that met all of my requirements. The new and off-plan houses I saw were much better suited to me and offered a lot more than the renovations in terms of interior specifications and extras. Ultimately it came down to just two properties from different developers; both of them were off-plan although one was already underway. One of the most difficult things of all was trying to visualise a house on the plot that you are being shown. Of course, the developers do have detailed drawings and plans; it just takes a little time to get used to the idea! Another thing that I struggled with was the idea of buying something I couldn’t see. The sales people gave me a lot of confidence in this and after talking through each stage of the process in detail I felt I was able to take the leap of faith.”

Pam spent the final weekend of her trip agonising over two properties she had chosen. She comments “Both the houses were in great locations but one had a better view than the other. I took time to weigh up all the pros and cons of each house. There was no difference in price but one house was much bigger than the other, having an additional bedroom and bathroom. I actually decided on the larger house with the slightly worse view. But once I had made the decision I knew it was the home for me. Just standing in the house felt good. The village of Kefalas where it sits is very pretty and the house does have a wonderful view. Everything I need is within walking distance too. The developer, Lifestyle Homes, was very helpful and the salesman Charlie gave me the confidence I needed to sign on the dotted line. I especially liked the fact that he was not pushy, even when he knew he was up against a major competitor. Thanks Lifestyle!”