The last few emails have been on the heavy side, deeds and developers and money nearly lost. So this week, something lighter. Still a real number, still a real mistake, just the kind you can laugh about now.
We moved to Cyprus for the sun. And for most of the year, that's exactly what you get.
Then winter came.
I'd honestly never thought about it. You move to a hot country, you assume it's warm. What nobody tells you is that a lot of these houses are built for summer and summer only. No insulation, no central heating, walls that hold the cold like a fridge.
Our beautiful house in the sun turned into a cold, damp box for about four months of the year. Condensation running down the inside of the windows. Us sat on the sofa in coats. There were nights we went to bed fully clothed wearing thick socks, lying there thinking, what on earth have we done.
In the end we spent about €22,000 putting insulation in to make the place properly warm. Twenty two thousand euros, on top of the price of the house, just to not be cold in a country we'd moved to for the “warmer weather”.
So here's what I check now, and it goes for anywhere hot, not just Cyprus.
Ask straight out whether the house has wall and roof insulation. In a lot of older builds abroad, the honest answer is none.
If you can, see the place in winter, or ask to see a winter electricity bill. A house that's freezing in January will tell on itself.
Look for damp and mould in the corners and around the windows. Condensation on the inside of the glass isn't a quirk, it's a warning.
And ask about the micro-climate, not just the country. Up in the hills is a completely different world from the coast twenty minutes away. Height and distance from the sea change everything.
None of this is advice, it's just what caught us out, and what I'd never skip again.
If you've got a "nobody warned me about that" story of your own, or you're weighing up a move and want to know what to check, hit reply. I read every one.
Talk soon,
James Hopkins