Lesson Learned from buying property in Malta

Hi everyone,
My DH and I are planning to retire in Malta.  Has anyone bought property in Malta and would you please share your experience with me, such as lesson learned?

Do you have to pay 15% tax on the remittance for purchase a property as Premanent Resident?

What is the construction quality like in Malta?
Do they have central cooling and heating system?
What is the condo/HOA fee for apartments?
Any 24 hours security?

Is it safe to live in a house/villa by myself?  I heard burgalary might be an issue.  My DH will only be semi-retired, so he will travel a lot on business after we move to Malta.

Safety is my main reason choosing Malta over Chapala in Mexico.

Thank you all in advance for your input.

Vivian

Hi Vivian,

Welcome to the forum.

We are renting in Malta but I have looked at several new and older properties for sale and must say, attractive areas are expensive but you can get good bargains in other areas because of the vast number of properties on the market.

In general there are no central heating or cooling systems.You either use your own aircondition unit to cool and heat and pay your way (electricity bill!) or you use gas heaters for the winter.Some of the newer appartments have underfloor heating.Electricity is expensive in Malta.

In our building owners meet every few months and split the costs for general maintainance of the building.So if there are bigger expenses like a roof repair neccessary it could be costly but otherwise it will not be too bad.

The quality of building depends on what you are looking at.New places look very modern and nice but you should take a good look at details and make sure that work is really finished and at a high standard.Don't count on anything being fixed later.Chances are it won't.

When you buy in Malta you pay 5 % tax as far as I know plus the other legal fees which might be around 1-1.5 %.

Expect your main issues to be dealing with the authorities about residence permits,health insurance,proving income and so on if you do not hold an EU passport.

Good luck with your plans.

Ricky

Thank you Ricky.

Hello
i have a townhouse for sale in the classified section on this site in the old part of st, paul,s bay if you are interested ,do have a look.i also have it advertised on malta direct properties. lesson to learnis that through estate agents the houses are more expensive 5% of selling price if open agency agreement and 3% sole agency.also lessons to learn is to look at a range of properties and locations. wish you good luck
maria 9

Thank you Maria 9.  My DH still has 21 months contract in AD, so we won't buy a property until he's ready to retire.  His last retirement only last 1.5 months.

Keep us informed and let us know how you get on

Good Luck

Mark