General and very usefull tips when selecting to buy land or a house

LOCATION
The general area that you choose to build or buy your home will undoubtedly be influenced by your own individual requirements. Your individual requirements regarding the location where you want to live permanently or partially and/or invest are varied; a possible myriad of reasons that are a priority to you personally will play a major part in your decision making process.

Since you are searching our website, we are assuming that you have already decided to build or buy your dream home in Crete. Crete is a rather large island; it is 260 kilometers long. Bear in mind that land further inland, is cheaper than the shore; land is more expensive at the beachfront or if it lies within the city planning area. Think carefully about the 'location' to build in or buy, and list your expectations and include scenarios for 12 months, 2 or even 5 years into the future.

CHARACTER
Having decided upon the general location that you wish to live in, consider the style and layout of surrounding properties as to whether they fit in with the type of home you will be looking for.

INFRASTRUCTURE
Most big cities such as Heraclion, Rethymnon or Chania have a sewer system, Water, and Power supply. The Internet is expanding fast but not as fast as the rest of Europe. Before you proceed with any purchase of land or even a ready built house, consider issues such as Garbage Collection, Power, Telephone, Water, Roads, Access Roads, Sewer Lines, Site Drainage, Mail Delivery

ORIENTATION
The physical properties of any land, such as slope, direction, width, length and orientation normally dictate or influence the layout of the home. Amongst the lists of items we pay attention is the orientation of the site in relation to South. By placing living areas to face towards the South, the most lived areas of the home benefit from the warming winter sunshine and the rooms are brighter. We also pay attention to the "view" of the site; instead of placing a home facing the street, we turn it to face the “view”. This may sound very basic, but the situation arises frequently and we have seen many examples of houses “sitting” wrong.  We are trying to get away from the regimented and uniform layouts and give a more esthetically pleasing site without disturbing the environment and with a touch of tradition. 

OVERSHADOWING
Neighboring buildings casting shadows over outdoor areas or windows during the cooler months, can affect greatly on the comfort of your home and outdoor living and entertaining areas.
When purchasing land in a 'built up' area,  pay careful attention to shadows cast by neighboring houses. Overshadowing is an important item that is very often overlooked or dismissed by land purchasers initially, but is eventually an aspect that cannot be reversed.

OVERLOOKING
'Overlooking' from neighboring houses is an item that will be very apparent when viewing potential building sites. If outdoor entertaining are an important part of your criteria (outdoor living in Crete is normal almost 80% of the year) then overlooking from neighboring balconies, windows or outdoor areas may be a problem for you. Likewise overlooking your neighbor’s family room or BBQ area may not be the best feeling from your entertaining areas (landscaping with trees and shrubs at strategic locations can provide solutions but not always).