Lawyer Eleni Philippou writes a worthy article, The end of trapped buyers? (Cyprus Mail, June 10) on the subject of trapped buyers in the property market.

She does at one point though claim that the trapped buyer crisis is not really about Cyprus being a bad place to buy. I think it is a dreadful place to buy and am proud of putting off many colleagues from following me into the exhausting and exasperating experience I suffered.

The entire process is layered with ill-thought out complications and potential traps for the unwary. A sell/buy situation is really straightforward. Here is the product, that is the price, deal done. Of course, high priced property with encumbrances such as mortgage liability need care.

But if you have the purchase money, pay it all, you should get the title deeds. The developer should not be able to carry a mortgage debt, not tell anyone except the mortgage lender, while the lender insists in being repaid (doesn’t care by whom, even suggesting the purchaser should pay). This leads to a street called ‘Dodgy Dealings’.

When I purchased, for cash, I was told that the title deeds issue was an ongoing Cyprus problem. Not to worry, they would become available after a backlog was cleared. My estate agent suggested that it could take10 years. No-one told me it would also cost around another ten grand and I should budget accordingly. All dismissed and swept under the carpet as though it wasn’t a problem at all.

The title deeds issue and trapped buyers remains a big problem and every reason NOT to buy in Cyprus. Even Ms Eleni places a caveats with regard to much praised new laws, saying “The law is for the backlog, not for anyone buying today.” Got that right Eleni.

Gordon MacFarlaine, Larnaca