Estate agents contact for long term house rental

[Gael292929]

Hello there,

We are a French family of 5 (3 kids, my wife and myself) who is seriously considering to move to Crete for 1 or 2 years.
Actually we need accommodation, a school and a nice country to live in. For the country we have it, for the school we may have it (European school in Heraklion) but the accommodation could be the tricky part.
I read that finding on the Internet a long term rental in Crete is not something easy. After having spent some time searching, I fully agree with this statement!

We would like a house not too far from the school. The ''not too far'' to be defined on the spot...

Actually my wife will come in Crete for 7/8 days the third week of June for 2 main reasons. First visiting the European shool, and second finding something to rent. If these 2 points are positive we will move to Crete for the next academic year.

This said, to help the process, would anyone have any address of estate agents to meet to start the house search? Or any advice how to proceed?

Best regards.
@+ Gaël.

[Kilkis]

You could try https://en.spitogatos.gr/rent

Warwick

[Gael292929]

Thanks a lot.
By far the best website I have visited so far.
Any other contact/advice?

@+ Gaël.

[sandboy2]

Having read your recent Posting, the lack of varied advice offered ( although the answer to your question swiftly and precisely given by one of our website grandees ) may be due to the factor of Heraklion itself, although a handsome and noble City, not perhaps the choice that many would make when choosing to spend time on this exceptional Island. Clearly the education of your children is a priority and rightly so, but are there not Schools in other areas of Crete that could perhaps suit your aspirations as well, and as the parents, I am intrigued what your reasons and hopes are in coming here, and what particularly has persuaded you to spend some years here, a previous holiday in the same or another location for example ? Regarding the school you describe, out of interest in your plans I had a look at what was possibly their website fully expecting to be favourably impressed, but was left little the wiser, it also appearing not to have been much updated lately. We wish your wife an enjoyable and informative visit here later this month, whilst suggesting you not rule out other parts of Crete offering a family the pleasures of living perhaps in a smaller town, where there are also probably better chances of renting a larger house at a lower price, and offering the enjoyment of the diverse coastal, rural, and mountain areas.

[Kilkis]

I can fully understand the sentiments behind your post, Sandboy2, BUT, as far as I know, the school in Heraklion is the only International school on the island. Any other location would mean that the children would have to attend a local Greek school. The poster is only intending to stay for 1 to 2 years so I would say that a Greek school would be a very poor choice. The children would be just about learning enough Greek in that time to really understand the lessons. Also, the material taught in the Greek curriculum and the way it is taught would mean they would be very badly prepared to return to education in France or any other European country.

While I agree that Heraklion is not where I would want to live it is probably their best choice, although a bigger city elsewhere in Greece might be a better option from the education point of view. Also there is at least one former-member of the forum whose children went to the International school in Heraklion who lived to the east of Heraklion and drove them into school every day. While I don't know the area well I think there are some quite nice villages within fairly easy reach of Heraklion. Anywhere on the stretch from Heraklion to Hersonissos is within about 30 minutes of central Heraklion.

Warwick

[Gael292929]

Gents,

I appreciate a lot your inputs. I understand that our situation could be seen as a bit awkward. Maybe I should explain a bit more.

For the past 6 years we have been living abroad (I mean not in France) and our last expatriation is coming to an end. Normally the family should go back to France but my job offers us another option. I will move soon to a 4 weeks on / 4 weeks off rotation, meaning I will work by period of 4 weeks following by 4 weeks of holidays following by 4 weeks of work, etc. As my wife wishes to carry on with the expatriate life style as much as possible, it is possible for them to leave in another country than France and I join them on my rest time. The 2 main criteria for the new residence country are a) getting an English speaking shool, b) be a nice country to live in.
Until last year our target country was Canada ans more specifically the Vancouver area. But my wife had a 1 week of vacation in Crete 1 year ago with the kids and a friend of her and she just fell in love in the country. When it turned out that there an European school in Heraklion, Crete became a real possibility. And it is now our first choice as it offers a lot of advantages (no resident visa, close to France, greta food, very nice people, brilliant for sea activities, for astronomy, etc.) provided the school is OK.
Honestly our situation is very comfortable, we give it a try if it does not work well for whatever reason, the family goes back to France where we still have our main house and the kids are registered in the local school. So leaving Crete would not be a big problem. But I am sure this will not happen.

I agree that Heraklion is not the fanciest place of the island but it is only matter of perspective. First we lived in Nigeria, then when we moved to South Korea, it appeared to be a fantastic country compared to Nigeria. And I am convinced that Crete will be even better than Korea for many reasons. Even if South Kore is a nice country and we had a great time here.

As Warwick said, Heraklion and the European school is the only viable option in Crete for us.
Like sandboy2 I am slightly concerned that the school does not bother about updating its website and I found not too good rumors about the survival of the school but this info could be outdated. That's why the first thing my wife will do upon her arrival in Heraklion is to meet the school management.

@+ Gaël.

[Kilkis]

I believe the school was established to provide education for children of staff of EU Institutions working in Crete, e.g. on EU funded development or research programmes and I think it relies on EU funding. Those children are given priority over other applicants if there are a lot of applications. The demand for education from this group invariably fluctuates and so the existence of the school, or individual class years within the school, is always liable to doubt. In all education I have worked in there always had to be a minimum demand level to justify running that class and I cannot see why this school would be any different. In June 2016 they were taking applications for places in the academic year 2016-2017. I would assume the same will be true this year, which means your wife's trip is at a very appropriate time.

Warwick

[sandboy2]

Hi Gael - thank you for that interesting further insight into your situation and reasons for coming to Crete, hopefully you and your family shall find life quite delightful here. I was unaware initially that you needed a school specifically teaching in English ( you being French ) but now knowing this, it appears ( as Kilkis advises ) that best option is the school in Heraklion ( assuming still running ) especially as it is also the only one ha ha ! Perhaps if contact could be arranged between yourselves and the Forum member known to have actually had children attending the school - maybe via Private Message -this would further assist in your plans. Sending best wishes that things goes well for you all anyway.

[Kilkis]

I did some searching and, unfortunately, the poster who had a child at the school, daveg, is no longer a member of the forum. Here is a thread from 2009 where he posted some comments. As you can see uncertainty about the continuation of the school is not a new phenomenon. I have edited my previous post to read "former-member". Sorry for the misleading information.

Warwick

[Gael292929]

My wife will land in Heraklion tonight with 2 of our 3 kids and a friend of hers.
She will meet tomorrow morning a Lady from the school management. Actually I did contact the school 8 months ago and they informed us they could take the kids in school in September 2017. And they confirmed 1 month ago that the school will still be running for the next academic year.
We'll see the outcome of the meeting tomorrow.

Our children are now bilingual (and even more comfortable with English than with French, which was not exactly the initial intent...) and an English speaking school is what they need. This meting will drive the rest of the Project, if the lights are green, the family should come to Crete in September.
I am not too worried about the housing (maybe I should be).
Anyway thanks a lot for your feedback.

@+ Gaël.