Buying property in Greece

Yes, but there are still laws about land close to borderline, if so you need to ask the authorities

Thanks for your help PANA!

Harmonie.

It is not difficult to buy land in Greece, but there are many things to beware of.  It goes without saying you will require a good notary and lawyer. Insist on a full survey of the land including GPS survey (now required by law if you are selling).
If you intend to build on it there are minimum limits required (on size of land) to obtain building permits; these differ in town/village & countryside.
One major fact also, it is possible to buy land and NOT own the trees planted on it !   Beware and have everything checked as indeed I am sure yo would in your own country including rights of way etc etc.

Hello,

You have found your land or your house. If you agree the price from the agency or from the person who have this property, you contact a lawyer. This one prepare the contract terms. He have to verify that this land or house is not in "indivision". He have to see if this one can be sold.
There is also necessary to have a person with agreement to write all meters of this land or house.
So you have to deposit the price to the notary.
The person who is to sign the new contract have also a lawyer.
The 2 lawyers ( yours and the other ) take a rendez vous with the Notary ( Simvolographio ) .
The notary write the contract in front of you, and when it's finished, ask the 2 lawyers if all the contract is correct.
So if it is, the 2 persons sign, and the 2 lawyer, and in the end the notary.
And after the notary give the money to the person who have sold the house or the land.
If there is 2 persons for the succession, the notary give half of the price for each one.
There is 2 price the objectif price, this is the price that the gouvernment dicide for this land or house , price, vew, where ( Island ) and so on, and the real price.
Inform you of that spécial system in Greece.

For the contract , Greece laws obliged that the person who buy can understand the Notary speeking. So you have to found a lawyer who can translate for you, when you will be for the signature.

hello to everyone,

i would be glad to help anyone in buying a property in Greece, so as an answer to your questions i would like to point out that it is very important if you dont buy from a company that you can easy check, to hire a laywer.

As far as a foreigner buying property in Greece, it would be
no problem at all , but for some certain countries such as Ukraine you would need to follow a procedure that would have been more time consuming.other than that you will have no problem.

the process of purchase is common , you get a vat number and a bank account number in Greece, after that you start your purchasing and completing by signing a final contract.
Through all these steps having your own laywer would help you in order not to buy a property with legal issues or from a company that you would have trouble with.

as a check list i shall recomend to you to check that everything would be described in the contract. if something is not, then something is wrong...


but in general, the properties that are for sale in Greece, they present a great value for money, and in my opinion it the best timing ever to buy a property in Greece, because after the crisis period the prices will rise again.


i remain at your disposal for any further information.

Christian-Tinos, thanks a lot for all these info. We have already spoken together on the french forum and it's with big interest I read you here.

To have a laywer seems to be the first think to do when we are falling in love with a house or a plot of land.
I hope to find a place to build my new life in Greece.

Hello Vasilea, I don't understand why we should have a VAT number ??? can U explain me, thank U.

its just the greek law frame , that in order to purchase something in Greece, you should definitely be registered with a unique number in the tax files in Greece, so that you can make a contract , pay the taxes for purchasing and the taxes further each year for owning a property in Greece, nevertheless this kind of costs are not that big.

for example there are areas that this vat for purchasing , such as Thassos area is only 16 % , in contrary to other areas where it is up to 23% .

It's expensive...
Here in Belgium, when we buy a house, if we are still owner of a previous one, the second one will be submited to an additional tax.
In others words, if we are not owner before the act, the tax will be reduced for the new only one...
If we are owner of severals houses, we pay more.
I think it's around 12,5 % for the registered act (with Notary).
It can be reduced to 6%.

Of course, each year we have to pay a cadastral tax. It depends of the value of the others houses in the same street, if you have some pumbling works, retaining works still to do ...It follows the areas and it can be reported to later or payed in severals parts.
And as owner of course we have reducing for property tax at the annual declaration of incomes...

Often to pay, everywhere, everybody ;-(

it would be false to compare markets that have nothing in common ,

by my mentioning previously example, it has been referred to summer properties in Greece.

Purchasing a property in Belgium would have been at any means different than the reason for buying a property in Greece.

for example the sun, the summer and the sea , could never be valued, moreover a summer property could be also available for rent the period that someone doesnt visit. and last but not least we could never compare how much would cost a summer villa in Belgium and a summer villa in Greece. We could do that for properties in city centers propably.

Nevertheless , there is allways a legal frame to follow , and secure your incomes and pay taxes in a form of company ownership that is beneficiary to you, and that is not for Greece , but for property ownership all over the world. that's why property managment consulting exists.

Hi I agree with all of the above, we bought a property several years ago, and the best thing we did was use a lawyer and a very professional estate agent, we purchased an old property which meant we did not have the headache of how big a piece of land, how close to the land border, and building size etc, please have a look at the classified ad's as we have some friends who are selling a beautiful old house on Lefkada and again this is an all year house not a summer only house, hope you find your dream

Citycastaways

[Moderated: Kindly post an ad in the Housing section]

Hello!!!

everyone who wants to buy a house in Greece he must have a lawyer first of all..it;s really important someone to check the property and to sign on behalf of you..
also you must all the referred things..

[moderated: no free ads please]

Upon purchasing in Greece, from my experience what you should do , is to have a laywer for making the necessary control of the property , that everything is fine . Other than that the laywer is not necessary for contract signing due to change of the law, as the notary is also obliged to safeguard your interests, and have all the necessry papers for proceeding in the contract. Laws in Greece , recently make it easy for someone abroad to purchase, and through the necessare procedure and the papers they ask before proceeding makes it hard to have unpleasant surpises.
Actually , this period Greece has great offers due to the lack of money in the market, though all the good real estate asstes still hold their prices.

Last year upon vacation in Greece, we discovered Thassos island.
A not so widely known destination but actually comparing to Halkidiki , we found it highly appreciated , since it still preserves the friendly character, great Mediterranean cuisine  , and the unique beauties of a Greek island, with emerald beaches, and so close to mainland . Actually  we were pleasantly surprised that we reached Thassos , much faster than Halkidiki , were we used to visit the previous years, since even the ferries reach and leave the island every 30 minutes.

The south part of the island , though I should say that is highly touristic , some villages and sightseeings were totally worth it making a tour around the island,  places such as Archangelos monastery, or Thelogos traditional village, and the sight of Mount Athos on the horizon,  just made our vacations memorable.

The taste of mussels and the octopus, still remain, and I can t wait to go back there, since some friend s of mine, fall in love with the place, and proceed in buying a house there, which I actually acted like a translator on behalf  of my friends. What I found really interesting  was that the house was actually still developing , so upon their purchasing and during their vacation, they chose tiles, kitchen, interior layout and several features of the house that would serve the special needs of their family , in a really fast period of a few days. So received a “tailor made” villa before the summer ended, and through a great party where we all enjoyed hanging out in the swimming pool and the lush big garden of the house, full of olive trees.

I think, I have made some new friends now in Greece, since the trustworthy behavior , and the service I saw my friends receiving through all the necessary purchasing procedure, and all the consultancy safeguarding my friends interests, made me really an ambassador of Greece and I really felt like telling the story, of how easy someone  can proceed in having his very own house in Greece, through a reliable company, helping you out with matters such as  the easy ones  for example pre arrival shopping  to even the more severe ones  such as the permanent residence , welcoming you in such a blessed country to leave in , Greece.

On a previous response one member stated you needed a   V A T    number to buy property etc.

This is INCORRECT...and I guess just a simple error, what you do need is a   A F M   number which is easily obtained and the local   KEP  office will assist you

HI
you need (ΑΦΜ) its mean (TIN) Tax Identification Number

that's what I said...

http://athens.angloinfo.com/information … ax-number/

we pronounce aff  fem  me

Many perdons asked me how to buy houses in Greece since 1987. Many persons have done without any problem. About 24 . So there is 2 or 3 years, laws are changing every 2 monthes.
Your lawyer know this new laws.
You need to consult him.

Hello,
I bought a house two years ago in Cretes.  the purchase procedure differs according to your country of origin but overall: it is easy to buy in Greece.  I was accompanied by a real estate agency on site in cretes who offered me properties.  he took care of drafting a power of attorney so that he could sign on your behalf on the spot: this power of attorney must be signed by you in your country of residence at the Greek embassy with an official translator if you do not understand Greek.  then on site the agency takes care of signing with the notary and the seller, the only slightly longer procedure is obtaining your Greek tax number.  this number is essential for the purchase of real estate (and other things) in Greece.  the agency on site also takes care of this process.  the only problem to buy in Greece is to find a good serious real estate agency with storefront, offering you quality goods.  at the beginning of my research I tried direct individuals and bof bof agencies: who show you real estate of very poor quality or whose title deeds are doubtful.  if you find a good agency it takes care of just about everything, it's a great service not offered by the real estate agencies of my country in France.
Bonne recherche
Stéphane

I bought my house in the Peloponnesus in 2008 and thought l was clever in using a local solicitor who turned out like many solicitors to be corrupt and inefficient. She and the Tekniko didn’t check out the Rights of Way through the land. FIVE court appearances later and much poorer l hope l am at the end of it. Use the British Embassy web site for recommended Greek lawyers.
Good look.

Luck not look.

If you plan to buy property in Greece you will need three RELIABLE parties: a) a real estate agent, b) An accountant and c) a lawyer, experienced in checking real estate titles.  (c) is the most important, part.  As an example, I will mention only one case that occurred to me: The property was inherited by two brothers and there were no claims or liens. HOWEVER, there was one more brother who did not inherit anything from his father, owing to family disputes. If I had purchased the property the third brother  could claim his legal share of the inherited property. My lawyer asked that the third son sign a  waiver from any rights on the property; the two brothers said "Forget it. We are not in speaking terms with him" . The transaction did not proceed. So, be careful about the lawyer you choose.

@Christine hello Christine!

yes, a foreigner can buy a property in Greece.

what you need to do is to find a company that is willing to help you with everything, including legal and financial issues. that is the only suggestion you need, to work with a company. because things get very tough when you try to do everything on your own when you are dealing with different terms than you are used to.  

Hi,

We want to buy a plot in Crete. The owner passed away and now his children are " owner" of the plot. They still want to sell to us. The problem is, there is no title deed present. 98% of the plots do not have one in the region. Our lawyer says, to secure the buy of the plot that all neighbours have to sign our topography. Then a title deeds will be created on our name in the selling procedure. Registration in cadaster office.

@Christine Hello Christine, you are invited to read my blog [link moderated]

Should you have any question, feel free and contact me :-)