# Tips on buying land in Greece



## AlexM

Hello,

I am looking to purchase land in Greece. Can anyone give me tips on how to go about buying property in Greece?

Thank you,


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## The Grocer

There are plenty of real estate agents on line with and, building sites etc. What part of Greece are you looking at?

Take care if you buy privately, all too often land can be split between different members of the family and you may find this an enormous issue. Also if you buy land make sure you are buying all the trees etc on it also! Ironically you can buy land but not own the olives trees !!!!

When you find your land, ensure you have a good notary and solicitor. You will need a Greek Tax Number to make the purchase and for convenience a Greek bank account. If your agent is decent they will help you with this, but make sure they give you a selection of lawyers etc. YOU CHOSE......
If you do give power of attorney for any reason (ie you may not be in Greece to sign papers etc)..make sure you cancel it when the deals are complete


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## AlexM

The Grocer said:


> There are plenty of real estate agents on line with and, building sites etc. What part of Greece are you looking at?
> 
> Take care if you buy privately, all too often land can be split between different members of the family and you may find this an enormous issue. Also if you buy land make sure you are buying all the trees etc on it also! Ironically you can buy land but not own the olives trees !!!!
> 
> When you find your land, ensure you have a good notary and solicitor. You will need a Greek Tax Number to make the purchase and for convenience a Greek bank account. If your agent is decent they will help you with this, but make sure they give you a selection of lawyers etc. YOU CHOSE......
> If you do give power of attorney for any reason (ie you may not be in Greece to sign papers etc)..make sure you cancel it when the deals are complete


Thank you for the good tips. 

I am looking to purchase in Crete or Corfu. Besides going to real estate agents to find property for sell, what other ways do sellers of Greek land do to advertise for buyers? I want to explore as many options as possible.

What is the economy like for buying on the islands? Is it a good time to buy?


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## The Grocer

AlexM said:


> Thank you for the good tips.
> 
> I am looking to purchase in Crete or Corfu. Besides going to real estate agents to find property for sell, what other ways do sellers of Greek land do to advertise for buyers? I want to explore as many options as possible.
> 
> What is the economy like for buying on the islands? Is it a good time to buy?


I'll let someone else respond about land costs on the islands as I live in the Peloponnese. Corfu though I believe will be more expensive, it certainly is for everyday life than here.

Local newspapers have adverts for land & property, but I've not seen this on line, and of course there are people who just put up signs on the property / land with a phone number. But TAKE CARE and ensure if you buy you have full ownership checked legally.......


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## BillGilko

You must be really very cautious when you deal in any real estate contracts.


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## aliland

We have land on Thaso which we were thinking about selling, but decided the market was too bad. That means of course that buyers can get excellent deals! But I want to repeat what has been said about making sure down to the last tree who owns what on a plot. My husband and his father spent absolutely ages trying to sell trees they owned on other peoples land and buying up the trees which didn't belong to them on land which they have owned for generations.
Even though land has been in family for ages, getting exact borders legally agreed was not straight forward. Some deals could not go ahead, such as a guy asking extortionate price for a tree he has no access to in the middle of our land, and a guy with no money or will to purchase a a tree we have on his. There were some surprises over ownership too. So be aware, even though the person you are buying of may 100% own the property and belive they own every thing on it, you definitely need to check! One way would be to take a Greek speaking friend to talk to neighbors, while some might be related and inclined to lie to help the deal, I think the problem is caused more by genuine confusion than decite. Remember of course that many sellers are desperate and sad they have to sell and so might not have fully checked out the land they truly believe has been handed down to them.
Another thing to watch out for is land designation. There are bargains to be had and people will drop prices low for quick deals, but be sure you can actually build. For example, my father in law fully owns a lovely plot of land he would love to have retired to, but it is classed as agricultural he is not allowed to build more than a shed, and can't get electricity put in. The seller should clearly state how much of the land you can build upon and to what height. I once heard of someone buying land after getting all of this sorted only to find he couldn't build a road or physically get the builders in.
It might sound easier to buy land with buildings already in place to be safe, but if they were built illegally loans and mortgages will be a problem, and as Greece tries to tighten its laws you could be landed with future headaches.
realistically, you can get fantastic bargains right now, but you should invest time and money finding a (bilingual) lawyer you can trust before you even start looking. 
Good luck!


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## aliland

Oh, I forgot all of your question. Nowadays, many people do post land available online privately rather than go through an agent. You should probably aim to visit an area and make some appointments with an agent, then Google the area to see what's available that way, and finally give your self a few extra days for asking locals if they know of anyone wanting to sell.


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## asimenia

excellent answer from aliland - I would also like to add: Be sure the land is on the town plans, if not find out if it is scheduled to be in the plans. If you don't do this you may find yourself losing part of your land to a road etc AND you will have to pay THEM for the privilege. Also make sure you buy a big enough piece of land to build a house on (if that's what you want it for). If the land is not on the town plans it must be 4 stremata to get water and electricity. NOTHING is straight forward in Greece - approach with caution.


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## XxSMIL3xX

find a solicitor that you trust and he will do everything.
he will see if the land is clear or it is tricky!!!!

in the other you will have to pay lot of taxes here if you own a house or land...
also you should to know that you have to pay vat 11% for ahouse which is built before 2006 and 19% for houses from 2006 till now.
add 2% for your solicitor and 2% for simvoleografos.

in your case i would buy a but to let apartment in uk.this would give me 5% to 10% back and the rent here would be the 1/3....

also if you want to rent it after the rent would be very low...
also greek tenants are very bad...when they leave you have to fix the apartment...and they are doing lot of damages!!!


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## manuka

We are tempted by plot of land in the Peloppennese after visiting an agency while on holiday. There is building permission for a house and a good size plot of land. I read a Greek architect has to put in the plans. After that, what is the timescale for starting building. In UK I believe if you dig the foundations for example, that counts as starting building, and however long it takes after that point, is OK. But in UK if you don't do anything the permission expires after 5 years. Anyone have knowledge on how it works in Greece? This is about taking a pause to gather funds for the building part, of course.


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## concertina

*buying land and building in greece*



manuka said:


> We are tempted by plot of land in the Peloppennese after visiting an agency while on holiday. There is building permission for a house and a good size plot of land. I read a Greek architect has to put in the plans. After that, what is the timescale for starting building. In UK I believe if you dig the foundations for example, that counts as starting building, and however long it takes after that point, is OK. But in UK if you don't do anything the permission expires after 5 years. Anyone have knowledge on how it works in Greece? This is about taking a pause to gather funds for the building part, of course.


The first thing to do is check the legality of the land with a lawyer or symvoliolgrapho(solicitor)You will meet with a mechanicos who will tell you how many metres you can build,your maximum,you will design the house and she or he will submit the plans to the local council,after maybe 2 months you will receive your license to build,they give you a time-scale to start,around 3 or 4 years I think.You cant just build your foundations because your columns come up from the foundation,concrete and iron,so to start with you would get your skeleton,at that point you can make a pause,but after 4 years you and the mechanic must inform the council as to what stage you are at,if you dont do this there will be penalties.When you get your licence the council will tell you how much you must pay for the stamps of all the workers and you have about 10 years to pay.You cant say ...Oh we will do lots of the work ourselves so we dont need workshops.....,you can do the work but you still have to pay the stamps and you must have official tax office receipts from the work-people.My husband is Greek,we are finishing off a house we started in 2007 and we have been to the hell with all this,and the laws keep changing almost weekly,we want to sell but at the moment thats difficult.This is a very good time to buy land or a house in Greece because prices are really down but they wont stay that way.If I were you I would put a prokat house up or buy an existing house,one with columns.your prokat will be ready real fast,much cheaper and very little hassle,you still need a licence-less money.you can live in a caravan if the plot is rural,lots of people do in the countryside,no one will bother you. To build here now you must be prepared to pull all your hair out and empty your bank account on a regular basis.We built a semi basement under our house and really we could have stopped there,just have stairs up through the flat terrace with one lounge room there on half and a nice sitting-viewing area outside on the other half,warm in winter and cool in summer,and...so ...much ...cheaper,bedrooms,bathroom down below.


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## manuka

concertina said:


> The first thing to do is check the legality of the land with a lawyer or symvoliolgrapho(solicitor)You will meet with a mechanicos who will tell you how many metres you can build,your maximum,you will design the house and she or he will submit the plans to the local council,after maybe 2 months you will receive your license to build,they give you a time-scale to start,around 3 or 4 years I think.You cant just build your foundations because your columns come up from the foundation,concrete and iron,so to start with you would get your skeleton,at that point you can make a pause,but after 4 years you and the mechanic must inform the council as to what stage you are at,if you dont do this there will be penalties.When you get your licence the council will tell you how much you must pay for the stamps of all the workers and you have about 10 years to pay.You cant say ...Oh we will do lots of the work ourselves so we dont need workshops.....,you can do the work but you still have to pay the stamps and you must have official tax office receipts from the work-people.My husband is Greek,we are finishing off a house we started in 2007 and we have been to the hell with all this,and the laws keep changing almost weekly,we want to sell but at the moment thats difficult.This is a very good time to buy land or a house in Greece because prices are really down but they wont stay that way.If I were you I would put a prokat house up or buy an existing house,one with columns.your prokat will be ready real fast,much cheaper and very little hassle,you still need a licence-less money.you can live in a caravan if the plot is rural,lots of people do in the countryside,no one will bother you. To build here now you must be prepared to pull all your hair out and empty your bank account on a regular basis.We built a semi basement under our house and really we could have stopped there,just have stairs up through the flat terrace with one lounge room there on half and a nice sitting-viewing area outside on the other half,warm in winter and cool in summer,and...so ...much ...cheaper,bedrooms,bathroom down below.


Thank you Concertina, that is really useful. I am new to this and have not heard of the prokat houses- I'd like to find out more. We have little funds and would have to borrow to do this and could borrow to buy the land, but building as well is out at the moment. So could we just buy the land, that has building permission and put a caravan on it- without building at all in the next 5 years, is that what you mean? I guess once land has building permission status, it is likely to keep that status? It would be an amazing thing to own a piece of land in this beautiful country with the potential of building- if not us then our 3 children.

I hope your plans turn out well and that you have a brilliant summer! We are going back to Greece in September for a month- whichever way it goes we love the country, the ambience and the Greeks we have met the Peloppenese


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## concertina

*buying land in greece*

All land has its status,theres town building,countryside building,in the plan,out of the plan,forest land will never be for building although you can buy it sometimes and put only a caravan,no fixings.Its all mind bogglingly confusing,if its status is for building then that will not change,you can go in 20 years and build if you want,rural areas are often not in the plan but you can still build although if the council decide to put plans for a road they can go through your land.We looked at 3 pieces of land and every time we took the owners papers to be checked by our lawyer he said....NO...we said...WHY....because this land does not show a succession of owners,only one name,one previous owner,where they got it from?,maybe the papers are not real and its belongs someone else,you pay your money to someone who runs and you are standing on another persons land with your caravan,they turn up and tell you to clear-off,thats when you cry.I have read a history of someone on this forum who lost their money in this way.Greece is very nice very safe but not safe for your money,some land and property agents will do you over without a second thought and lawyers,they all get together,lawyers agents like a mafia and get your money,of course its so easy for them if you are not Greek and dont have the language or knowledge of the law,council employees are often in on it...for MONEY...so mind what you do,making financial transactions here requires extreme caution,I know of someone who turned up to their land after 2 years,to check it and found a lovely brand new house on it,a family built it with the help of dojy council staff who falsified all the ownership papers for MONEY.anything can happen here.You can buy here troho- villas,they are better and bigger than caravans,same type of construction, you could shelter it from sun and rain with a rigid cover and roof clay tiles on it.I hope you have a lovely September,perfect weather then.


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## aliland

As an addition to pit falls-
Some relatives of my husband recently sold a nice (but run down) property to a lovely Russian guy. As they were desperate for money, and he was giving the asking price (very high in the pressent market) it should have all gone ahead OK right? Unfortunately for both buyer and seller, a small plot of land to the rear also had an aunts name attached, and she refused to sign for the hand over.
It is really a small useless bit of land (only the property owner has any access, and its so small the deal may have gone ahead without) unfortunately, without that little extra strip attached, the property has become illegal- as it now takes up too large a percentage of building for the designated area.
The Russian guy had already handed over a deposit, which can not be returned as the desperate sellers bank has already sized it. Poor guy is now basically squatting in an illegal property he has no hope of recovering his money, cannot developed the property as he planned, and is now waiting to either have services cut, or just accept the massive loss and walk away.
The seller was not being devious, they were aware their asking price was on the high side, but didn't realize, that small strip of land- ignored for decades, as part of the property, would cause so much trouble. So for about the size of a normal living room, there is a massive problem.

I don't know much about buying land in general, but in Greece, you must find a lawyer- however honest you think those with whom you you dealing with are - ( they probably are ) properties are often in multiple names. 

Don't hand over a penny until your sure!


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## manuka

aliland said:


> As an addition to pit falls-
> Some relatives of my husband recently sold a nice (but run down) property to a lovely Russian guy. As they were desperate for money, and he was giving the asking price (very high in the pressent market) it should have all gone ahead OK right? Unfortunately for both buyer and seller, a small plot of land to the rear also had an aunts name attached, and she refused to sign for the hand over.
> It is really a small useless bit of land (only the property owner has any access, and its so small the deal may have gone ahead without) unfortunately, without that little extra strip attached, the property has become illegal- as it now takes up too large a percentage of building for the designated area.
> The Russian guy had already handed over a deposit, which can not be returned as the desperate sellers bank has already sized it. Poor guy is now basically squatting in an illegal property he has no hope of recovering his money, cannot developed the property as he planned, and is now waiting to either have services cut, or just accept the massive loss and walk away.
> The seller was not being devious, they were aware their asking price was on the high side, but didn't realize, that small strip of land- ignored for decades, as part of the property, would cause so much trouble. So for about the size of a normal living room, there is a massive problem.
> 
> I don't know much about buying land in general, but in Greece, you must find a lawyer- however honest you think those with whom you you dealing with are - ( they probably are ) properties are often in multiple names.
> 
> Don't hand over a penny until your sure!


Really interesting story aililand- the other side of the story indeed.


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## brittleware

Four years in Greece - but renewable. When you buy land (as we are doing) you'll need a topographical plan whatever is the case - it will show boundaries, elevation, soil - the equivalent of a Land Registry map in the UK.


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## mlexose

i got found so many Greek real estate companies but almost of them complain that the crisis make them exhausted totally from financially point of view and that's not good for them, i speak with many of them and almost the all of them say the crisis thing so i don't really is it or isn't real time to buy land in Greece these year ? any suggestion will be great ..


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## brittleware

We're being told by expats and Greeks alike that buying now is a good thing as prices will go up. Whatever, we're committed as we have paid a deposit.


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## mlexose

Actually all around Greece in these days is cheap with Greece included so if someone have cash extra then it will be smart to invest in buying land but on way where alone (without real estate companies offer) u can search and get prices directly from landowners not from companies who include their % into contract or offer .... simple not worth to waste time if you don't have much free time to go at Greece and locate perfect spot with all our needs because older`s say "Pictures can lie but eye`s don't"

'So , Extra time for vacation + Extra cash & maybe u`ll catch your dream spot - Who knows


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## Giorgos Papadopoulos

*on line property valuation for Greece*

Hey, everyone!
Have you checked out this new on line service that helps you evaluate any property you are interested in, in Greece? And it only took me a few minutes!
It's fast and it's easy!
It was extremely helpful for me!
It has been developed by Adriatica S.A a greek appraisal company. Visit their site and try it out!


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