# Not yet



## GarryA (May 19, 2012)

Hi everyone, I am new here and not yet an expat but looking to retiring in Greece. It has been quite a brow raiser for a long time but not it is more a reality for retirement. Not sure though of the political climate, the price of housing, and a category not seen on other countries I have explored; Domestic Terrorism. You mean that is an issue there???
The price of the housing, from what I have seen on sites, is very good but what is the sense of getting a good deal on housing if you have to barricade yourself in at a curfew of 9 pm. Or am I being paranoid? 
I also see many 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom apartments, detached houses and maisonettes for great prices (I have discerned the difference between Euro and dollar) but which is better and which have a higher tax bracket, living expense, up keep and after sales costs?
Regarding PR what are the latitudes? How long can I stay there without a PR before having to leave the country? Is driving in Greece a complication?
Lastly I know of the uprising in Greece over this economical crisis and the leftist parties looking to take power, aka. Neo Nazi, etc. For those of you remaining in Greece during this struggle is this a bad time to consider a move?

Thank you my friends and I hope I have not over inundated you with questions but I like to stay informed on such a life altering venture.

P.S Which is best, south, east, north or west? Island, or mainland? Seaside, or countryside? Rural or urban?


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## wka (Sep 18, 2009)

GarryA said:


> Hi everyone, I am new here and not yet an expat but looking to retiring in Greece. It has been quite a brow raiser for a long time but not it is more a reality for retirement. Not sure though of the political climate, the price of housing, and a category not seen on other countries I have explored; Domestic Terrorism. You mean that is an issue there???


I'm not sure I understand... what do you mean by Domestic Terrorism? I've never heard of that here, not sure what it is. Greece is free of terrorism, according to all definitions that I know of.



> The price of the housing, from what I have seen on sites, is very good but what is the sense of getting a good deal on housing if you have to barricade yourself in at a curfew of 9 pm. Or am I being paranoid?


I'm not sure what you mean by a curfew of 9pm. Most Greeks eat dinner quite late, we eat dinner around 11pm. So the streets are full of people well after midnight even in small towns. I would say that bedtime around here is closer to 1am. Of course in big cities there are people around all night long. The price of housing is very dependent on the area. Where I live it's pretty reasonable; in some areas like the more highly populated islands, Athens, and other big cities, the price of housing is extremely high (in my opinion - of course it depends on how much you have to spend!)



> I also see many 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom apartments, detached houses and maisonettes for great prices (I have discerned the difference between Euro and dollar) but which is better and which have a higher tax bracket, living expense, up keep and after sales costs?


Well, what are your needs? Do you want to buy or rent? How many people are you, and how many rooms do you need? Of course the smaller the home, the cheaper the costs before and after.



> Regarding PR what are the latitudes? How long can I stay there without a PR before having to leave the country?


What is PR? Do you mean permanent residence? If not permanent, there are various categories - 3 months, 1 year, 2 years, 5 years. It depends on what rule you fall under. To get permanent residence in Greece if you are not a citizen of a European Union country is extremely difficult. I am American, married to a Greek citizen, and I can only be here for 5 years before reapplying. Do you have an EU citizenship or some other reason to think you might get a Greek residence permit? 



> Is driving in Greece a complication?


You need a license, beyond that though, no it's not a complication I don't think. You can use a foreign license for a limited period of time, I don't know how many months but at some point you should get a Greek one.



> Lastly I know of the uprising in Greece over this economical crisis and the leftist parties looking to take power, aka. Neo Nazi, etc.


There is no uprising in Greece. There are no leftist parties looking to take power, unless you mean that the same parties that have been in the Greek Parliament for decades are running in this election also. Neo Nazis are extreme RIGHT, not far left. They are not "looking to take power," they got into Parliament for the first time ever, that particular Parliament has been disbanded, and they are running in the new election. Will they get enough votes to be in Parliament? We shall see. But they are unlikely to get more than 5-6% of the vote. 



> For those of you remaining in Greece during this struggle is this a bad time to consider a move?


Yes, for most people, this is a bad time to move to Greece. However, if you want to do it and have your own money and won't need to work here, it may work for you. I don't think it will be easy. Do you have health problems? There are some issues with the hospitals that may not be up to your standards, due to lack of funds. 



> P.S Which is best, south, east, north or west? Island, or mainland? Seaside, or countryside? Rural or urban?


Where have you been in the past? What did you like best? No one can possibly answer this question except you. I have lived in south, east, north, island, mainland, seaside, countryside, rural and urban and I cannot answer this question. You have told us nothing about yourself, what you are looking for, what kind of lifestyle you want to have, etc. 

I think you have a lot of research and thinking ahead of you before you make such a move. It sounds to me like you are pretty uninformed about Greece in general and the current climate in Greece in particular. That is not incurable however. All you need to do is to become informed. To me the #1 most important thing you need to do right now is determine what your legal basis for living in Greece legally is, and find out if you can do it. It would be a shame if you spent months researching such a move, only to discover that you cannot legally live in Greece for more than 90 days out of every 180 days (which is the standard limit for most people who are not from EU countries).


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