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Buyers Guide
Real estate investors interested in buying property in Greece will of course find more English speaking estate agents and lawyers available to assist with the process in the major coastal resorts and on the most popular Greek islands, however wherever a buyer chooses to invest he will likely find English speaking assistance. Property prices differ greatly depending on where in Greece an investor chooses to buy - obviously islands like Crete and Corfu are more expensive than real estate located inland on the mainland. Its fair to say that the more popular the location, the more expensive the property. An investor with a large budget might like to consider the fact that property priced over a certain threshold will attract an additional wealth tax annually for the owner. This threshold and the rate of wealth tax levied changes each fiscal year but is usually between 1 and 2% of the propertys declared value. In Greece its usual for the vendor to pay the estate agents fees therefore an investor may as well make use of their local knowledge and involve them in the search for suitable property investments. The other assistance an investor should engage is that of a local lawyer with knowledge of land and property law. As title documents and all contracts and paperwork involved in the property buying process will be in Greek, its essential to have a local lawyer who can deal with the red tape and translate key pieces of information into English for the real estate investor. Once a suitable investment property or piece of land has been identified its usual for the investor to sign a purchase agreement that is conditional to the satisfactory completion of searches and surveys and to pay a deposit of between 10 and 30% of the final property price. As soon as the purchase contract has been signed in front of a notary the investors solicitor can carry out title deed searches and ensure that everything is in order with the property being purchased. Once all searches and surveys have been conducted satisfactorily its possible to proceed to contract closure and this takes place when the vendor and buyer sign the purchase deed - again in front of a public notary.
The additional fees, taxes and charges an investor needs to be aware of when buying investment property in Greece include: - Notary fees of between 1 and 3% of the propertys price. Solicitors fees which are usually 1% of the propertys price unless the real estate being bought exceeds a certain upper threshold limit at which point an additional fee will become payable. Greek property purchase tax which ranges from 9 - 11% with an additional 2% chargeable on city based property. Land registration fees which are in the region of 0.3% - 0.45% - and an additional small sum is payable for stamp duty. Annual property taxes of around 0.25% of the propertys value and a yearly community tax is often levied which amounts to 3% of the real estates transfer tax. And finally, when a real estate investor decides to resell his property assets and take the money out of Greece he may become liable for capital gains tax which is levied at a rate of between 10 and 25% and which is calculated on a sliding scale based on the length of time the investor has owned the property and the propertys value. |
