If you are interested in the price behavior for the recent years, you can find it in the website of Greek Central Bank

 www.bankofgreece.gr in Statistics section– Real Estate Market Analysis.

As for the fees there is no common tendency. They can increase or fall down depending on the business environment. In any case it is more logical to apply to the owning company which do not decrease the fees, but are ready to make concessions.

It seems that now it is a propituous moment to buy a small house in Greece, a member of the European Union, a participant of the Eurocontrol area and Shengen Convention, a country with ancient culture, warm, tender sea and soft Mediterranean climate.

There is an estate transfer tax. If the construction permit was received prior to 2006, this tax will amount to 9% from the first 15,000 Euro and 11% from the next amount. Otherwise, the value added tax at the rate of 23% shall be paid. Sometimes developers can offer to return the VAT partly, as they paid its part in the proce3ss of construction.

The VAT is not imposed on the land lots, only the estate transfer tax at the rate of 9-11% shall be paid.

The annual real estate tax shall be paid both by phisycal bodies and legal entities. No tax is imposed on the real estate  with cadastral value up to 243,600.

Khalkidhiki is a very pleasant place for living and vacations. You have made a good choice. There is no problem with buying a real estate for cash. You can make use of services provided by local banks having branches in Greece (i.e. deposit the money in a bank in your country and withdraw it in Greece). You will need only your foreign passport and individual taxpayer number (it is not a problem to register it in Greece). 

The range of houses at the secondary market is very large. Everything depends on what you mean saying “a decent house”. The price is formed by many factors: prestige value of the district, distance to the sea, floor area of the house and land lot. For example, a house with floor area 150 square meters, with a land lot about 500 square meters, 100 meters far from the sea in one of the suburbs of Athens costs from 300,000 Euro.

10 thousand euro - it seems a bit steep. But for 20-25 thousand Euros it is possible to find an apartment in Khalkidhiki, not far from the sea, in a house built 20-30 years ago. But you shall remember, that there are not many such offers, they are sold very quickly. They stand at the market not more than 1-2 months in average. If everything is ok, it is necessary to buy it at once.

Yes, there are offers in Athens for the said amount. In the neighboring suburbs you can find more interesting alternatives for the same amount.

As a rule the mortgage credits are not granted to foreigners – many banks request tax statements for the activities on the territory of Greece. But you can get a credit in any local bank having a branch in Greece, including a credit on mortgage.

It is simpler to register the hotel in the name of your husband. Naturally, it will not much cheaper, but faster. According to the law of Greece, the company director shall be a citizen of Greece or shall have a special residence permit (in order to receive it you will have to submit a business plan in Greek to the Greece Embassy in Kazakhstan), which is difficult to obtain.

Hello! As for purchasing of real estate in border areas it is a matter of luck: there has been both positive and negative experience. We guarantee that you will obtain the ownership right immediately after making the payment.

As for the opportunity to conclude a supplementary agreement, examine your agreement, it shall be specified in it.

Speaking about the new law, there is no definite news up to now. Probably, the amendments will come into force in the nearest months, but there is an opinion that they will become valid not earlier than in 2011.

Point by point:

1. The permit is issued for buying a particular unit, i.e. first of all you shall choose what you want to buy and then send the documents.

2. You will obtain the ownership rights after receipt of the permit.

3. The owner of any marketable real estate is unlikely to wait for 9-10 months till you obtain the permit. No doubt, he or she will request a substantial advance payment and conclude with you a preliminary agreement where the payment schedule will be specified.

4. If the advance payment is substantial, about 40-60%, as a rule, the owner will not request additional money for waiting, but you won’t get a possible discount either.

It depends on what you consider to be decent. In Khalkidhiki, you can buy an apartment in a new house of 30-50 square meters, about 200 meters from the sea but without a view to the sea. Please remember that there are various additional expenses for purchase which amount to 10-14% of the transaction amount.

It is almost impossible to buy livable apartments in southern Greece without any legal burdening.

There are many beautiful places in Greece. But choosing a real estate you shall take into account the following factors, such as area prospects, distance to the international airport, and availability of direct flights. To start with, you shall select the region and then apply the agency in that region which shall send you necessary information. The procedure of real estate ownership registration in foreign country with plenty of national peculiarities is not simple and requires participation of professionals. 

The amount of taxes depends on the real estate location, its class, distance from the sea and some more peculiarities. If you apply to our company we will be glad to provide you with a report on every unit we offer.

The sector of economy class in the Republic of Greece starts from 100,000 Euros per unit. These are not bad variants, with interior finishing, located in the district with developed infrastructure. Apartments in old houses cost less than 100 thousand Euros. Frequently, they are basements with small floor area located in some environmentally neglected zone. They appear very seldom even at the internal market.

The procedure is simple: having arrived in Greece you will have to spend a few days to choose a real estate unit while our company opens a bank account for you and registers the individual taxpayer number. Having chosen the unit, you will conclude a preliminary agreement of intent or a sale contract in the presence of a notary and translator. Then everything will be registered in the database and you will receive the ownership certificate. All these terms apply only to the territories which are not the border areas – and in this case the procedure is very complicated.

You can buy a small apartment in Athens for the said amount, but it is unlikely to be a new one. It will be located in the city center and you will need to make its repair.

The units with cadastral value exceeding 650 thousand Euros are charged with the progressive tax from 1% up to 1.5% per year.

The apartment and villa are different units. Speaking about the villa, the main part of the expenses will be paid for the adjacent garden, maintenance of the swimming pool, and water supply. The owner of an apartment will pay for using public space, elevators and the land lot adjacent to the house. Besides, there is a fixed municipal duty for using the area, for an apartment of 100 square meters it will amount to 300 Euros per year, for villa of the said floor area – about 450 Euros.

Public Services

Water supply – 90 Euros is paid as a monthly fee. Consumed water is calculated separately: up to 120 cubic meters per year – 58 Eurocents per cubic meter; up to 240 cubic meters – 87 Eurocents, up to 360 cubic meters – 1.39 Euro. If you wish you may drill an artesian well (from 8 thousand Euros) and decide the issue of water supply cardinally.

Electricity: 50 Euros per month – a fixed rate and from 7 Eurocents per kilowatt (depending on the time of day, week day, amount of consumed electric power) for consumption.

Phone connection will cost 35 Euros, the subscription fee is 15 Euro, the cost of calls is 3 Eurocents per minute.

Currently, purchase of a real estate in Greece does not provide the right to obtain a residence permit. However, the respective draft law is being discussed in the parliament.

Yes, of course. Greece became a member of the European Union long ago.

Ancestral relationship or its absence is not an obstacle for registration of the ownership right for two or more persons.

Only foreign passport is required to buy a real estate. If you are going to buy a real estate in the border area (it is undesirable due to many problems connected with registration), a certified copy of the birth certificate with apostil attached will be required as well as a copy of police clearance certificate and their originals.

In order to get a credit, the citizens of the European Union shall file an application in the bank they have chosen and be ready to provide all tax statements for the last four years filed in any country included in the European Union. It is desirable to have the annual income more than 10 thousand Euros.

There is a simplified procedure for citizens of the European Union. It does not provide obtaining of the permit from the Ministry of Defense. Other persons will have to submit a police clearance certificate and wait for several months (up to one year). Unfortunately, we do not have any statistics of refusals.

The income amount depends on many parameters: distance from the sea (the first, second line), additional advantages (availability of a swimming pool, distance from the urban area), condition of the house, internal finishing, furniture, appliances as well as the opportunity of the managing company to provide occupation of the house.

In principle, Corfu is one of the main resorts in Greece. So, as a rule, one does not have to search for persons willing to rent a small house by the sea in the season.

In average, the time period of return on such investment (taking into account the annual growth of income from rent and cadastral value) will be about eight years.

There is a unique state register in Greece. This institution is called Ipotekofilakio. They provide information on residential areas.

If the sale agreement was concluded after the first of January 2006, the owner will have to pay a tax for real estate revaluation. It is calculated basing on the difference of purchase and sale value according to the state appraisal (as a rule, it is 2.5 times lower than the commercial value). The ratio is the following: is the real estate is sold within 5 years after its purchase, the tax will amount to 20%, if within 15 years – 15%, if within 25 years – 5% and if the owner used the real estate for more than 25 years, no tax shall be paid.

If the property is transferred from parents to their children, the tax shall be paid from the sum exceeding 100 thousand Euros. If one of the parents died, the amount is increased up to 130 thousand Euros.

Coming into an inheritance, husbands, wives and minor children are exempted from paying the tax provided than the amount does not exceed 300 thousand Euros for each of the heirs.

However, it is possible that in the end of 2007-2008 significant amendments will be introduced in the law.

It is true. There is such a program which is called a program of hotel and entertainment unit crediting. The borrower is granted a noninterest bearing credit, in certain cases (construction of yacht moorings on the islands, construction of hotels on some islands) the government can indemnify a part of expenses (up to 60%). It is necessary to provide a business plan to get the credit.