These notes are only intended as a guide they are merely to demonstrate how property is bought and sold in some European countries, these notes particularly referring to Greece.
LEGAL MATTERS.
Legal procedures in Greece are very simple and if all the
paperwork is ready and in order the sale of a property can be completed within a
week. You chose a lawyer ( We help you with this and give you a choice if you
wish ) and this Notary Public must be
registered in the area you are buying in. Property transactions
are concluded in Crete by a licensed conveyancer ( A lawyer is
not used ) His job is to check the title and make sure the
contract is correct. The area in which you buy has a government
appointed Notary Public who looks after the Property register for
that district and makes the contract, witnesses your signature
and those of the vendor and registers the new ownership. You get
official copies of the deeds and the originals are kept in the
Property Register office. I do not recomend using an Athens lawyer
if you can avoid it, as the job will take much, much longer and
cost you twice as much. Chose a local lawyer wherever possible.
EXPENSES.
The purchase tax, the Notary and Lawyer's fees in Greece, are
always paid by the buyer and the purchase tax is calculated on
the assessed value ("officially estimated price") of
the property, this is usually lower than the true purchase price.
At a guess sometimes about 2/3rds the value.
The purchase tax is a variable tax between 9% & 13%. On the
first 14673 € ( Approx £9,100 ) the tax is 9%
and on the remainder the tax is 11% to 13% ) Less tax is paid if
you buy as a couple. It does work out cheaper. The Notary's fee
is 2%. The lawyers fee is between 1.5% and 2%.
One very important point to remember about taxes is that if you
buy new build you save a lot of money in purchase tax than if you
buy old or resale property.
Occasionaly throughout this Web site you will find prices
where the expenses are included, but this is usually stated, otherwise expenses will be due.
SAVING MONEY.
I know I have told you before but you really can save money by
buying a house off plan. If you buy a plot the tax is about 5% of
the purchase price of the plot, whereas if you buy an existing
house including the legal fees the tax is about 15% of the buying
price. You save money by buying off plan, because you pay less
tax by buying the house before it is built. This way you only pay
the tax on the plot and no more when the house is finished.
If we find you a property a 1% fee may be charged by the agents as a finders fee ( Not always ) and helping you buy the property, with introductions to the Notary and Interpreters and the tax office and for all the other expenses such as the Web site work and publicity costs, otherwise all commissions are included in the price of the property. You have to have a tax number to buy a property, so don't panic this is not for income tax. ( You pay your taxes in the country of your residence as normal). The agent will assist you to get this at the local tax office, all you will need is your passport.This will be charged in with the extras when you make the purchase and is dealt with in the summary below.
LOCAL TAXES.
Owners of properties are subject to a very small Public Tax which
is payable with the Electricity bill. The Electricity bill comes
every two months and the Tax is so small as to be not worth
worrying about. As somebody said to me "about the price of a
box of chocolates every two months" no wonder they dont have
good roads. In some areas there are no council taxes at all.
PROPERTY TAXES.
If you are a couple who own a property whose assessed value
exceeds 352.170 € ( Approx £218,300 ) then you
are subject to a property tax, As an example if the property
objective value is estimated at 322.800 € (
Approx £200,570 ) then the tax would be about 440 Euros or £300
per annum. Peanuts.
PLANNING PERMISSION.
In Greek law if a plot is not within the town plan, permission
can be granted to build if the plot size is a minimum of 4,000
Sq Mts as long as there are no forestry or archaeology
restrictions. Permission can also be granted for plots of 2.000
Sq Mts or less if they come within the planning zone or they have
frontage to a principle municipal road. If a plot does fall
within the town zone or plan then density can be increased by as
much as 70%.
We can recommend architects who will give advice, make the
drawings and carry out the procedure for obtaining planning
permission, and see the whole process through for you. Building
costs will vary according to the specification of materials.
FINANCING.
United Kingdom mortgages and loans are now available for buying
property in Greece. However mortgages in Greece are much cheaper and easy to arrange.
The agent can help you with this by introduction to a local bank.
Loans are available for the majority of Nationalities for either
House Purchase or re-financing for Home purposes on a case by
case basis. Commercial loans can be considered. These loans are
in Euros. Even if you do not take a loan you will need a local bank account. The agent will help you here.
Greece changed its currency on January the 1st 2002 to Euros and finally ditched the Drachma on the 28th Febuary 2002. All property on this web site is now valued in Euros but with an approximation in G.B.Pounds for a quick assessment for U.K. Nationals. If you wish to change Euro currency to your own national currency then a currency calculator is available on the front page. Using this calculator you can check the up to date comparison between the Euros and G.B.Pounds if you wish.
Finance can also be obtained through Greek Banks if you should want to go that route. Eurobank offer loans for periods of up to 15 years.
A Word Document In English For Housing Loans From
Eurobank To European Residents Is Available From Brian.
E Mail Brian.
TRANSFERRING MONEY.
I strongly urge you to use somebody like World Wide Currencies to
transfer your money to your new bank accounts in Greece, these
bank accounts will be opened for you with the help of the agent
as soon as you decide to buy. This can save you a lot of extra
expense using High St banks which are notorious for charging high
fees. World wide currencies buy Euros at an advantageous rate for
you and do not charge any commission.
DEPOSITS.
Make sure you have quick access to a deposit of about 10 % in
order to secure your property. It is to your advantage to make
sure the price you have agreed is fixed for a period of at least
2 to 3 months, this means that if the person selling you the
property reneges on your agreement ( Such as trying to up the
price.) then he must return twice the value of the deposit.
Should you the buyer renege then you lose your deposit. If the
sale falls through because there are problems from the search for
example, then your deposit must be returned. This deposit
agreement is normally done formally in front of a Notary Public.
SUMMARY.
To sum up then , always allow when you work out the finances at
least 13% to 15% on top of the purchase price to cover the extras
but don't forget you don't need quite so much for new build. Please
remember all my Web partners or Agents will help you with the
above, there is NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.
DISCLAIMER.
The prices quoted on the web site are generally correct prices, and include my
commission so you do not have to pay me anything, however
occassionaly a Greek owner will raise the price without informing the web site.
Brians Greek Property cannot be held responsible for this, does not like the practice,
but has no control over their decision making process. It does not happen often, but as
Greek property prices are rising in value by about 20% each year it can happen.
To all private owners, builders, and property developers who would like to place your property with us for sale we have adopted certain criteria which is designed to keep the pages free flowing and informative.
We will endeavour to find you a buyer and that means honesty in the total aproach to selling the property. We need to know certain things so that all buyers are aware of most things before they make a trip to Greece.
We have a Word Document and Agreement Form we will send you that states what we require from you in order to carry out our above policy. If you want to sell with us then in the first instance E Mail Brian with rough details of the property, House / Apartment. Village / Town. Island / Mainland and the asking price. We will then E Mail you with our Requirements.
Thank you for considering our web site. ALL WEB SITE WORK IS FREE so there is no initial fee involved, and we hope soon to be working with you.
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