Why do people increasingly buy real estate in Greece?

Over the past decade, there has been a noticeable great interest of our people in buying real estate in Greece. Although the period when real estate prices in Greece were extremely low has passed, the interest remains high. Just five years ago, the price per square meter of apartments in Thessaloniki and its surroundings had dropped to 300€, while now those same apartments cost around 1000€ per square meter.

Popular locations and types of real estate

The majority of our people buy apartments in the Olympic region, as well as in the small towns around Thessaloniki (Perea, Nea Epivates, Nea Mudanya, Nea Kalikratia, Nea Plagia). The most sought-after are smaller apartments, one-bedroom and two-bedroom ones, priced around 60 to 70,000€. Most of our people buy apartments for themselves, not for renting. They usually use them only during the summer.

Read also about buying real estate in Nikiti on Sithonia by clicking here.

A little over 20% of real estate buyers in northern Greece are from Serbia and North Macedonia. In addition to ours, there are more and more Greeks buying apartments, as well as Bulgarians and Albanians who live and work in Greece.

Legal framework and conditions for foreigners

The conditions for buying real estate in Greece are the same for foreigners as they are for Greeks, so the entire purchasing process and transfer are quite simple. Below, we will present an approximate procedure and all the steps involved in buying real estate in Greece.

How to choose real estate and arrange a visit

If you are interested in buying an apartment, house, or plot of land in Greece, you can first look at websites with listings online. If you like a particular property or need more information, you can contact a real estate agent and arrange a visit to Greece to tour the properties that caught your interest. Based on your preferences, the agency can make an offer and select apartments for you to view on the spot.

Our recommendation and our trusted partner is the agency PB Homes.

Deposit, AFM, and the beginning of the purchase

If you decide on one of the offers, you leave a deposit with the agency and obtain the so-called AFM (tax number), which is necessary to complete the purchase and open a bank account. The deposit remains with the agency and amounts to about 10% of the property value. If the purchase does not go through due to paperwork issues or any other obstacle in the process, the deposit is refunded. If the potential buyer changes their mind, the deposit is not refunded.

Paperwork and engaging professionals

After selecting the property and paying the deposit, you can return to Serbia while the agency takes care of the necessary paperwork, which can sometimes take more than a month. During this period, the agency engages a lawyer to check if all the documents are in order, if there is a mortgage, or anything else that could be detrimental to the buyer. The agency can provide a lawyer, translator, accountant, and notary on behalf of the client, as well as change the name of the owner for electricity and water. Once all the necessary preparations and paperwork are completed, the buyer only needs to come and sign the final contract.

The contract is in Greek, so the presence of a translator is mandatory. In the agency where Tamara works, the lawyer is usually also the translator, as they speak Serbian.

Purchase costs and additional fees

It is important to know that besides the amount you pay for the property, there are other costs amounting to around 4 to 5 thousand euros, if the property price is up to 50,000€, or slightly more for a more expensive property.

The annual tax depends on several factors, primarily on the square footage, location, year of construction, floor level, presence of an elevator, etc. An average price is 5-7€ per square meter, but it can be slightly lower or higher. The agency fee is 2% of the property price, plus VAT if the property costs more than 100,000€, and if the value of the property is lower than 100,000€, the commission is 2,000€ plus VAT. VAT is 24%.

The lawyer’s services cost about 1% of the property value (the price at which the property was paid), and the notary’s services are also 1% if the property is more expensive than 80,000€ and 1.5% if it is cheaper than that amount. The translator’s service costs between 100 and 250€, depending on whether you want to pay the translator only when signing the contract or if you want them to translate the contract into Serbian so you can submit it to a bank in Serbia.

It is very important to pay attention to the year of construction of the properties because the price difference in property transfer tax can be significant. In fact, the tax is 3% if the property was built before 2009 and up to 24% if the property is more recent. This tax is paid on the property value according to the land registry. This value is usually lower than the price at which the buyer purchased the property.

Connections, utilities, and annual tax management

Transferring ownership for electricity and water is free if there are already a water meter and electric meter. If not, the installation costs can amount to a maximum of 1,000€. The accountant’s service, who manages the annual tax payments, costs about 50€ per year.

Additional service options and renting out

If you wish, you can arrange your own lawyer, notary, translator, and accountant. If you bought the apartment to rent it out, the agency can mediate in the rental process, but only for rentals of two or more months, not per day. The agency also provides renovation services, or construction of a building if you bought land.

Our recommendation and our trusted partner is the agency PB Homes.

Additional sources and customer experiences

Read other articles related to buying real estate in Greece:
Work permit and buying real estate in Greece
If you want to hear the experiences of our people who own real estate in Greece and who have answered many questions from members on our Instagram profile:
Buying an apartment, flat, or house by the sea in Greece - experiences
Where is the best place to buy an apartment, house or apartment in Greece?

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