Here you will find useful information regarding real estate purchase in Greece.

• Stages of real estate purchase in Greece, Europe
• Documents for real estate purchase in Greece
• Expenses for real estate purchase in Greece
  
  

Stages of real estate purchase in Greece, Europe

Legal principles of property transactions in Greece.

Title transition and registration is a totally transparent, easily controlled and public procedure in Greece. The country is a European Union member since January 1981, so both national and European legislation are applicable.

In case one party of a property transaction is not a Greek citizen, the following actions should be performed:

• Drawing of a Power of Attorney. It is done by a Greek notary in the presence of an accredited translator (compulsory). This Power of Attorney authorizes the lawyer whose name is stated in this document to act on the foreigner’s behalf. It also contains the powers granted to the lawyer for the purposes of the Principal Property Purchase Agreement drawing and execution. Thus, the buyer doesn’t have to deal with long and complicated legal formalities and procedures.
• The authorized lawyer, acting in the name and on behalf of his principal (buyer), registers him as a tax payer in Greece and opens a bank account in a state bank (in the buyer’s name).
• The authorized lawyer thoroughly checks the state Property registry for the property history and for other details (such as existing or previous mortgages, encumbrances or other charges, existing and previous contracts and agreements concerning the property etc). After he finishes the property checkup, he draws a report, signs and certifies it and delivers it to the prospective buyer.
• The authorized lawyer draws a Title Transition Tax statement and submits it to the local tax body. The tax rate amounts to 3,09% if the property Construction permission was issued prior to 01.01.2006, and to 24%, if it was issued after this date. Payment of tax 24% is suspended until 31/12/2024 (article 6, VAT Code, L.2859/2000)
• Both parties (Buyer and Seller) sign the Principal Property Purchase agreement in the presence of a notary and an accredited translator. After the agreement is signed, the lawyer registers it in the State Property Registry which is the final, integral and compulsory stage of the property purchase transaction.
• After the Principal agreement is signed, the Buyer receives the full package of documents mentioned above which are duly notarized and translated into their native language, along with the Construction Permission, Power Consumption Certificate, Property layout plan and its topographical plan.

The above information was provided by the Legal Department of Grekodom Development company.

Documents for real estate purchase in Greece

Property purchase procedure in Greece is very simple and it takes shortest time. Nowadays it will only take you 10 working days to obtain full title of some Greek property. You might have heard that it is not quite so, and such opinion stands to reason, but it is not true anymore: before June 2011, there was a boundary regime law which required that the buyer willing to purchase property in some area close to the state border had to apply for permission from the Greek Ministry of Defense. Because of that the buyer had to collect a large package of documents and the whole transaction could take several months. Now the procedure became much simpler, and all property purchase formalities can be finalized within 10 days. The list of documents required also became much shorter.

Expenses for real estate purchase in Greece

Property Purchase Contract: fees and additional expenses

If you sign a property purchase contract, you will have to pay the following extra expenses and fees:

If the actual property price amounts to €100.000 and tax is 3,09%, then expenses calculate as follows:

A Lawyer’s fee: 100.000х1,5%* = 1.500 € (plus 24% VAT which is added up to this amount) = €1.860
A Notary’s fee 100.000х1,5%* = 1.500 € (plus 24% VAT) = €1.860
Title transition tax: 100.000х3,09%=3.090 €
Mortgage registry fee: 100.000х0.5%+150€= 650 €
Estate agent’s fee: 100.000х2%= 2.000 € (plus 24% VAT)= 2.480 €
Total amount: 9.940€ (This amount can’t be considered a service fee calculated based on property price).

* The fee varies from 1.5% to 2% of the actual property price, depending on the region of purchase.

If the actual property price amounts to €100.000 and tax is 24%, then expenses calculate as follows (payment of tax 24% is suspended until 31/12/2024 (article 6, VAT Code, L.2859/2000):

A Lawyer’s fee: 100.000х1,5%* = 1.500 € (plus 24% VAT which is added up to this amount) = €1.860
A Notary’s fee 100.000х1,5%* = 1.500 € (plus 24% VAT) = €1.860
Title transition tax: 100.000х24%=24.000 €
Mortgage registry fee: 100.000х0.5%+150€= 650 €
Estate agent’s fee: 100.000х2%= 2.000 € (plus 24% VAT)= 2.480€
Total amount: 30.850€ (This amount can’t be considered a service fee calculated based on property price).

* The fee varies from 1.5% to 2% of the actual property price, depending on the region of purchase.