Rules

The following information is a guide to things you will need to know regarding the purchase of a property in Greece, including information on taxes, costs involved, bank accounts and how you can save money on an older property.

LEGAL REPRESENTATION

To buy any property in Greece, you are required to have legal representation from a local lawyer. Their job along with a local notary is 1. To check that all land titles are clear. 2. To confirm any building permits are legal and in line with building regulations. 3. Generally to look into any family history and ensure there will be no questions over ownership at a later date.

BANK ACCOUNTS AND TAX NUMBERS

You will also be required to obtain a Greek tax number and open a Greek bank account locally. It is possible to do both of these without any assistance. Alternatively, by giving your lawyer power of attorney to do these things, it leaves you with more time to spend searching for your ideal property and less time running through the maze of the legal structure. If you do not have your own lawyer, we can recommend several that we use for the majority of our clients. They will take you through each step right up to the day of purchase. The contract is drawn up by the local notary who has made the necessary investigations, with both buyer and seller having their own legal representative.

COSTS

As a buyer, there are various costs are incurred. As the agents for the sale, we charge a fee of 2% (mimimum 1,000 Euro). The lawyers also charge a percentage (approximately 2%) but this varies with each individual case depending on the complexities involved. The Notary will also charge a percentage of the ‘tax value’ of the property, normally 2%.The tax value of a property often bears no resemblance to the actual ‘purchase value’. It is simply a figure set by the tax office here in Corfu of what they consider the land to be worth. This will vary depending on the size of the land, the build availability, and the size and age of any buildings constructed within it and its proximity to the coast. As a purchaser you will be required to pay a percentage of the tax value, but again this figure varies with each individual case. If there is a property that you are interested in, often we can make enquiries to get a rough estimate as to what this figure might be.

BUILDING AND RENOVATION

For new building or external renovation work, you will need to apply for permits. We can recommend a choice of several architects to do this for you and as this is a very personal thing we will ensure that we choose the right one for you.

PURCHASING AN OLDER PROPERTY

Here at Corfu Locations, we have always encouraged the purchase of older properties and properties within the villages. Land taxes are lower further away from the coast and the tax value of older properties (built before 1950) is always considerably lower. Also a renovation permit is often cheaper and quicker. We recommend that you use a civil engineer to conduct a survey before funding any deals. Again we have several we can recommend.

To ensure you receive our full attention and an individual and private consultation, may we recommend that you contact us by e mail, telephone or Skype (details on contacts page) prior to your visit to our office in Corfu, as we are very busy all year round and would like to give you our best possible service.