Buying property in the EU is not a problem
Very often people ask us, how difficult is it to buy land in Crete? How did we manage to find our plot? And yes, the headline is correct. Even though we eventually bought the land, we originally really wanted to buy an older house, which we would gradually reconstruct according to our own ideas. Why did we finally move on to the land and our own complete construction? I will explain later in this podcast.
The answer to the fundamental question is simple. Buying real estate anywhere in the European Union is not particularly difficult for a citizen of any Member State of the Union. Although there are slightly different rules in each country and there is a different culture – I will return to this in more detail later – the basic principle is the same. You will contact a local real estate agent, who will offer you real estate according to your criteria. If you decide on one, they will arrange a sale for you. However, a different culture is what surprised us a bit, and why we were quite nervous during the shopping phase for a few weeks.
As follows from the introductory article “Why do we want to move to Crete?“, the specific country was not crucial for us in the first phase. We were looking for housing by the sea, in which you can swim for at least half a year. As a result, my dream of Canada fell, we considered tropical areas in Asia for a while, but the stability of the political regime is quite essential for long-term housing. We do not want to invest in something in the region, where we will not be able to live in peace and quiet in a few years. Then we considered France, Spain, and Greece. Thanks to the Internet, market research is relatively easy and it is not a problem to get an overview of various properties at various prices through various real estate sites. Ten years ago, everything would have been much more complicated.
Why did we choose Greece?
In the end, Greece won. Due to local culture and prices. We have visited Greece several times in recent years, we have traveled a number of islands on a yacht and we have been very impressed by the mentality of the local people. We were here even during the economic crisis. It was not clear whether it would be possible to withdraw money from the ATM, there were protests, but even in these difficult times, the average greek had a sense of amazing inner peace. We mapped in great detail where the refugees are gathering, I made my own prognostic prediction of how it will develop in the next ten years, and thus some areas of the selection fell out.
Since we also planned to relocate with my 80-year-old father, the criteria included easy and fast access to a quality hospital. As a result, we dropped the Cycladic islands, where I personally would like to live very much. It already seemed that we would buy something in the Lavrio area, but in the end, because of the economy, we have decided to explore Crete, where prices are significantly lower than in the vicinity of Athens.
There are many sites focused on life in Crete or relocation to this largest Greek island and the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean. Everyone recommends driving through a suitable area first and ideally at different periods of the year. In the summer of 2020, my father and I set out on a round trip around Crete with the aim of relaxing and exploring the individual areas from the point of view of long-term life here. The expedition took us two months. Every 14 days we moved to another part of the island and thanks to that we got a relatively detailed idea of the differences between the different areas of Crete. Although only in summer (we took the trip from July to August), but we always asked the locals what it looks like in winter. Some information I also found on the Internet. We lived on the coasts: north, east, south, west, and also in inland. It was at the height of the madness around COVID-19, so there were not many tourists and the locals were grateful for each guest and they shared their experiences willingly.
I found local real estate agents on the Internet and found that each specialized in a particular area. No agency fully covers the whole of Crete. So communication and personal visits to individual agents and a tour of dozens of potential places. I researched even more properties through real estate servers, but we really visited dozens in person. There is no central digital real estate cadastre in Greece. If you are used to choosing a plot of land by personally traversing the terrain and then finding out on the Internet who the plot belongs to, then you will not go with it here. You have to either ask the locals what it is good to speak in Greek or go through real estate agencies, where you can do with English.
Conclusion from the market survey
What has emerged from the study of more than a hundred different properties in Crete? It is possible to either buy a relatively cheap small house for about 40 to 90 thousand euros (depending on the condition) in one of the villages or an olive grove. Or a building plot with an area of 1 thousand. up to 4 thousand m2 for 20 to 150 thousand Euro (the higher the equipment and the closer to the sea, the more expensive). The problem with houses in villages is that they have no or very little garden. Often there is not even space to park a car. The garden, where we will be able to grow our own fruits and vegetables and even raise some animals, was important to us. We also tried the ready to move houses without the need for reconstruction. They are in the range of 150 thousand up to 300 thousand Euro. However, from our point of view, these relatively new houses are so tastelessly and impractically furnished that we would have to remodel a large part of things in order for us to live well there. And that made no economic sense at all. Although such houses usually already have a garden, they are not very suitable locations for growing vegetables and raising domestic animals. Otherwise, of course, there are also houses for sale for 500 thousand, a million Euros and more. Usually stately villas near the sea. But it is financially outside our budget and we would also not feel completely good in such a villa.
Why land instead of a house?
So after about a month of studying various offers, it was clear to us that we had to buy a plot of land and build a house on it according to our ideas. Although buying an older house is a much easier and safer way, for us it was a dead end. We finally managed to find a suitable plot of land through the real estate agency in the area of Agios Nikolaos, which is claimed on the servers and by the locals to be the best for year-round housing in Crete. Due to the north winds, it is not as hot in summer as in the south and west, and the winters are not as harsh as in the very popular area of Chania. Although the area of Platania was also a hot adept at relocation. Land prices there are slightly lower than in the area of Agios Nikolaos, but no available land fully met all our criteria. Especially calm. We checked the summer conditions as acceptable on our own and we asked the winter conditions from the locals with a check on meteorological servers.
How was the purchase?
So what’s next? We decided on a specific plot of land, from which there is a nice view of the sea, which can be reached by a low-traffic local road. In addition, the nearest house 2 km away. This means peace of mind, without unwanted distractions. For example, the barking of a dog next door. Unlike the purchase of a house in Senožaty, which the wife saw in person only after we signed the purchase contract and paid for the house, she came to see this land before the final decision. Even in the time of covid, we managed to arrive in Crete quite quickly for the weekend.
The first thing that surprised us was that the real estate through whom we bought the land did not need to write a contract with us. We learned the details from the life of the property’s owners, established a personal relationship, and the fact that we confirmed by phone and then in person that we were interested in the selected land was quite sufficient. That confused us the whole time.
In order to buy a property in Greece as an EU citizen, you only need to meet “only” two conditions:
- You must use a local lawyer to prepare a purchase agreement.
- You must have an account with a Greek bank from which you will pay the purchase price.
The real estate agent recommended a suitable lawyer from Agios Nikolaos. Of course, we didn’t know anyone here. We signed a general power of attorney for the lawyer-something that is no longer legally possible to do in the Czech Republic-so he could do practically anything on our behalf. And such a pearl. This power of attorney also had to be signed by my wife, because we bought the land as husband and wife. It turned out that it would be almost cheaper for a person to come to sign this power of attorney in Crete than to sign it at the Greek embassy in Prague. That was the second option. I would also like to understand that the embassy has as a condition that a certified interpreter be present when signing, which of course we have to pay. But why they have such prices for signature verification is beyond my comprehension. Google Translator was enough and we signed a multi-page power of attorney for the lawyer directly in Agios Nikolaos. He could buy real estate on our behalf, open bank accounts, negotiate with authorities, etc.
And another step in uncertainty was that we had to deposit the first principal for a lawyer to start working at his personal account. No pledge agreements, no custody certificates. Simply email the account number to which we should send the money. The lawyer then set up our personal account for us, which required so much information that our banks do not want, even if you are applying for a big loan. We did not apply for any credit. We just had to have an account, to which it was then necessary to send money from our Czech account and from there the lawyer paid everything. To the seller, real estate agency, and also a fee to himself. Although I got the info that the account was based on my name – by the way: I’m able to do such a confirmation in Gimp too – I had no access to this account, nor the opportunity to deal with it in any way. Yes, you hear me right. So it was necessary to send the rest of the money to this account, and we still had nothing signed except the power of attorney for the lawyer! On the basis of all those certificates of employment and the amount of income, it would be possible to draw a nice loan. At least in Czech conditions. And the lawyer had the power to do so. So it was a few weeks of tension. We only communicated by email. In fact, we had to send over 30,000 Euros to accounts that we did not control and we did not have an official document on hand for what this money was for. No proof, no guarantee. But there was no other way forward if we wanted the land.
So in conclusion, I just say that everything turned out well and the trust in the Cretan citizens paid off. In the end, we received a detailed purchase agreement, where everything was as we wanted, and then a confirmation that the land is ours. The land cadastre registered us as new owners. It was surprising that the purchase price was increased by a thousand euros compared to the original agreement without further consultation with us. This meant several unpleasant phone calls and an explanation of the existence of additional unexpected charges. In the end, however, we agreed to everyone’s satisfaction. That it was then necessary to pay some other fees in the order of tens of euros, which they did not tell us about in advance, is an insignificant detail.
What experience have we gained from this process?
It is true that in Greece, everything is based primarily on personal relationships. But it’s not a problem to contact a local realtor, even if you don’t know anyone local. The realtor will supply contacts for all those needed. Be sure to negotiate the price.
More important than paper, however, is the personal word. If you agree on something personally, any deviation from the agreement will be perceived by the greeks as treason. It is good to reckon with the fact that the counterparty will try to modify the agreement slightly in its favor. Do not leave anything fundamental in the fog and have always the key parameters confirmed by the other party. What they confirm once, they will not change later.
The banking system in Greece is very socialist. Banks usually close at two in the afternoon, they lustrate you as under communism manner, you never know in advance what all the documents will be required of you when opening an account. It varies from case to case.
It is necessary to use a local lawyer to buy real estate. In addition to the real estate commission, you also pay a lawyer, who will ensure all the bureaucracy. The advantage is that you do not have to worry about it, there is no need for Greek and knowledge of local bureaucratic processes. But it costs another 1 to 5 thousand euros extra. According to the price of the property. Always agree on the specific amount of the reward in advance. The written contract is not always necessary, but what you agree on is bound.
It’s not that complicated when you know what to expect, is it?
Thank you for listening to the end!
In the next podcast, we will describe our first arrival at the purchased land. It was a great romance and adventure.
- Rubrika: Our story
