What changes in Greek real estate market make this year the most profitable for buying a housing? What should you know before you put your signature on the contract? Anna Shumskaya, an independent expert and Maria Havaledaki, a real estate agent will share their opinion with our readers.
 

Anna Shumskaya
Head of immigration company “EUEASY.RU”.
Lives and works in Kea for about 15 years.
 



Maria Havaledaki
Director of real estate company «Minoan Properties».
 



Current housing prices – are they real?

Anna Shumskaya: "For all the years that I’ve lived and worked here I have never seen such low prices. What could be cheaper than items that are sold for less money that had been spent for its construction? This, of course, is nonsense, which will hardly happen once again. "

Maria Havaledaki: “For the last 3 years the prices went down about 30% and they very close to real prices. They are in balance and there is always a chance to negotiate and get an extra discount. Most of the sellers are the foreigners and they expect to get more money for their apartment”.
 
Based on such reviews, 2017 is the year when the real estate in Greece is not just affordable, but quite profitable for investments. Especially, considering the fact that the scope of Greek tourism shows the unbelievable growth despite the world’s crisis.
 
Anna Shumskaya: "Nowadays people can afford a new property built 3-4 years ago, this means that the prices reached its bottom."

Maria Havaledaki: "Well, Europe is not a place people feel safe now. We have a lot of customers from Belgium, France, Austria and they say that they do not feel safe and come to Greece to invest there. We had a couple from Istanbul who own a hotel but they decided to come to Greece to live and do business here.
From another side if you take a look at the prices in Austria, France or Belgium they are extremely high, whereas here you do not need to invest a lot of money to get 5-7% of annual revenue.”
 
But do not get it wrong, there are plenty seductive offers in the internet with suspiciously low price and attractive pictures. Both the professionals and the independent experts agree that they are not 100% trustful.

Anna Shumskaya: “You can buy a real estate for 8-10 thousand euros, but it's not appropriate for living as an overhaul will be needed. And these are the extra expenses. The only option for a such property is to give it for rent as an office or a warehouse”.

Maria Havaledaki: “If you see an apartment for a low price usually something is wrong there or it's fake. Sometimes too cheap can become very expensive, you understand what I mean?
We cannot say it does not exist, may be those sellers desperately need money, but still they will not sell it so cheap. For such a low price you can find a land. As for the real prices for a reliable property – they start from 25 000 euros".

We picked some reliable offers from Domaza, starting from the most affordable plots to the luxury villas on the sea cost
 

Greece, Crete, 25 000 €, 1000 m2

 

Greece, Crete, 150 000 €, 605 m2

An approximate purchase and maintenance costs and the calculation of the total income


The lower threshold value of the property for personal use, according to A. Shumskaya is:
 

• The lowest price is about 30 thousand euros;

• nice apartment around 50 square meters – starting from 50 thousand euros (usually a resale).

• new apartment in a prestigious area - about 100 thousand euros.

 
 
Greece, Crete Apartment, 149 000 €






Maria Havaledaki: “The apartments and houses 300-400 meters away from the sea, with the swimming pool, 2-3 bedrooms and bathrooms start from 130-140 000 euros and some villas go up to couple millions which depends of the size, view and location of the property. But it’s not a big range of people who are ready to invest millions, usually the investments are between 300-600 000 euros”.
 
Note that this kind of property (over 200 000 €) has an additional tax ("luxury tax").
 
An approximate tax rate depending on the apartment price:

• 200 000 € - 0,1%

• 250 000 € - 0,15%

• 300 000 to 400 000 € - 0,3%

Anna Shumskaya: "Long term rent is about 250-300 euros per month. Rental tax rate is - 20%. You must remember that the owner pays 30% of the cost of the service even if the apartment is empty and sealed. There is an opportunity for a daily rent. Then the approximate revenue will be about 400-500 euros per month, but in case if the property is occupied for at least 20 days out of 30 ".

Maria Havaledaki: “As I have already said the most profitable are villas and apartments near the sea. You can get up to 1000 -1500 euros for a villa with the swimming pool per week. Investments in hotel business are more popular on Hersonissos or Agios Nikolaos - this part of Crete”.
 
Income taxes:
 

• Less than  12 000 €  a year - 15%

• 12 000-35 000 € a year - 35%

• From 35 000 € a year - 45%

 
Greece, Crete, 350 000 €, 600 m2






What do you risk when you avoid professional's help?

Anna Shumskaya: “Experts say that the most reliable way to make a good deal choosing a property is to find a reliable real estate agency and work with the professional sales manager. It concerns both cases: when you have a small budget and looking for a profitable deal and when you can afford a luxury apartment. Following this guide, you will minimise the risks of getting involved in the shady transaction.
It is really worth it to pay 2-4% extra to the professional, but at least you will be sure that the property you are investing your money is “clean” - without this additional service the client remains without a scrutiny of the object in question. The property you chose may be with encumbrances, square meter may be different from real digits, and etc. and only a professional will check this before you sign the contract”.

Maria Havaledaki: “If you work with the real estate you work with the professional, he knows the area, he can introduce you to the reliable lawyer that you can trust, and they probably work together for many years. Most of the people who come here do not know the area, they don’t know anything here, they just know their needs. So, if you don’t have somebody to hear your needs how are you going to find the right property? That was the psychological part, as for the legal part you need to have a professional next to you and a reliable person to introduce you a lawyer you can trust, a professional civil engineer and so on".