Why do I need to hire a local engineer when I purchase property in Greece?

Because, except from issuing the appropriate technical certificates of the property, he can guide you through the selection process and safeguard your interests, helping you to avoid potential bureaucratic, technical or time spending pitfalls. An engineer can be your third part consultant and raise your trust level in the whole procedure of buying Real Estate property in Greece.

When buying property in Greece, what are the necessary documents that must be issued by my local engineer?

A. The "Law 4178/13" certificate which assures the legal integrity of the construction and
B. The Energy Performance Certificate which ranks the property in the appropriate Energy Class.

Are there other documents that must be issued by other entities?

There are a series of other documents provided by the Notary or public authorities such as the Tax office authority. Valueprime’s cooperating lawyers can guide you through this.

What is the property owning TAX percentage in Greece?

From 2014 and on, a new property owning tax is enacted in order to unify all other previous minor taxes. It is called ENFIA and could be translated as "Unified Tax on property ownership". It is calculated by piece of property and takes into account the property footage, age of the construction, the location basic price as it is registered in the Ministry of finance matrixes etc. It could be very roughly estimated at a 0.1-0.5 % of the property’s value in a yearly basis.

What is the rent TAX percentage in Greece?

It is 11% per year if the yearly rent income is less than €12,000 and 33% per year if the income is over this amount.

What is the Purchase (or transaction) TAX when buying property in Greece?

The Transaction Tax is 3% on the basic contract price if the building permit is older than 2005. If the building permit is issued on the year 2006 and later by a developer, the there is no Transaction Tax but the VAT, which is as high as 23%. Those taxes are paid by the buyer. There is a newly launched "Price difference tax" which is paid by the seller.

Are there expenses other than Taxes?

There are a series of other minor expenses (Land registry fee etc.) that are not higher than 2%. Those expenses do not include the Notary fee, any Lawyer fee or Agent / Broker commission which are regulated through negotiation with the client.

Why is it essential to have a look at the baring structure of the property?

Greece is a seismic country with earthquakes happening every now and then. They are not of the catastrophic magnitude that happen elsewhere in the world (like for example Japan or Mexico) but a strong one could cause (mostly repairable) damages to your property if it is not designed by the recent regulations. Throughout the last 50 years the anti-seismic regulations for building have been revised four times to a more strict direction. So it is a matter of an engineer to check your potential property from that point of view and advise the client.

Is it the right time to buy property in Greece?

After the long lasting economic crisis which led to a fall of the property prices by around 40% since 2009, it seems that values are now in the bottom of a "U" shaped graph. Note that even in a stock markets context, Greece is the only state in the world which is considered to both an Emerging Market and a Euro zone country. That is, any investment made at this point of time has a great profit perspective and a significantly low risk.

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