Buying Property in Greece : Costs
Sofia Pesiou, Sunday, 10 November 2013
This article is part of a series of 8 articles about buying property in Greece. The other articles in the series cover the following topics:
In Greece, properties have had two name values which are the objective property value or Tax Assessed Value and the actual sales value.
The value of a property is determined by the local Tax Office for the property to be transferred. It is also called objective property value or objective value or Tax Assessed Value and it is determined by relevant legislation.
The sales value is the actual price of the transaction. It is the one that the buyer will have pay to the seller. It is usually higher than the objective value. All the taxes are based on the Tax Assessed Value while the fees are calculated based on the sales price.
When buying property in Greece the buyer should keep in mind that there are extra costs which include:
This article is part of a series of 8 articles about buying property in Greece. The other articles in the series cover the following topics:
In Greece, properties have had two name values which are the objective property value or Tax Assessed Value and the actual sales value.
The value of a property is determined by the local Tax Office for the property to be transferred. It is also called objective property value or objective value or Tax Assessed Value and it is determined by relevant legislation.
The sales value is the actual price of the transaction. It is the one that the buyer will have pay to the seller. It is usually higher than the objective value. All the taxes are based on the Tax Assessed Value while the fees are calculated based on the sales price.
When buying property in Greece the buyer should keep in mind that there are extra costs which include:
- the taxes paid to the state
- the fees to those who intervene in the buying process namely the lawyer, the real estate agent, the surveyor and the notary.
- Purchase or transfer tax is a tax based on a house’s Tax Assessed Value for properties older than 2006 and it is 8% for the first 20,000€ and 10% for any amount exceeding that.
- Value Added Tax (VAT) is only applicable when the building license has been issued after 1.1.2006. The rate of VAT is 23%.
- Capital Gains Tax is a tax newly imposed on the difference between the acquisition cost (the actual sales price or price that is written on the purchase notary contract) of the real estate property to be transferred and its sales prices.
- Community or Municipal Tax is a tax about 3% of Tax Assessed Value.
- Land Registry fee Land Registry fee is 4.75‰ of the Tax Assessed Value plus a small sum for stamp duties and certificates.
- Lawyer’s fees
The presence of a lawyer is obligatory during the signing of contracts if the property costs more than €29.374 in Attica and Piraeus and more than
€11.739 in all other Greek prefectures.
The lawyer’s fee is agreed with the client in case the buyer requires any further assistance and consultation not only during the signing of the contracts but also during the buying process which is highly recommended in Greece.
The minimum fee is calculated based on the cost of the property:
For cost up to €44.020 the fee is 1% of the total value of the property.
For cost up to €1.467.351 the fee is 0.5% of the total value.
For cost up to €2.934.702 the fee is 0.4% of the total value.
For cost up to €5.869.405 the fee is 0.3% of the total value.
For cost up to €14.673.514 the fee is 0.2% of the total value.
For cost up to €29.347.028 the fee is 0.1% of the total value.
For cost up to €58.694.057 the fee is 0.05% of the total value.
For any further amount the fee is standard at 0.01% of the total value. - Notary’s fee
The notary’s fee is 2% of the price of the property as this is stated on the contract. There are some extra fees for any document, copies or stamps that may be required. - Real estate’s fee
The real estate’s fee can range between 2%-5% depending of the cost of the property. - Surveyor’s fee
The surveyor’s fee starts from €200. - Utility Fees
The buyer needs to spend at least €150 to get a new contract for electricity and water supply. - Fees for inspection
Though not obligatory, the legal inspection of all the documents and titles of ownership are difficult to be conducted by an individual. Therefore, hiring a lawyer is advisable and his fee is not standard but rather it depends on the time employed.
The same applies for a civil engineer who needs to be called to check the construction and the authenticity of all the topographic plans as well as the titles of the property at the local urban department of the Municipality. - Mortgage
In case of a home loan, the prospective buyer of the house needs to add some extra fees to the total amount besides the loan itself and the interest rates. Those are the processing or filling fees ranging from €600-€1500, the fees for the bank’s lawyer which is usually around €150 and the bank’s civil engineer whose fee start from €300 and upwards depending on the inspection he needs to conduct. These are the inspection for the bank’s inspection however the borrower is required to pay these besides the fees for individual inspection that he has done for himself and they are mentioned before. Of course, the borrower burdens the cost for the registration of the mortgage to the Land Registry.
Nowadays, the competition among bank products is starting again after the recession period, thus it is highly likely that some banks will cover all the above expenses. These offers are advertised but last only for a short period of time.
Villas and apartments for sale in Greece. Buy a holiday home on a Greek island, Crete, Lesbos, Rhodes, Chios, Corfu, Zakynthos or Kos.
A foreign investor who decides to buy property in Greece should be careful with the whole buying process. The things that he has to take into account
are the taxes, the rules that apply in home loans, the necessary documents that he need to submit. Moreover, it is crucial that he make a plan of all
the costs and do a research beforehand.
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