| Buying
Property In Corfu, Greece |
| Looking
For Paradise |
| by Janet Darbey |
| So you have
decided to leave your current home and settle in another country. You have
already packed up and left this country behind you in your favourite fantasy,
and you can visualise the little chair on the balcony overlooking the beach,
and the glass of local red wine, that is waiting there for you..............
WAIT A MINUTE!
Do you already know where you want to live when you reach your destination
in Paradise? Or are you planning to book a cheap package holiday week,
spend a couple of days looking around, and then buy the perfect little
residence on the spot? Well, we all have fantasies, but this is real life,
and things are not always that easy. A little forward planning will help
you achieve your dream of living in paradise that much easier than if you
leave things to chance. |
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| First of all,
take time to decide what kind of property you would like to buy, and discuss
your ideas with your partner or family. After all, your idea of what
Paradise is made of may not be the same as theirs! You may want a little
stone house way up in the mountains with half an acre of land and a few
chickens, your wife may want an apartment by the beach, with it's own pool
to the side, and the kids may want to live in town so they do not have
far to travel to school and the local cinema. Share your ideas and listen
to theirs, and be highly delighted if you can reach a reasonable compromise
within a few days without a major family disagreement.
When you have
found some kind of common ground, you need to decide where you want to
live.Resorts are great in the summer, but may be crowded with tourists.
They may be completely closed in the winter, with nothing in the way of
facilities or shops. In the mountains you will probably be a part of
a friendly village community, but if the village is remote no-one may
speak your language,so you will have to learn theirs quickly. Another option
is to excel at mime, it worked for me till I learned the local dialect!It
also made me a great many friends among the villagers, as they found it
to be a hilarious form of entertainment during the winter months. |
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| Finally, take
a REALISTIC look at your finances. It is easy to imagine that you have
more money to spend on property in Paradise than you actually have. Costs
of purchasing a house and costs of repairs can escalate dramatically without
you being prepared for it. If you need to borrow money to fund your dream,
be careful where you borrow the money from. Many mortgage companies will
not lend money for property overseas.Always remember that if you borrow
money to buy property, or to rebuild it, you have to PAY THE MONEY BACK!
This may seem a silly statement, but it is one that should be at the forefront
of your mind when you are making your plans.
Do not count
on letting out the property to tourists during the months you are not there.In
the last two years there has been a decline in the tourism in most parts
of Greece, particularly the islands, and income from letting property has
declined with it. |
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Offshore
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| You must also
have a license from the Greek Tourism Board to let out rooms legally,you
must fulfil fire and safety regulations, and you must pay tax on this income.
Authorities are having a clamp down on illegal lets, and fines are enormous!
If you are
planning to move permanantly to Greece, unless you have enough private
income for you to live well on, you must consider employment in the place
you are going to live.Unemployment rates in Greece in general are high,
but on the islands they are even higher. Some islanders can find work only
in the summer season, when tourists visit. This means they either have
to save enough when they are working to live in the winter, or learn to
survive on unemployment benefit during the winter months. This is ONLY
paid if they have enough national insurance stamps credited to them over
eighteen months. Working one summer season will not earn you enough to
be paid benefits. If you are self employed here you are not entitled to
benefits at all.
Once you have
considered all these, and found the answers to a few more questions
of your own, it is time to consider finding a property to suit you (and
your family).First of all, do some homework. |
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| If you have
internet access at home,a notepad and lots of sharp pencils, Great! If
you do not have home access to the Net, go down to your local library.
Internet
access is free at most of them. If you are not computer literate, take
a friend who is ( or even better, take your child with you!).Take along
a good supply of pens and paper to take a note of details , as the cost
of printing a sheet of paper is extortionate at some libraries, and very
slow. Only print out details if you are desperate to have a picture of
the property from the website.
Log on (ask
your friend or the technician at the library if you don't know how. Visit
these websites, which all feature property for sale in Corfu, Greece. Take
a note of what kind of property is available, where.Make a special note
of any just below your price range just below, because you will need some
money to pay for taxes, legal fees, and hidden costs of buying). |
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Offshore
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| Discuss them
all with your family and friends, and find out about the area to see if
it suits your needs.Study maps and guide book descriptions of each place.
Contact
any or all of the real estate sites listed below and find out if the online
property
list is up to date.
Some sites do not update their data very often,with the result that you
may fly all the way to Corfu, only to find out that the property was sold
five months ago, or even worse, has been demolished by the town hall workmen.Let
them know if you are really interested, and leave your up to date contact
details with them. Ask them to let you know when any suitable property
comes up, and tell them EXACT details of what you require. This will make
it easier for them, and narrow down the search so you do not spend months
looking at unsuitable places.
If you intend
to book a holiday in order to spend time visiting likely properties, let
the real estate agent know at least a couple of weeks in advance of you
arriving. Tell them where you will be staying, and try to take a mobile
phone with you that works overseas, so they can contact you if they need
to.They will be able to arrange a series of viewings for you while you
are in the country, and hopefully, will be able to find several properties
in each area you are interested in.
It may be worth
considering buying a piece of suitable land, rather than a house that already
exists.Check if planning permission is already in place.It is often automatic
if the land is beside a main road, with all services (water, etc) nearby.
If the land is within the town planning area you should be ok, but always
check, and get it in writing.Prefabricated buildings are available in Greece
now, they can be built by the manufacturers, or by yourself. If you
plan to build any property yourself you must remember that you have
to build to Greek and European building and safety regulations, and these
are very different from UK regulations. All buildings must be built to
withstand earthquakes, for example!
When you find
the property you want to buy, pay for a survey. This step is sometimes
missed out in Greece, but some areas are prone to flooding, earth tremor
damage,or sink holes (A large hole that suddenly opens in the earth when
the limestone beneath is eroded away by water).
Save yourself
a lot of future hassle by paying for a good survey. When you have found
a good lawyer (who speaks your language, as well as Greek) and a good accountant
(to sort out a tax number for you, and some financial details), you are
ready to make an offer.
When you have
agreed on the price it is usual to pay ten percent deposit on the deal.
If you withdraw the offer the seller keeps your deposit, if he withdraws
he must pay you the ten percent of the price, plus interest accrued while
the deal was being sorted out. Good Luck with your purchase, it may take
months before all the paperwork is sorted out, but you must not pay the
full amount till it is, and your lawyer has the final piece of paper necessary
to make it all legal!!!
Enjoy your
little piece of Paradise, you've earned it.... |
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