Finca Greece

You may have already toyed with the idea of buying a picturesque finca or other property in Greece? Many Germans who like to spend their holidays in Greece and investors who are looking for an alternative investment for their money in times of financial crises on the capital market have already considered this possibility. In any case, you should know exactly what special features you need to look out for when buying real estate such as a finca in Greece in order to avoid costly mistakes and pitfalls.

In principle, the purchase of a finca in Greece is not so different from the purchase of a property in Germany. The legal basis is the Greek version of the Civil Code. In addition, every purchase of a property in Greece must first be registered in the land register so that the change of ownership becomes official. Before that, of course, you do not become a legally effective owner. A special feature is that there is still no land register in Greece comparable to the German land register. Until now, real estate in Greece has been recorded in a register under the name of the owner. Only after a new law will the practice be such that there will be a land register for every municipality, as in Germany, in which the entries are made according to objects and parcels. For the time being, however, your object of purchase may only be registered under the name of the seller. To be on the legally safe side, you should definitely hire a lawyer if you want to buy a finca in Greece. Only a lawyer with regional experience and knowledge of Greek law will be able to determine the ownership of your property and guarantee a legally secure purchase of a finca in Greece. As in Germany, you must sign a notarised contract of sale. You will also need a lawyer for this. In general, you should know that you are no longer required to have a lawyer when buying a finca or property in Greece. However, you should not do without a lawyer because of the time-consuming research and the legal peculiarities, even if you know the language. In addition, a buyer who wants to purchase a finca in Greece must take into account that there has been a law against black buildings in Greece since 2011. This means that it must be officially certified that the buildings on the property that is to be sold or changes ownership were not erected without planning permission. In fact, this was not uncommon in Greece in the past. Without this certificate, you cannot legally purchase a finca in Greece.

As you can see, only an experienced Greek lawyer can help you with this. Of course, there are fees for the notarisation of the purchase contract. As a rule, you have to pay these to the respective municipality in whose administrative area the property with the finca that you want to purchase is located.