We bought our gorgeous plot of land. We made a few mistakes - we didn't actually realise we had made mistakes at first, because we were so delighted with the land, and the people we met were so helpful. Our pink-tinted specs were firmly across our noses. We considered ourselves savvy - lol. Here are some considerations we now think are important, but we were too excited/naive/stupid to think of all of them at the time. Hindsight is a great teacher - blogs enable other people to learn from our hindsight. Please note, I am not putting myself up as an expert on buying land in Greece here, I am being honest with you about things we learnt, sometimes to our cost. If you want to know all the ins and outs of buying land in Greece, you should consult a Greek lawyer who specialises in land contracts. I have not found any English books which really go into detail about all the steps that are included, but did buy one which gives a functional overview - I will remind myself what it is called, and post it next time.
1. You cannot buy land in a week, so you will need someone to act on your behalf in the country, to sign contracts that need to be signed, whilst you are not there (unless you can afford to stay for the duration, or pop in and out of the country as required). This can be achieved by giving them your Power of Attorney. You go to a Public Notary's office (there will be several in any town), with your chosen person, and sign a legal document which achieves this. The contract will be in Greek, so you should get a translator or interpreter to accompany you. Some Notaries can offer this service, but you should not expect it. You can give someone a POA to do only specific things for you, or you can give a POA to do a number of things. Whoever you give it to, to be on the safe side, they should be someone who can act for you who does not have a vested (other) interest in the land purchase. I would say the same is true of a house purchase too. Ideally, you should find an English-speaking solicitor to act for you. Ideally, you would not give POA to the estate agent selling the land, because you are giving them the right to buy that land on your behalf, and their vested interest is in selling that land, so their judgement on your behalf may not be as clear-cut as if, say, a solicitor was acting for you.
2. You will also, obviously, need a solicitor to ensure that the sale is legal. If you intend to build on the land, you need to make sure the solicitor understands this is your intention, so that they can ensure that the purchase only goes ahead if the land is buildable. Make sure the solicitor is English-speaking, assuming you do not speak Greek.
3. If your estate agent speaks English, and your solicitor speaks English, in fact, if anyone you need to deal with during the process speaks English, insist that all meetings at which you are present are also conducted in English. This is to reduce any doubt you may have about what is actually being said on your behalf.
4. Get some written documentation from the estate agent, which details what is for sale, and what the sales price is. It has been known for land to be sold without this being written down, and the price you are told may not be the price the vendor is told. Someone may get to keep the difference, and it won't be you. This is illegal, but without documentation, what proof would you have that this has happened?
5. Consider whether electricity and water are nearby your plot - you will have to pay to get them there, if not. You may have to take wires and pipes over other peoples' land - you need to know if this will be necessary, because you will need to have these people agree to do this when you get around to building, and they may not!
6. Land Registry as we know it in the UK is in its infancy in Greece. Make sure your solicitor investigates whether anyone other than the vendor could have a claim on the land - this is highly likely as land is passed through from generation to generation. If there are people who could claim that the land (or part of it) is theirs, then your solicitor should have them sign an affidavit stating that they will make no claim on your land once you have bought it. It is possible for a family to give a plot of land to a son, who marries, and has children, one of whom takes the land (with general agreement at the time). However, unless the rest of the family sign to say they relinquish their claim to that plot at that point, when the son comes to sell the land, they still have rights to it. Your solicitor is responsible for ensuring that all possible claimants are discovered and sign an affidavit.
7. If you are fortunate enough to be able to buy the land for cash, consider whether this gives you the best protection if there are legal queries down the line. If you were to get a loan from a bank that operates in Greece for part of the price, you get an additional measure of protection in the purchase, because of course, the bank will want to satisfy themselves that the purchase is legal, and will, effectively, check the work your solicitor is doing.
8. You will need to transfer your money across when the purchase is made. You do not need to open a joint account with anyone else, such as your POA, to do this. You can transfer money from your account to theirs, either by having on-line access to do it yourself, or by communicating with your bank to request they do it for you. Transferring money into the country entitles you to tax rebates later on (more info on that in subsequent posts). We use HSBC, and have an account in the UK and in Athens. Athens will transfer funds electronically to other people's accounts - your solicitors, for example, when payment is due.
9. Do not let anyone convince you that receipts are not necessary, or that it is not the Greeks' way to use receipts. They do, and you should be given one. You may be fed a lot of bullsh*t about tax avoidance, as justification for why a receipt will not be given. Don't listen to it, you are entitled to receipts. If you go through your solicitor, this ought not to be a problem.
10. Ask for copies of all paperwork, once the sale is complete, and keep them in a safe place. You will need them again when you get around to applying for a building permit, or if you apply for a mortgage to fund the building costs. It is much handier if you have copies that you can send, than having to go back to your solicitor each time. Sometimes, however, certified copies are required, which will need to be stamped by your solicitor. But having a copy of everything yourself helps.
I stress, this is my list of thoughts, not a guide to buying land, but it might help you avoid a few problems further down the line. What is life if not a learning opportunity?! Next post I'll talk about more practical issues with purchasing land for building in Greece. This post has been quite cathartic :)
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