Seeking Real Estate Attorney and Tips for Home Buying in Greece

You need a “Συμβολαιογράφο” Sim-Vo-Leo-Grafo literally a writer of contracts, who is an attorney but specializes in title search and writes the contracts and reads the previous ownership contracts and in general he will tell you if you are buying a valid property or thin air.
He/she is charging a very small percentage of the property value ...sometimes sellers only want to show the government minimum per sq. meter price for the area you are buying in....and the rest in cash or transfer etc.  About the golden visa I don’t know much about but I know that the real estate agents involved with the Golden visa program, charge inflated.prices for their properties, so bargain with them.

You need a good pro active lawyer who will check the ownership of the said property by actually going into the local planning department of the town council where the property is,the lawyer will ask for certain papers from your seller to verify the legality,the license,the land registry,many papers,if your lawyer and symvolio tell you OK only then will you give a deposit and I guess after your application for Golden Visa has been approved.There are companies or lawyer offices who can deal with the process of Golden Visa for you,of course you pay but they take the stress.The value of the property is minimum 250.000.

Its the lawyer who does the Title Search not Symvolio,Symvolio also looks and says yay or nay about certain papers. Some lawyers are particular specialists on this matter.I have been going through all this for one year so I know very well,I have two fantastic lawyers and symvolio,one of the lawyers is like a bullet,he gets on the phone to them,the sellers and so does my lady lawyer.usually they tell me...dont touch this,2 days ago my lady said...I see papers for only land,no building,( yet you say you are buying an apartment) upon it and there is an unpaid loan,the seller says...ooohhhh,really,I didnt know that.....lies,forever lies,Greeks aint got it yet.there is no way now to sell dodgy property or land if you the buyer will pay the aforementioned experts to go through it with a fine tooth comb,so bye bye being done over.

Your agent will depend which area you choose to buy in,there are national or local agents,some national agents do the whole lot and fix everything to do with your Golden Visa.

Thank you so much for the great information! I sent you a PM with a couple of questions if you don't mind answering them.

Hello, if you are still looking for a lawyer, I have a contact who is a lawyer specializing in real estate and the golden visa, one thing about Greece is that you always need someone working for you that you can trust. I use this lawyer and trust her implicitly, she speaks excellent English and is also a genuinely nice person

hello, check this out for residency in Greece tranio.com/greece/residence/

@CandleMaker

Hello, we are interested  in beginning the property search in Greece. Considering something on Kythera. Do you have any recommendations on lawyers or Greek professionals that you trust?

Hello,

Search for VOUTSINAS B. IOANNIS Lawyer & Law Office - Firm. One of the best in Athens by my own opinion!

All the best,

Eugene D.

@hunterbeth Hi Beth, Great that you're seeking a GR place. I have been living in Greece for 4 years. Currently I'm in Toronto. I do have quite a few contacts in RE sector, since I conduct market research for developers. Can likely find you a place for sale, directly with owners, alleviating a well known Greece disaster named real estate brokers. It's truly a mess. Can also discuss and direct you to the correct people for the paperwork. Anyhow would be great to chat for a better idea of what property you're seeking. Send me an email,***, My Toronto numb: ***Kind Regards, Frank

@DaniGY Hi Dani, As similarly responded to Beth on this thread, I have alot of contacts through my real estate research work and would be great to have a chat about what you're seeking. My email, ****, I'm currently in Toronto. ***, Kind Regards, Frank

@info9762I am also in Toronto area please provide contact details

Thank you

Mark

@info9762 Thank you for the reply, Frank.  Curious about the difference between private and licensed real estate brokers, want to ensure that everything is on the up and up.  I've read that going to a larger firm may move the process forward more quickly, as they are dedicated resources and not a side-hussle.

@hunterbeth no difference really - you need to be lucky