Real Estate law and transactions is the core business at KCH Law Office. KCH Law Firm has developed a one-stop orientation and approach with in-house notaries, with vast experience in the field and the KCH team of highly-trained professionals who have expertise in a number of areas, allowing the Client to obtain comprehensive specialist advice under one roof.
Over the years, we have dealt with numerous and complex cases of Greek and foreign parties who want to purchase, sell or construct real estate in the Greek territory.
Our close ties with our industry partners, such as accountants, bankers, architects, engineers and surveyors means that we operate in a multi-disciplinary team, over a range of subject matters and are able to support fully the Client.
Representation of the buyer
Our experienced real estate lawyers may represent the buyer in order to ensure that the client will acquire safely a property, free of any claims and encumbrances. At the same time, our lawyers represent the buyer at every step of the process, from opening a bank account to providing all the needed documents at every stage, coordinating all parties for the successful signature of the contract and definitely making sure that even the next steps, after the transfer of the ownership is taken care of.
Representation of the seller
KCH Law Firm lawyers make sure that the transfer of ownership and payment of the property price is done according to the Law. Taxation and banking rules apply in detail in order to safeguard the client’s interests and ensure that the transfer of funds is done in the proper way.
Acquisition of property in Greece by a foreigner:
A foreigner can freely purchase property in Greece. There are only some restrictions for non-EU nationals: purchasing property near military bases, national borders and in some islands, like Santorini, a special permission from the Ministry of Defence is required.
Once the property to purchase in Greece selected, the first step is to hire a real estate lawyer. The lawyer will be responsible for performing due diligence and making sure buyer’s interests are protected throughout the whole transaction. The lawyer is responsible for performing the due diligence and draw up an initial purchase agreement, if such thing is necessary. The lawyer must also perform title search, check if there are any charges on the property, if the construction followed government planning regulations, and all taxes due have been paid by the seller. This can be accomplished at the Registry of Mortgages and depending on the case, the buyer may need to hire an engineer.
Buyer will also need an accountant who will secure on their behalf a Tax Registry Number from the Internal Revenue Service and will be the buyer’s tax representative, if buyer does not reside in Greece and if they do not speak the language. The accountant will also submit the tax declaration for the property each year.
The lawyer is obliged to get copies of the title from the seller. It is buyer’s responsibility to hire a notary public who will be in charge of initially calculating the governmental value of the property, the tax to be paid and preparing the form to be submitted at the Tax Authorities prior to the signature of the contract deed.
The notary also drafts the contract and ensures that all certificates required obligatorily by law are in place, taxes are paid and generally oversees the finalization of the purchase. Buyer and seller- or the persons who legally represent them- must sign the contract deed in the presence of the notary public who will validate the transaction and keep it in public records. The original contract remains at the notary’s records and the notary may only issue official copies, which are charged by law. Upon completion of the transaction, official copy of the deed and all necessary certificates are submitted to the Land Registry and the Cadastre to change property ownership to buyer’s name. Certificates of registration at the Land Registry are issued within approximately two weeks from submission date.
The buyer is responsible to pay the fees of lawyer, notary public, accountant, engineer, if applicable, transfer tax and land registry fees.
In case of a Chinese buyer, KCH Law can assist the buyer to collect all necessary documents for bank account opening in Greece and for applying for the Residence Permit and officially translate from Chinese to Greek language all required documents through our verified mandarin speaking lawyer Dafni Korobeli.
