Buyers and sellers checklist
Photo by Romano Pedetti
Trigono groves website seeks to inform about the practicalities of life in the Methoni area of Messinia, Peloponnese, Greece. Search statistics show that the main keywords for those reaching this site are about groves for sale, though general interest is increasing.
Checklist for buying land in Greece
Visit before buying
Don't underestimate the costs involved in visiting just to look at the area! Winter flights and hotels are cheaper than summer prices and you'll get a better idea of the non-tourist related lifestyle. Many of those who settle in Methoni have come as holiday-makers for many years and already made friends and aquaintances.
- Flights
- Rail Fares
- Buses/Taxis
- Accommodation
- Meals
- Drinks/snacks
- Viewing properties
- Contingencies
Two lives
If you are maitaining you home and buying land in Greece don't underestimate the running costs and the time and effort involved.
- Running costs of each property
- Communications between countries
- Cost of delegating work in your absence
- Time spend organising
- Time spent travelling
- Ways of problem solving
- Language barriers
Legal anf financial issues
- Finding a lawyer
- Finding a Notary Public
- Transferring funds
- Currency fluctuations
- Paying tax
- Utility bills
- Insuarance - including health, transport, property
Maintaining a plot of land
It is much easier to start with a plot of land than a house if you are still maintaining your home and job in your own country. Land without access to facilities is much less expensive than land within the town boundary, though the cost will rise sharply if there is a sea view and imminent prospect of development.For the straightforward maintencae of a grove or uncleared land you need to consider:
- Clearing - access
- Clearing - major works
- Bush and border clearance
- Tree Pruning and maintenance
- Fertilising
- Harvesting
- Tilling
- Transport
- Security
Keeping records and logs
keeping a record of the cots is not something we all think of, but it is necessary for tax purposes and useful for our own planning and evaluation.The most vital record will be the legal ownership of the property and this will be held by the notary public as well as your own certified copy.
Buying and selling procedure
Buying and selling can be easy, but you must be careful, since boundary disputes, ownership comlications, and all manner of other difficulites can arise - and this is just for the land, never mind the buildings!
- Hire an interpretor if necessary
- Locate the property - through adverts, word of mouth or an agent
- Check the ownership - single or collective?
- Check the number of decison makers
- Evaluate the property location, boundaries, access and faclities
- Assess the obsticles to any agreement
- Hire a lawyer to act for you on the sale/purchase
- Give legal authority (power of attorney) to act for you if you may be absent
- Pay (buyer) or receive (seller) a binding deposit with agreement for the completion date
- Complete the sale, with lawyers, Notary Public and interpretors present
- Pay any taxes due