Useful Information 

Generally buying, building or renovating a home in your own country is a major step - the same applies to buying or renovating a Greek property, but with the added challenges of distance, lack of local knowledge (and possibly language) and enough time to organise such an undertaking on your own. Without expert and honest assistance it is from very difficult to impossible. So having a good Real Estate Agent to assist you is a must.

We hope that our “plain speaking” will not offend our web site visitors (and potential buyers); it is entirely intended to be used as “forewarned – forearmed” information.

Our experiences thus far have made us much wiser and they have revealed many (avoidable) horror stories, which basically arise out of the intend to “break the rules” so to speak. In Greece as in UK (and all other western countries), Estate Agencies are the places to contact and visit if you wish to buy or sell property. Estate Agencies are legally registered, provide services for which there is a fee payable, are accountable and pay tax on their income.

In Greece, at the same time a black economy exists, due to others  “dabbling” or “playing at” being Estate Agent.  This could be: a friend of a friend, the waiter at the bar or hotel, the owner of the hotel, a new friend you have made at a bar, the local priest, someone who has already bought property, or “Uncle Tom Cobley & all “.

In the face of it YOU might think that not going to a registered Estate Agent and using a “Pretend Estate Agent person”, is the cheapest way to go, as it will save you the Estate Agency’s fee. After all a few beers and a meal don’t cost all that much. I am sorry to say but it does not work like that.

Your “Pretend Estate Agent person” or “ yialantzi mesitis “ ( for those who are learning Greek), will cost you a lot more than an estate agent’s fee and then some, since at best he will “cut a deal” with property owners and he will “bump up” the price you will pay and at worst if he is really unscrupulous he will sell you a worthless property, making out that it is the best deal you will find. This is false economy to say the least.

These are some of the horror stories that were reported to us by “burned” buyers of property:

• Got sold an animal shelter as a country cottage (you can never legalize such properties, which means you can’t get planning permission for an extension or get connected to utilities)
• Got sold a patch of land with a derelict building on it, which for one reason or another is not eligible for planning permission
• Got sold an old unworthy house with compromised static integrity (this means if there is a strong earthquake it will disintegrate)
• Got sold a house that its basic structure of columns (which are the support of the house) were made out of sea sand (to save money), which has led to the corrosion of the steel braces and the crumbling of the structure of the house
• Got sold a piece of land which for one reason or another is not eligible for planning permission
• Got promised support with the language and help in sourcing architects, tradesmen  etc that never materialized once the property was bought

The list (I am afraid) is much longer….

To our knowledge a couple of Dutch buyers who were in the process of buying land in Parakila through an Estate Agency in Kalloni, Lesvos had the brilliant idea of contacting the land owners directly. The price of the property immediately went up, since the land owners thought “these people are so keen, we can press them for a bit more cash…”

Also it is confirmed now that some potential buyers are dedicated DIYers for another reason. They source property details from the Estate Agencies, or Estate Agency FOR SALE signs, view properties via Estate Agents and then they proceed to “ferret out” the owners, thus “cutting out” the Estate Agencies (and not paying the Estate Agency fee). This is legally an offence and it is entirely within the Estate Agents rights to claim his fees through legal means.

I am embarrassed to say that we have been affected by DIYers too: Potential property customers with “viewing appointments” with us, instead of coming to our offices as the agreed starting point, they have taken it upon themselves to search for the house, find it and invite themselves in, causing embarrassment to the owners (who then have to ring our offices and let us know) and us.

This kind of thing is not acceptable practice in UK (or other western countries) so it is not to be assumed that it is acceptable in Greece. At HIBISCUS REAL ESTATE SERVICES we do provide a very good Property Information Service (along the lines of British Estate Agencies) since it is our business and we take it very seriously, but the above experiences have already regrettably caused us to:

• Not display FOR SALE property signs any longer
• We are seriously considering not to prove external photos of properties or property landmark information, prior to viewing visits arranged with us.

This may appear to be drastic but we need to be convinced that we are not considered as a FREE Information Service (which we are not). We are a very good Estate Agency (with substantial overheads) based in Polichnitos , South Lesvos, who not only sells properties but provides a valuable Support Service too, with many satisfied customers, which are happy to say so : Check TESTIMONIALS

For Information on:

HOW TO BUY PROPERTY IN LESVOS (EU Citizens) / INF1

HOW TO BUY PROPERTY IN LESVOS (Non EU Citizens) / INF2

ASSOCIATED EXPENSES in PROPERTY BUYING / INF3

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