If you have enjoyed your
stay on Kefalonia and fallen in love with the Fiscardo
area, you may well be considering the idea of investing
in property abroad. A common question visitors ask is
"Is it easy is to buy property in Greece?" The answer is
yes. If you are an EEC citizen, the process is
straightforward enough, not entirely dissimilar to the
system you are used to at home and as easy as purchasing
any other overseas property.
Driving around,
you will see so many beautiful old houses, often in sad
states of disrepair. Unfortunately, a lot of these are
not for sale. Greek inheritance laws are complex and as
a result, it is not unusual to find properties jointly
owned by several different people. Unless they all wish
to sell, purchasing under these circumstances would be
very difficult indeed.
In the Fiscardo
area, houses for sale are the exception rather than the
rule. However, at the time of writing, there are still
plenty of building plots to be found and if the first
preference is not achievable, buying land and building
the house you desire, is the next best option. Prices
asked, particularly for houses, villas or ruins can vary
considerably.
Unlike some
areas, in Kefalonia there is no specific market value.
The price is a combination of what the seller wants and
what the buyer is prepared to pay. Building land has a
more fixed price and a 1 strema (1,000 sq meter) plot,
with good views and within a village boundary would
start at around (Euro) €90,000. Once you have found your
dream villa, plot or ruin the procedure is fairly
simple. However, before proceeding you should make sure
of a few points. Firstly, is the seller, the clear and
rightful owner? Remember the inheritance laws. You
certainly don't want anyone popping up later, with a
claim on the luxury villa you have just purchased. In
the case of land, you need to be sure that you will be
able to obtain planning permission. There needs to be
road access to the land. If there is only a footpath,
you may need to get permission to widen it from
neighbours, who may or may not be happy to oblige.
Within the village boundaries you can obtain permission
to build on a plot 1 strema in size. However, outside
the village boundaries you must own a much larger, at
least 4 strema plot; there are plans to increase this to
8 strema soon. If there are lots of trees on the land,
make sure that this is not designated as forest, as
building permission would not then be granted.
