From Offer to Deed: The Property Buying Process in Greece

Step one: you find a property and discuss commercial terms.

The buying process normally begins commercially, not legally.

The buyer identifies a property and discusses matters such as asking price, proposed purchase price, what is included in the sale, desired completion timing, possible deposit or reservation arrangements, and conditions important to either side.

At this stage, you may know quite a lot about what the seller is offering. You may know very little about whether the property has actually passed the checks required for a safe purchase.

An accepted offer does not prove that the seller’s title is clean, the cadastral record is correct, the building matches its legal plans, alterations are lawful, there are no mortgages or other encumbrances, the property can be transferred immediately, or the price is supported by transaction evidence.

Before the transaction moves far, the buyer needs the administrative basics.

A foreign buyer needs a Greek tax identification number, commonly called an AFM (ΑΦΜ — Αριθμός Φορολογικού Μητρώου).

AADE states that whether the buyer lives in Greece or abroad, a person buying Greek property must have or obtain a Greek tax number and deal with the applicable property-transfer tax process before the purchase contract. Source: AADE.

For a foreign buyer, this stage can also involve appointing advisers, arranging Greek tax-system access, organising certified documents where required, deciding whether the buyer will attend personally or use a power of attorney, and checking whether nationality or the property location creates an additional approval requirement.

A Greek bank account may be convenient, but it should not automatically be described as a universal legal prerequisite for every purchase.

Read: Greek AFM for Property Buyers →

Build the buyer-side professional team.

Several professionals may participate in the transaction, but their functions should not be blurred together.

PwC’s guidance distinguishes these roles: legal advisers address ownership and encumbrances, engineers review matters such as building permits and physical characteristics, and the notary is involved in the formal real-estate transaction. Source: PwC Greece.

A lawyer’s presence at the final deed is not, under the current general rule, mandatory for buyer and seller. That does not make independent legal due diligence unnecessary. Specialist Greek legal guidance confirms the distinction. Source: Koraki Law.

Legal due diligence checks whether the seller can transfer what you think you are buying.

One of the central pre-purchase tasks is the legal investigation of the property.

The scope depends on the transaction, but the buyer’s lawyer may examine ownership and chain of title, cadastral or land-registry records, mortgages, pre-notations of mortgage, seizures, registered claims, easements or other rights, discrepancies in the property description, and transaction terms.

Professional guidance from PwC identifies confirmation of the seller’s legal ownership and the property’s encumbrance status as core legal matters in a Greek acquisition. Source: PwC Greece.

Technical due diligence checks whether the physical property matches its legal and planning position.

The engineer’s work answers a different set of questions.

Depending on the property, technical review can include building permit information, approved drawings and plans, whether the actual layout corresponds with the documentation, unauthorised construction or alterations, regularisation of past irregularities, land and boundary matters, buildability where relevant, and other planning or technical restrictions.

PwC specifically separates engineering review of the building permit and physical characteristics from legal title review. Source: PwC Greece.

Legal due diligence asks whether the right can safely be transferred. Technical due diligence asks whether the property itself matches the relevant technical and planning evidence.

A deposit should not outrun the evidence.

There is no useful buyer rule saying: “First pay the deposit, then investigate.”

Commercial reservation arrangements, deposits or preliminary commitments may appear at different points in different transactions. Their legal effect depends on the document and the circumstances.

Before committing money that would be difficult to recover, understand what exactly you are signing, whether the payment is refundable, under which conditions, what happens if title review reveals a problem, what happens if the engineer identifies a serious issue, what happens if an approval is required and cannot be obtained, and what happens if the transaction does not complete.

The amount of money you commit should not move faster than the amount of evidence you have verified.

Problems found during due diligence do not all have the same consequence.

Due diligence is not simply a green-light/red-light exercise.

A documentation issue

Something is missing but can potentially be obtained.

A correctable issue

A technical or registration matter may need to be resolved before completion.

A commercial issue

The property is transferable, but the evidence changes what the buyer is willing to pay or accept.

A timing issue

The transaction may still proceed, but not on the seller’s original timetable.

A serious legal or technical risk

The buyer may decide not to proceed.

The seller and notary assemble the documentation needed for the transfer.

As the property becomes ready to transfer, the transaction moves toward the notarial stage.

Greece now has a Digital Property Transfer File — Ψηφιακός Φάκελος Μεταβίβασης Ακινήτου — for eligible property sales.

Gov.gr states that buyers, sellers and notaries can complete the property-transfer process electronically and that the digital file contains the notarial deed together with the documents required for its preparation. Source: Gov.gr.

For cadastral properties using the digital transfer system, the government describes a workflow in which the notary creates the transaction file, invites the parties, obtains documentation through connected systems, uploads the digital deed, calculates the registration fees, submits the act to the Hellenic Cadastre, and monitors registration progress. Source: Greek Government.

The property-transfer tax process happens before the deed.

For an ordinary taxable property purchase, the buyer is responsible for the Greek Real Estate Transfer Tax — Φόρος Μεταβίβασης Ακινήτου (FMA).

AADE states that buyer and seller submit a joint transfer-tax declaration before the transfer contract, the buyer is responsible for payment, the standard rate is 3% of the taxable value, and the main tax is also subject to a municipal levy equal to 3% of the tax itself. Source: AADE.

For transactions covered by the digital process, declarations are submitted through myPROPERTY. Other categories can follow the alternative AADE procedures applicable to them.

Do not confuse tax calculation with market value.

The amount used for Greek transfer-tax purposes is a tax calculation issue. It should not automatically be treated as evidence of what the property is worth in the open market.

The notarial deed is the formal sale contract.

The Greek property transfer reaches its formal contractual stage through the notarial purchase deed.

The notary is not simply a witness to the signatures. The notarial process is part of the legal form of the transfer.

By this point, the buyer should already understand the material results of title review, cadastral/registration review, technical review, transaction-specific restrictions, the tax treatment, agreed contractual terms, and any unresolved issues.

Signing the deed and registering ownership are separate stages.

After the deed is executed, the act must be registered in the competent property-registration system.

The Hellenic Cadastre provides electronic services for submission of contracts and the Digital Property Transfer File. Source: Hellenic Cadastre.

The government’s digital-transfer workflow specifically includes: notarial deed → payment of registration fees → submission to the Cadastre → registration. Source.

For eligible cadastral transactions using the Digital Property Transfer File, the government has stated that registration — or a reasoned rejection — can be completed within one working day when specified conditions are satisfied. That is a platform/process capability, not a promise that every Greek purchase completes or registers in one day.

After registration, the buyer becomes a Greek property owner for tax purposes too.

AADE states that foreign residents, like Greek residents, are required to submit a Real Estate Statement — E9 following acquisition of Greek property.

For digitally processed transactions through myPROPERTY, the E9 can be generated automatically. If automatic creation is not possible, the parties are notified. Source: AADE.

AADE also explains that the E9 information is used for the annual ENFIA property-ownership tax.

What can make the process take longer?

There is no responsible universal completion time for buying property in Greece.

A transaction can slow down because of missing seller documents, title problems, pending cadastral registrations, discrepancies in plans or areas, unauthorised construction, technical regularisation, inheritance in the ownership history, mortgages or other encumbrances, foreign-buyer approval, financing, remote signatures or power-of-attorney formalities, tax issues, multiple owners, land rather than an ordinary apartment, or corrections that must happen before transfer.

The process at a glance.

Four moments when a buyer should stop and verify before moving on.

Before a deposit

Verify what the payment commits you to and what happens if due diligence fails.

Before waiving meaningful conditions

Understand the legal and technical findings.

Before paying transfer tax and proceeding to deed

Confirm the property and transaction are actually moving toward completion under the agreed structure.

Before treating the purchase as finished

Confirm registration and the resulting tax/ownership records.

Progress in the transaction should be matched by progress in the evidence.

What the digital process does — and does not — change.

Greek property transfers are considerably more digital than many older English-language guides suggest.

Today the process can involve myAADE, myPROPERTY, the Digital Property Transfer File, electronically sourced documents, digital Cadastre submission, and automated E9 generation in eligible cases.

But digitisation changes how documents and filings move. It does not change the underlying distinction between seller documentation, legal due diligence, technical due diligence, tax compliance, the deed, and registration.

What this guide cannot tell you.

A process guide cannot tell you whether a specific property is ready to complete.

It cannot establish whether title is clean, a mortgage has been correctly discharged, a cadastral discrepancy is material, an alteration is lawful, a seller document is sufficient, a deposit agreement protects you, your transaction qualifies for a tax exemption, a foreign-buyer approval applies, or a particular problem must be corrected before the deed.

Those conclusions require the actual property records and, where appropriate, qualified professional review.

A clean process diagram is not evidence that a particular property is clean.

Related guides.

• Complete Guide to Buying Property in Greece →
• Can Foreigners Buy Property in Greece? →
• Greek AFM for Property Buyers →
• Do You Need a Greek Bank Account to Buy Property? →
• Reservation Agreements and Deposits in Greece →
• Lawyer vs Notary vs Engineer vs Estate Agent →
• Property Due Diligence in Greece →
• How Long Does It Take to Buy Property in Greece? →

Common questions.