lady c

would love to hear from anyone who lives in greece .. esp south east cyclades, thinking naxos, which we know quite well.

we have been considering taking the leap and leaving uk for some time: we are a family with a 6mth old baby, with a small independent income that should mean we don't have to work, as long as we are not extravagant. Really want to spend quality time with our little boy before he has to go to school.

we were planning to head to caribbean but figured as summer was coming; greece was a whole lot nearer and a much less scary first step in to the world of ex-pats.

would really value opinions & advice from people who have already been brave enough to do it.

meauxna

Rent, don't buy immediately (if ever). Keep banking etc available in the UK. Have a great time!
We're in the US now, but loved every minute in Greece.

Search the forum here.. there are a very few posters who are currently living in Greece.

Dandy_Don

I currently live in North Greece in Thessaloniki. I did live in Zakynthos in the Ionian islands for 10 months last year.

Don.

WilliamM

Hello everyone.

Why is it recommended to rent in greece, is there no benefit to sell on increase in value of a property?

How do rental prices compare to uk and what type of rental agreements do they have?
Anything like council tax etc,
Roughly what is overall comparative cost of living away from expensive areas to uk and which are the main expenses?


Need a house with couple of bedrooms, couple of downstairs rooms & kitchen
and a decent garden - definitely with shade - somewhere quiet but not too isolated, doesn't need to be fancy. lived in rather than new.

Is there any location that balances out the extremes of summer/winter
variables. I don't want to be half way up a mountain to escape summer extreme then get frozen in winter.

If this shows my ignorance of greece - I am



Nearly forgot - How available is the internet outside of major towns?

Thanks

meauxna

It's my opinion that renting is better. Much of Greece is not surveyed and there can be a long line of title holders that need to clear a sale; I heard many, many sad stories of deals gone bad. Additionally, there was NO resale market, in fact, barely a housing market there until the past few years. When they started building homes for the foreign market, I about fell over at the price--very out of scale to the rest of the economy. Even for a local to build a house (on the island, especially) the costs were extraordinary because materials had to be shipped in.

On the other hand, my husband lived in a great apartment with a sea view, was there for 9 years and when we moved the rent had just increased to $150 euros/month. When we wanted to walk away, we did. If we took off for an extended period, we didn't mind paying the rent when we weren't there.

Since it has been + 2 years since we were there, I'll modify my comment to use EXTREME caution with the urge to buy. Yes, it's our natural train of thought for where we have lived and our economies.. it is not the same there.

I think you need to narrow down your list.. the country is huge and culture varies from end to end. Island vs mainland, village vs city, are you going to work vs not etc etc.

It's not like Spain.. there is not a long history of infrastructure for foreigners. Until about 15 years ago, non Greeks couldn't even immigrate into Greece. There is generally not a huge pool of expats to draw on and there isn't yet a huge pool of properties like you describe up on the resale market.

Think about your motivations for going, what is important to you etc and start a list of possible places to explore.

WilliamM

Tanks

We aren't in any hurry, we are happy to keep on here and spend 6 mths or a year renting somewhere before making any longterm decisions.

We don't care for Spain and we no longer enjoy Portugal as much we used to.

Nature and a bit of space at an affordable price is mostly what we need but in considering Greece we would prefer a location that takes the edge off the summer heat extremes without being too cold in winter.

Low humidity essential - I can take dry heat but not muggy!

That's it in a nutshell, the rest is completely secondary.
save for satellite and internet. Satellite is easy, that I can diy, internet availablity and costs there I don't know about.

We are used to extended periods away from uk/western culture.