Buying
Buying a home in Greece without a broker
The broker's fee is over a third of what a Greek buyer pays to complete, and it is the only large item on that list you can legally avoid.
English
Where private sellers actually list in Greece
Each of these is a separate pool. A saved search on one tells you nothing about the others, so set up alerts on every one you intend to use.
- Anyone.com Listed by the owner
Homes listed by the owners themselves, so there is no μεσίτης holding a 2 percent claim over your side of the sale. You talk to the owner directly and negotiate with them, and the συμβολαιογράφος still draws the contract exactly as the law requires.
More than 31 million active listings across 31 markets, agent-represented and owner-listed together. Spitogatos carries agency, developer and private listings with no filter between them.
Search owner-listed homes ↗ - Spitogatos Owners can list
Buyer filter None at all. There is no filter for listings from ιδιώτες anywhere on the site
The dominant Greek portal carries listings from agencies, developers and private owners together, and offers buyers no way to separate them. The only method is to open listings and read who is behind them, or work through later result pages where agency listings thin out.
- XE.gr Owners can list
Buyer filter Από ιδιώτες, but only with a paid Property Search Premium subscription
The filter exists and works. It sits behind a subscription, which makes Greece the one market we cover where a buyer is asked to pay to find out who is selling. Worth a month of it if you are searching seriously.
- Plot.gr Owners can list
Buyer filter Ιδιώτης, free to use
A free private-seller filter on a small portal. Inventory is a fraction of Spitogatos, so treat it as a quick weekly check rather than your main search.
- Facebook groups Owners can list
Buyer filter Search the city or neighbourhood name with χωρίς μεσίτη
This is where the Greek private market actually lives. Groups named for buying without a broker run to tens of thousands of members, city by city. Unstructured, unsearchable by price, and often the first place a property appears.
How many homes this really covers
Private listings sit inside the main portals rather than in a separate market, and the largest portal will not let you isolate them, so this is slow work. Two flat-fee platforms already position themselves as the no-broker-fee option for Greek buyers, which tells you the demand is real. Neither covers more than Greece, and neither will help you with the engineering side.
The Ηλεκτρονική Ταυτότητα Κτηρίου, the electronic building identity
This is now the gate every Greek transfer passes through, and it matters more to a buyer than the commission does. Without a building identity file the notary cannot draw the contract at all. Producing one needs an engineer to inspect the property and assemble the permit and the drawings, and it forces any unauthorised construction to be regularised first. That is why you want a μηχανικός and a δικηγόρος on a Greek purchase. A μεσίτης cannot do either job, which is worth remembering when someone tells you a broker is protecting you.
In force since Mandatory for property transfers. Read the legislation
Buying one, step by step
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Sign no brokerage agreement you have not read
The fee is claimable only under a written μεσιτική σύμβαση with you. Whatever is handed to you at a viewing is the document that creates the 2 percent, so read it there rather than later.
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Search Spitogatos anyway, then filter where you can
Most of the market is on Spitogatos with no way to isolate private sellers, so you open listings and check the contact. Add Plot.gr for its free filter, consider a month of XE.gr Premium, and join the local χωρίς μεσίτη groups.
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Ask about the building identity before anything else
If the seller has no Ηλεκτρονική Ταυτότητα Κτηρίου, nothing can complete until they get one, and any unauthorised work has to be regularised first. Establish where they stand on this at the first viewing, not the fourth.
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Appoint an engineer and a lawyer
The engineer checks the property against its permits and prices any regularisation. The lawyer checks the title at the land registry or cadastre. Together they cost a fraction of the broker fee you are not paying.
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Get your AFM and a Greek bank account
You need a tax number to buy, and the transfer tax has to be paid before the deed is signed. Foreign buyers should allow real time for both.
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Sign at the notary
Transfer tax, the notary's fee and registration are settled around the deed, and the transfer is then recorded at the cadastre. Registration is what makes you the owner, so confirm it has happened.
Check before any money moves
- The Ηλεκτρονική Ταυτότητα Κτηρίου, and whether any unauthorised construction still needs regularising
- Title history at the land registry or Κτηματολόγιο, and that the seller's ownership is unbroken
- The building permit and the drawings, checked against the property by your own engineer
- Whether transfer tax is 3 percent on the objective value or on the price, and which is higher
- Unpaid ΕΝΦΙΑ property tax, utilities and building κοινόχρηστα, which follow the property
- For an apartment, the shared-ownership table and the percentage of common expenses attached to the unit
Selling one instead? See where to list a home yourself in Greece , or the full guide to selling without an agent in Greece .
Common questions
How much does the broker cost a buyer in Greece?
Customarily 2 percent of the price plus 24 percent VAT, so €6,200 on a €250,000 flat, with the seller paying about the same separately. No law sets the rate, which means it is negotiable, and no law obliges you to use a broker at all.
Can I filter Spitogatos for private sellers?
No. Greece's biggest portal has no such filter. XE.gr has one but puts it behind a paid subscription, and Plot.gr offers a free one on much smaller inventory.
Do I need a lawyer to buy in Greece?
Not since 1 January 2014, when representation stopped being compulsory for buyers. You should still hire one. At 0.4 to 1 percent plus VAT it is the cheapest protection available, and it is doing work a broker never did.
What is the building identity and why does it matter?
An electronic file describing the building and its permits, prepared by an engineer. Without it the notary cannot draw up the contract, so no transfer can happen. It also forces any unauthorised work to be regularised, which is where unexpected costs appear. Ask about it early.
Is buying without a broker risky here?
The risks in a Greek purchase are unauthorised construction, a broken chain of title and an incomplete building identity. An engineer and a lawyer address all three. A broker addresses none of them, which is why paying 2 percent for reassurance buys less than people assume.
Sources
Every legal, tax, and process claim on this page traces to one of these. We re-check them on a schedule and date the page when anything changes.
- Ηλεκτρονική Ταυτότητα Κτηρίου and property transfersEcopress · ecopress.gr
- Έξοδα αγοράς ακινήτου: τι πληρώνει ο αγοραστήςMesitis.org · mesitis.org
- Πώς να βρεις αγγελίες ακινήτων μόνο από ιδιώτες στο xe.grXE.gr support · support.xe.gr
- Μεσιτική αμοιβή: τι ισχύειHOMI · homi.com.gr