Greek property news

Sometimes life on a Greek Island does not always fulfil the dream, this can be for a number of reasons, for example unforeseen problems arise if legal paperwork is not thoroughly checked, or the property not structurally checked. Coming from a different culture can also be fraught and stressful. Living on a Greek Island means that, as someone once told us; “people will be watching what you do. If you do it well, you will have many friends in the village. Do it badly, and you will struggle to buy a loaf of bread.”  Or just maybe, through no fault of your own, things just go badly wrong. Personally speaking, our own experience had been a good one, but it is not always the way as the following experience will highlight.

I have decided to publish this email from George in Australia because since starting my site in May 2005, this is the first email I have received of this nature. I do not know why he sent it to me; he is not a client of mine. I sell property in Skopelos and Skiathos. He is highlighting problems facing him in Mytilini Lesvos. Maybe he is sending his email to all property websites that have business or connections to Greece out of frustration. Whatever his reason is, I feel for his predicament and his experience demonstrates that the dream can sometimes go wrong.  Whatever the motive, Angels Greek Island Homes is here to help guide you through the roses and the thorns of buying property and living in Greece. I will tell you about the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’. I have pages about legal guides and building a house in Greece. I also have a blog where people are able to read about the latest Greek property tax laws or other articles relating to Greece, good or bad.

Remember when buying in another country from where you reside you are embarking on an adventure, especially so if you don’t speak the language or have no family connections, see Lou Traki’s Blog. Hopefully you will have the best experience of your life and will be happy in the outcome, but remember as George’s story demonstrates, sometimes things can go wrong. Whatever George’s intentions are for sending me his email, I wish him well and feel sorry that his experience has been a bad one. I also wish all of you visiting or living in Greece well for the New Year ahead and we are already thinking about how soon we can take a return flight to our ‘Greek life’ in 2012.

But for now, from us to you, we wish you the very best happiness for 2012 from Angels Greek Island Homes.

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Email From: George

To:info@angelsgreekislandhomes.com

Date28 December 2011 04:16

Subject: Do not buy Real Estate In Greece

Dear Sir / Madam

Can you advise people not to buy Greece and how to deal with neighbours who go and make claims on thoroughfares and then build on them and get 2 witnesses to say that they owned it and claim ownership thus blocking the entrance to your property..

This is exactly what happened to me in Mytilini and my local council Polixnitos advised me that I am a foreigner and am not welcome as the council staff were the ones building this home after hours.

The Polidimia in Lesvos works on kickbacks and depending on who you pay off will depend on what gets done as I was asked to leave and fined for complaining about the neighbour who was also a friend of

The person who trespassed… and built on this thoroughfare.

I can only come to one conclusion about Greece and that is everyone is corrupt and even the police has a price…There is no justice in Greece and only criminals and crooks run Greece..

You either have to join them or leave the country. Greece must be very proud of its public servants, and people..

The day a government sacks them will be the day I rejoice..

George

Australia

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For information about buying and building property in Greece
Buy a home in Greece

Legal guide for buying property in Greece
Buying property in Greece – Legal Guide

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This update brought to you by staysure – Travel insurance

Air travel restrictions due to volcanic ash

You will be aware due to the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland all flights in and out of British airspace and northern Europe are grounded or severely restricted until further notice.

There is only one thing worse than a crisis and that is lack of information and if you’re one of the many clients affected by cancellation or delayed flights, you will want to know how your Staysure policy is affected;

1. Let us know if you have bought a single trip policy but haven’t yet travelled and your trip has been interrupted by volcanic ash, as we can change the travel dates on your policy.

2. If you have bought a single trip policy and are already in resort or your return travel is delayed, let us know and we will extend the travel dates on your policy.

To make these amendments call Customer Services on 0845 508 1318.

Due to the enormous amount of calls our telephone lines are extremely busy, so if you would like further information we request that you visit www.staysure.co.uk/ash to get the latest update on the situation and how it affects your cover.

Kind regards

Customer Services Manager
Staysure.co.uk Ltd – the over 50s experts

For information on how to buy in property in Greece
Buy a home in Greece

See our property page
Property for sale in Skopelos Greece

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Buyers beware: Local Estate Agent trading under our name without agreement in Skopelos Greece

It has recently come to our attention that our copyrighted company logo ‘Angels’ has been reproduced and is being used to sell property and land on the island of Skopelos without our permission.

Angels Greek Island homes is a separate company and has no affiliation with ‘Angels’ For Sale – Homes and Land’ operating locally on the island of Skopelos by Angelo. We therefore can take no responsibility for any property sales or transactions carried out with this real estate agent.

Please see how our copied and reproduced Angels logo looks in the sign below. It does not contain the words ‘ Greek Island Homes’  like our logo

Warning: We do not work with the Estate Agent (Angelo) trading under this name

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Our Angels Greek Island Homes Logo looks like this:

N.B. Please be aware of the difference between the two logos as Angels Greek Island Homes can take no responsibility for any property sales or transactions carried out with ‘Angels’ FOR SALE HOMES & LAND. This is not our company and is not in anyway affiliated to us.  Please see: First report

If you need any further advice or have any queries please contact us

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Provided by holidaylettings.co.uk and angelsgreekislandhomes.com

Increase bookings on your Greek property with a special offer from holidaylettings.co.uk

For a limited time only, any new advertiser joining the holidaylettings.co.uk website quoting promotional code 45922 will be entitled to either Offer Credit bundles worth £50, a 3 week Spotlight worth £70, or 15 months for the price of 12 to use during their first 12 month subscription.

What’s an Offer Credit bundle?
Offer Credit bundles are two Late Deals and one Early Bargain, or two Early Bargains and one Late Deal. Advertisers can use Offer Credits to promote special offers to holidaymakers at which point their advert also appears on the relevant Late Deal or Early Bargain page on our site.

What’s a Late Deal?
Late Deals are a highly effective way for homeowners to fill last minute vacancies through a dedicated Late Deals search section, which attracts in excess of 100,000 searches per week in peak periods.

What’s an Early Bargain?
These are a great way for new advertisers to kick-start their first year’s letting income by promoting the offer of a discount to those who book early.

What’s a Spotlight?
Displayed on rotation, Spotlights are seen over 100,000 times a month on the left hand side of every search results page, providing an extra marketing boost

With Greek homeowners enjoying on average 37 booking enquiries each year from their Holiday Lettings advert, can you afford to miss out?

If you would like to take advantage of this special offer now:

Just register here and quote promotional code 45922.

Home 91126  |  Peloponnese, Greece June 2009  “We are very happy with the website. Thank you. Over all I am impressed with Holiday Lettings because so far we have received more enquiries from your site than from any other sites we advertise with. Keep up the good work!”

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It has recently come to our attention that our company logo ‘Angels’ is being used to sell property and land on the island of Skopelos without our permission.

Please be aware that Angels Greek Island homes is a separate company and has no affiliation with ‘Angels’ ‘For sale Homes and Land’ operating locally on the island of Skopelos by Angelo. Our logo is currently being reproduced and used without out consent.  We therefore can take no responsibility for any property sales or transactions carried out with this real estate agent.

If you need any further advice our have any queries please contact us

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Edited weekly euro update provided by Deane Roe of Moneycorp

Rising Sterling creates a window of opportunity for Greek Property Market investors.

It was a rewarding week for sterling, climbing from below €1.16 last Monday to open at €1.1810 in London this morning. There was moment’s panic at the very beginning of the week when the pound dipped briefly to €1.15 but thereafter the only way was up.

Sterling’s performance over the week obviously had something to do with the UK economic data – few thought they were – but mainly it was the by-product of another quiet week during which the mood of investors became more upbeat. As one of the allegedly riskier currencies it is more likely to find buyers when the market is less nervous.

The euro’s profile last week was so low as to be almost subterranean. An almost complete absence of pan-euro-zone economic data meant just three useful statistics. Consumer confidence improved slightly from -25 to -23. Inflation – make that deflation – went down from -0.1% to -0.6% in the year to July and unemployment ticked up from 9.3% to 9.4%. Individual national figures did not add much to the proceedings. German consumer confidence was higher and German unemployment was steady at 8.3%. As with sterling, the euro’s main claim to fame was to provide investors with an alternative to the US dollar, which was under pressure throughout the week.

Sterling starts August looking more potent than it did in July. It appears to have punched out of the €1.15-€1.17 range that held it for the previous three weeks, helped by its upward break against the US dollar. The high in June at €1.19 was sterling’s best level since the beginning of December and that must be its next target. The pound has the potential to test €1.21 but, up here close to eight-month high, buyers of the euro looking to invest in the Greek Property Market should take advantage of the higher rate.

It is always best to transfer currency to Greece via the commercial rate and not the tourist rate. Currency specialists like Moneycorp often offer much better exchange rates than high street banks, and their expert dealers offer you guidance to help to ensure you are sending your money to Greece when the exchange rate is at its peak within your given time frame

For information about setting up a bank account in Greece and Skopelos please see: Legal info

To find out about the best ways to transfer money to Greece and Greek Islands

Please contact:

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By HPGoodchild

Stafilos Skopelos is a very popular bay, although, often, very crowded in high season as the beach is only 4 Kilometres south of Skopelos Town, you can have it to yourself out of season! It is easily accessible by the public bus or car.

Stafilos Skopelos Greece

The first settlers to the island were the Minoan race from the Island of Crete. The leader of the settlers was named King Stafilos and the area that was first inhabited on the island still bears his name. A sword handle was discovered in a tomb believed to of the King himself, on the promontory of Stafilos.

Stafilos bay has two beaches – Stafilos and Velanio. Velanio is quieter as it’s the farthest to walk and it is also Skopelos’s nudist beach. Both beaches have sunbeds and umbrellas. By the entrance to and above Stafilos beach is a lovely traditional taverna with spectacular views across the bay offering fresh fish. Steps lead down to the lovely pebble/soft shingle bay and crystal-clear waters making it very safe for youngsters.

HPGoodchild’s ready to live in five bedroom house is near Stafilos and is for sale. The whole property is in good decorative order throughout. It is a good opportunity to purchase a fine home just a short walk from Stafilos beach and local tavernas. Anna runs the family owned local supermarket in the area which is less than 2 minutes walk from the house.

This beautiful, large, marble floored house is on 2 floors and can either be used as a substantial family home or, 2 self contained properties or, business (Rooms to rent).

The olive grove of 19 olive trees and working well complete with pump-house is also included in the sale. The property falls within the town boundary and therefore building an additional dwelling in the olive grove with its own access from the “Old Stafilos Road” is an option.

The house is set back from the Stafilos Road with a vine covered driveway leading to the house. The front garden consists of an orchard of apples, pears, apricot, cherry and janero fruit trees. In addition to the vines lining the driveway there are also vines along the side wall producing abundant grapes. The rear of the house has ample space for outside entertaining under the shade of mulberry trees.

Connected services include electric, telephone, town water and free spring water from the well!

It is priced at:  Euro 350,000 and is near Stafilos Beach on Skopelos – Mamma Mia Island, Greece.

For more information on this house please see:

House for sale in Stafilos, Skopelos Greece

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A blog By HPGoodchild

Easter in Greece is a real treat and on Skopelos it is an experience not to be missed. We travelled out to Skopelos this Easter via Athens flying from London Heathrow on British Airways. We then transferred to the Olympic flight to Skiathos where we stayed overnight in the Meltemi Hotel which we can highly recommend for a warm welcome and a pleasant stay.

We then travelled onwards next morning from Skiathos to Skopelos aboard the Flying Cat 6.

This year our Easter weekend began with a Good Friday tour of the main churches to view each of the amazingly flower decorated biers containing their individual saints icon and symbolic items of Christ’s death.

Easter in Skopelos

Later on that evening, after gathering at our “home” church we processed through the town by candle-light (brown candles) following the bier. As each church was passed it too joined the procession with its own bier. The procession echoed to the chant of the “Kyrie Eleison” – “Lord have mercy” culminating with the whole town singing on the paralia.

On Easter Saturday night we once again returned to our “home” church with white candles and hard boiled eggs dyed red to await the announcement that “Christ is Risen” and the sharing of the priest’s ‘holy flame’ until the whole square is illuminated with flickering light. Everyone then makes their way to the local tavernas to share in the lamb feast breaking the fast of Lent, this time to the echoes of fireworks and ferry ship sirens.

Greeks mainly colour eggs red (scarlet) to signify the blood of Christ. They use hard-boiled eggs (painted red on Holy Thursday) which are baked into twisted sweet-bread loaves or distributed on Easter Sunday; people rap their eggs against their friends’ eggs and the owner of the last un-cracked egg is considered lucky.

Red Easter eggs in Skopelos, Greece

After the Easter celebrations we had an unexpected visitor to our garden in the form of a Greek Black Eared Wheatear (I think!) The variety of birds we see in our garden in Stafilos is amazing including Hoopoes, Golden Oriels, Bee-eaters and many more.

Birds in Skopelos

We had a fantastic time at our house in Stafilos but all good things must come to an end as we had to fly back to London. A real bonus was finding a Hotel called Peris just outside Athens airport.

Peris is Situated only 10 minutes from the northern gate of ΕΙ. Venizelos airport, 10 minutes from the port of Rafina and 900 meters away from the beautiful beach of Loutsa (Artemis).
It is a new building, built in 2004 with small bar and twelve rooms, each fully equipped with satellite TV, telephone, central heating/air condition.
They also offer a transfer service free after 7am and early evening and at any other time for a small fee!
They offer you quietness and comfort for a pleasant stay at sensible prices.
Tel. : (+30)22940 83 763

HPGoodchild’s house is for sale. The Price is €350,000
Please see: House for sale in Stafilos, Skopelos Greece

It is near Stafilos Beach on Skopelos – Mamma Mia Island, Greece.

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