Although Crete is a holiday destination, many people would rather live here permanently, especially those people who are able to move to another country. They would like to move to a nice warm place like Crete. This island is a favorite of those people who love the island lifestyle, especially those who live in northern parts of Europe, where it’s so cold most of the year. In this article, I am going to give you tips on buying property on Crete.

There are many things you need to consider when buying property on Crete. First, you need to figure out, what type of place you want to live in, do you want to live in an apartment building, or would you rather have a private area, where you don’t have to deal with communal arrangements?

Buying Property On Crete Apartment Vs A House

Both options have their own challenges. Let’s start by looking at living in an apartment building. The first thing you need to be careful of is the arrangements when it comes to the cost of running the place. Meaning swimming pools, gardens, and those kinds of things. If you find a nice apartment and you would like to buy, you need to make sure that all the cost of running the place is included in the contract.

Meaning, there is paperwork on how much should be paid annually for the pool, garden, and other things that are needed to keep the place looking nice.

The reason why I say this is that you could end up in a place where there are always disagreements on payments of the swimming pools, garden, etc, you will find some people who don’t want to pay which puts the burden on other neighbors who really want a nice place. You also need to learn about the kinds of neighbors you have, although it’s not really guaranteed because someone could sell their apartment to a terrible neighbor, then the dynamic of the place changes.

For You To Live A Peaceful Life On Crete, Its Better To Buy A House

In my opinion, if you are planning to move to Crete and live here permanently, and peacefully it’s better to have a house that is on its own spot. That way, you are able to make your own decisions about the place. You can decide how you want to take care of your swimming pool, how you want to do your garden etc.

When you have to rely on other neighbors to fix the place, chances are you will hit roadblocks because there will always be those people who don’t want to pay for the beautification of the place. This happens a lot here on Crete because most apartment buildings don’t have a proper plan set up on how the payments should be made or collected. So you are forced to live in a place where things don’t perhaps look the way you would like them to.

Or you end up spending your own money to do things that should be done together with other neighbors.

So Here Is A List For You If You Are Planning On Buying An Apartment On Crete.

1 Make sure there is a clear payment plan for swimming pools, gardens, driveways, etc

2 Try to find out the kind of neighbors you have (although this could change at any time)

3 Make sure there is a maintenance fund included in the contract and all the neighbors are paying into it

4 Make sure there are consequences in case some of the neighbors fail to pay into the maintenance fund

5 Make sure each apartment has its designated parking space ( this helps maintain the peace within the community)

When it comes to buying a standalone house, I think unless you decide to buy a spot and build your own house, in which case you need to be careful of the contractors you hire. Please read my article about fake contractors on Crete here

If you like the area and you like the house, then the process should be straight forward your lawyer will take care of everything and you will be able to move to Crete.

As I have mentioned in some of my previous articles, it’s always wise to first rent a place for a while and get the feel of the place before committing to buy, that way you will know for sure if you will be happy living there. It’s also very important to stay through the winter because in spring and summer is not the time to decide that you wanna buy, especially if you want to live here the whole year.

Winter is the most important time, to be here so you can see how the area you have picked is.

And Here Is A Short List For You If You Are Planning To Buy A Standalone House

1 Make sure the house is built to your standard and you won’t have to spend so much money on it afterward.

2 Check to make sure there is landline connection, so you can access the main internet provider (OTE)

3 Make sure the village is lively all through the year, meaning it’s not a seasonal village where everything closes after the tourist season is over.

Once all these things are to your satisfaction, then your lawyer will take care of all the legal stuff, like making sure the property belongs to the seller, and it does not have loans, and other things, it’s also the lawyer’s job to ensure that the property is not located in an area where there are prohibitions or other kinds of restrictions.

Well, I hope I have answered some of your questions on this topic

Conclusion

Buying property on Crete and moving to the island is not a decision to be taken lightly. There are many things you need to consider. Also, you must keep in mind that once you buy the property, if down the line you decide to sell it, you might not be able to sell it as quickly as you would like.

So maybe you could consider long term rent instead of buying. Crete is a nice place to live, but you must also consider the fact that things here move at a slower pace, and also the culture is different, plus you must try as much as you can to learn to speak Greek. Before I leave you, I think you might be interested in this article where I talk  about Moving To Crete Permanently And The Things You Should Know

Well, I hope you have found my article helpful, please leave your questions below, and I will address them.

Thank you so much for your time

Rose

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