Buying Holiday Homes In Greece

Greece doesn't require any introduction, when it comes to speaking about its role in the worldwide tourism. The nation's timeless ancient history and its unharmed natural landscape, provide with the needed pull for drawing in millions of visitors to its soil each year. But, the story doesn't stop there, and the recent trends might say, even the Greece property market was about to experience a major boom due to the greater keenness being shown by the foreign buyers. Greece property provides the buyers with an option to buy holiday homes, villas and apartments over a wide range of tourist places. These places are scattered allover its mainland, the coastal area and several of its well-known islands. Least to say, these are well developed urban areas with the air links and sea routes arriving in from and leading out to the entire globe.

There is no definite answer as to why this latest upsurge may have taken place in the Greek property market, but the analysts attribute two major geopolitical events for this transformation. The first one was the admission of Greece into the European Union in 1981, and the second one, the return of Olympic games in Athens in 2004. Both events proved crucial in helping out the Greek tourism and its real estate market to resurrect themselves in the eyes of the global community. A whole lot of new construction was undertaken during the Olympics campaign, which subsequently became the selling ground for the Greek real estate.

From what we understand about today's Grecian real estate, it is hard to buy a low-cost single family house in Athens, where the demand to supply ratio for such units is much higher compared to the other regions of the country. This leaves out the buyers with an option to buy apartments in Athens, which are easier to locate in the Greece property since the 2004 Olympic games ended here. At the same time, people can buy luxurious villas in the resort towns as an investment option or to have extended holidays there.

Buyers eye the hectic profits these days, when deciding to invest in the villas or farm lands across the Greek countryside. Villas can be sold to other buyers at a handsome premium later. On the other hand, many villa owners lend their properties to holidaymakers, who flock in huge numbers after each winter season. Thus, the market for Greece property provides with a great investment value to all those who might be willing to cash in from its buoyant trend.

Anybody who might be seeking to own a Greece property will have to fulfill certain conditions before doing so. These are, having a Greek bank account, being enrolled as a tax payer in Greece and getting a prior permission to buy properties in certain areas. The permission to buy properties can be obtained from the chief administrative or judicial officer in the area of concern. It should also be noted down that, those hailing from the European Union should easily be able to own properties in their names, as compared to those from the non-EU countries.

Buying a New Home? Then, Hire a Home Inspector

Why?  Well, large scale homebuilders profits rise in direct proprotion to speed of which their homes are completed.  Generally speaking, homebuilders incent sub-contractors to finish on-time and penalize them when they do not.  Corners are cut in an effort to maintain the all important schedule. Unfortunately, the builder cannot watch every sub-contractor at every single stage of the build.

Hiring an independant home inspector will give an extra set of eyes and make sure your interest is represented.  They have expertise and will recognize defficiencies.  Plus, they are very affordable and pay for themselves many times over.

I had a colleague who bought a newly contructed home just a over year ago. And, at my request , he hired a highly respected home inspector.  During the roof inspection, the inspector noticed much of the roof insulation had fallen during a wind storm.  He took some pictures and decided to check back a few days later to make sure the insulation was reinstalled.  A few days passed when he decided to take another look.  By this time, the drywall was now being installed.  When he arrived, he noticed several sheets of insulation still laying on the floor.  Upon closer inspection, he found that the ceilling still had missing insulation.  The trouble is, that the drywall had already been installed over much of the ceiling.  Of course, with the pictures in hand, he brought this issue up to the builder and it was rectified. Imagine the added costs to the energy bills had the insulation issue not come to light.  Best money my friend ever spent.

Alternatives to Foreclosure

Buying a house is a big investment. It really puts a dent on your financial resources. Of course, the expenses do not end with the down payment. You still have to contend with the monthly payments for the mortgage. This is a financial situation that you will have to live with for years until you have fully paid off your loan.

But what happens if you get behind in your mortgage payments? A delay in payment can have very serious consequences for your mortgage situation. If the delinquency in payments has become too severe then your home could be in danger of foreclosure. A foreclosure means that your property will be repossessed by the lending institution that gave you your mortgage.

Fortunately, even if you have defaulted on your payments, it does not necessarily mean that your property will be foreclosed. There are various alternatives to a foreclosure that you can take. Some of these are:

Paying the delinquency. Generally, all lending institutions are required to accept all the payments that were delinquent and reinstate the loan. The delinquent payments that you have to pay may also include some legal fees especially if you are already in the foreclosure stage. There are also lending institutions that require certified funds in order to reinstate the loan.

Forbearance and Repayment. One of the most common ways of resolving a delinquent mortgage is to work out a plan with your lending institution where in you get to pay a part of your delinquency every month on top of your regular monthly payments. If you are in a situation where you are not able to meet the monthly mortgage payments, your lender can elect to extend the forbearance by suspending payments for a certain period of time up until you can start a repayment schedule.

Payment Assistance. Some state and local governments and also private charitable organizations have instituted programs that help people with delinquencies pay all or part of their mortgage obligation for a certain period of time.

Reamortization. In a reamortization, the delinquent mortgage amount is added to the loan balance as a way of bringing the mortgage payments up to date. This move increases not only the total loan amount but also the monthly payments. Of course, the increase in payment will not be as large if the life of the loan is also extended.

Private sale. A private sale of the property affected by the delinquency can also be done as it will allow you to meet your obligations as well as get any equity that may have accumulated. In private sales it is usual that the amount is greater than the stated amount owed on the loan.

Most of these alternatives presume that you will be able to pay your mortgage payments at some point. But there is also a particular foreclosure alternative called a loss mitigation program. The federal government as well as the mortgage industry established this type of program as a way of stopping foreclosures. Under this program you are given options that will not only assist you in keeping your home even if you do not have the financial capability to pay for the mortgage payments. With these types of programs, it becomes so much easier to address the problem of foreclosures.

A Tip On How To Get Offers When Showing Your House

You are in the process of trying to sell your house and have your marketing up and running. So, how do you convert callers into offers? Here is one method.

A Tip On How To Get Offers When Showing Your House

Once you have decided to sell your home, there are a couple of steps you have to take. The first is to get the home ready to show by doing repairs, landscaping and so on. Once you are ready to go, you have to start marketing the home. Assuming you have done all of this, the house is in good shape and you are competitively priced, you should start getting calls from potential buyers. These calls then turn into appointments and buyers come to see your home.

At this point, you probably expect that I will start writing about how to negotiate or accept offers. Wrong. The next step in the process is often one of frustration. The frustration arises from wishy washy buyers. They come and see the home, but leave without making an offer. They may come back a couple of times, but they simply never get around to doing the deed as they say. Simply put, this is because you have failed to address the issue of motivation.

Buyers need to be motivated to take action. The more motivated they are, the faster they will move. For instance, consider the holiday shopping season. Nobody, and I mean nobody, is out browsing in the malls. Why? The buyers are highly motivated to buy because there is a deadline and they probably have more than a few people to shop for. Simply put, they are highly motivated to do the deed.

Returning to our scenario above, what motivation do the buyers have to make an offer? Do they feel any pressure to do so? Unless there is something particular to their personal situation, the answer is that they do not. You must provide the motivation. Here is how.

One of the complaints of sellers is that they feel like they are constantly showing their homes to potential buyers without getting an offer. They may show the property three, four or even ten times a week. If this is your situation, you are doing it wrong.

The way to motivate buyers to make an offer on your home is to show it only once a week or two weeks if the market is slow. Set aside an hour or so on a particular day and make all the potential buyers come at the same time. By putting buyers together, you create the motivation that simply does not come with individual showings. In such situations, buyers are much less likely to be wishy washy. If they like the property, they inherently worry about one of the other buyers making an offer. You now have motivation and a perceived time limit.

If you have are getting interest in your property, but no offers, give this a try. You might be shocked how much of a difference it makes.

10 Steps to Getting Top Dollar for Your Home

When you decide to sell your home you should immediately begin referring to it as a house. You’ve become emotionally attached to this place and it’s now time to say goodbye. Start detaching yourself by making some changes that will help you with the sale of the house.

You probably have accumulated a lot of clutter over the years. This must be the first step.

1.  Unclutter your home. Start in the basement and either throw things out or rent a locker off premises to store it until you move but prospective buyers need to see what the house looks like behind all your stuff. This means going room to room and clearing everything out that makes it look junkie and disorganized.

2.  Neutralize the personal nature of your home. You may love the native tapestry on the living room wall from Bora Bora but I’ll guarantee 95% of   your prospects will have it on their mind when they leave your home and not in a good way. Knick knacks and generally all things that you’ve previously enjoyed should be stored away until after the sale, that includes grandma’s spoon collection that takes up half a wall in the kitchen. Replace these things with neutral items like picture frames or vase with a simple arrangement.

3.  Minor cosmetic work. Once you remove the clutter you will see all the things that you’ve been meaning to get to over the years. Painting where necessary, new carpet/s, moldings repaired, cracked plaster and re-taping/ repairing drywall. When making these improvements think neutral colors for any coverings be it paint or carpets. If you have hardwood floors sand them and finish them. Area rugs can look amazing. Whatever you do, don’t over do it. Try and think like a buyer.

4. Hire a professional cleaner. Once you have the house cleared you should hire a professional cleaning crew to wash the walls, windows, work over the kitchen and bathrooms, clean the floors and shampoo all carpets that don’t need to be replaced. Your house should be spotless and kept this way for the duration.

5.  Staging each room. If your rooms are smaller rearrange the furniture to make the room look bigger. For example removing some furniture is better than having too much cramped in. Set your furniture up in conversation pit style. Like a gourmet coffee house, make it cozy. Pull couches away from walls to give the appearance of depth. Remove wall clutter, one or two pictures but no more. Generally make it look inviting.

6.  Kitchen and bathrooms. These are the most important rooms in your home to a buyer. Make sure they are impeccable. Plumbing fixtures should be working properly and look like new or they should be replaced. Use a good cleaner or even a metal polish to make them gleam. Showers and tubs need to be spotless! Sinks and vanities need to be pristine and uncluttered. Kitchen cupboards should be orderly, doors opening and closing properly, drawers the same. I can’t stress enough how important these two rooms are to your potential outcome.

7.  Doors and windows. First thing prospects see when they walk in your home is a door. Make sure its painted or cleaned up and that it will open and close properly. This goes for screen doors as well. Often screen doors are a problem people let go. Not anymore. Windows should all be cleaned and be sure if someone wants to open them that they work properly. If they have been painted closed as is the case with some older homes, now is the time to get them to open. Do whatever it takes.

8.  Garages and workshops. These are the second most important areas. Again remove all clutter from the garage and make it accessible so you can actually park your car in it! As for the workshop, try and organize it so the handy person prospect will appreciate what they can do with their “new shop” when they move in. It’s all about your prospect picturing themselves in your house.

9.  Family effort. Everyone in your family needs to be on board with the presentation of the house. This means your kids need to buy into the project and keep their rooms tidy. Bribe them if you need to but everyone has to help maintain the appearance of the entire house.

10.  Odors and pets. Wow, is this ever important. If you have pets only you really love them. When you walk into a house with dogs or cats you immediately smell them, especially if you don’t have your own. Keep litter boxes fresh and clean daily. Restrict your animals if at all possible to certain areas of the home until after the sale. Vinegar and water will do wonders when you clean their areas every other day until the sale is complete, and top it off with effective air fresheners wherever you need them. Vacuum often with carpet fresh powders two or 3 times a week.

This sounds like quite a bit of work and it is. Try and remember that by following these tips you could easily add five to ten thousand dollars to the sale price of your home, maybe more. A little elbow grease now will be a solid investment.

The Author is the President/CEO of www.realestatemate.com , www.homeheap.com  and www.agentsmate.com . He has over 26 years experience in the real estate industry.

©Copyright 2006, Used by Permission, All Rights Reserved

5 money saving tips when selling your home

Your home is undoubtedly the most valuable asset for the vast majority of us and selling it will cost thousands. Using the money saving tips in this article should reduce the cost of moving home.

Estate Agent fees vary, so shopping around and don’t forget to haggle and pay one off against the other. You should aim for 1% commission, also push then to limit the tie-in period to no more than 6 weeks, this gives then enough time to sell the house, but if they can’t you can move to another agent without going “multi-agent” which will increase the fee to about 3%+, a big no-no! Ensure you get a fair valuation, never tell an estate agent what other agencies have valued your house at. They will use this to manipulate its offer, often resulting in wide distortions. 

It is false economy to go for the cheapest solicitors, so get recommendations from all the estate agents you speak to and remember to ask for the name of specific people, rather than just the legal firms. Give them a call and ask what their charges are, also note whether they are they friendly, helpful, and most important efficient? Fees are negotiable so haggle! Play off each one against the other to get yourself the best service at the best price.

Selling you house privately can save thousands. One in twenty vendors are now taking the DIY route which could save you thousands. That is a massive money saving tip, but there are a couple of downsides, basically “time and effort”. You could consider newspaper advertising, flyers and signs. Newspapers usually charge per line or per word so try to keep your advert as brief as possible without making it uninteresting. The simplest way would to sell your house yourself is to use one of the many online house selling service.

Obviously it is best to sell your house when the market is strong and demand is high, so keep an eye on the local property market. Generally, the market tends to be stronger in early and late summer than the rest of the year, so aim to sell your house then. Also avoid completing with your neighbours so if there are already a few “For Sale” signs on your street, it might be better to wait a bit.

Research has shown that a poor presented house can take longer to sell and may reduce the price by thousands. So get your paint brushes out, give your home a lick of paint and finish all of those DIY jobs which are outstanding. Also talk to the estate agent about adding value to your property it maybe worth spending a bit of cash to make some more. However, be careful not to over spend, you might not get your money back, so talk all planned improvements through with your estate agent.

If you are determined to save money when selling your home, do some more research, as they say knowledge is power. Websites such as <a href="http://www.maxxsave.co.uk">Maxxsave</a> specialise in offering <a href="http://www.maxxsave.co.uk">Money saving tips</a>, a brief browse around such sites will allow you to get all the information you need to save you a ton of money.

Don’t Rely Excessively On Appraisals

Getting an appraisal on a home is a fundamental aspect of making a purchase. While appraisals are certainly helpful, you should not put too much stock in them.

Don’t Rely Excessively On Appraisals

An appraisal is a valuation of a property by an independent appraiser. The appraiser does an evaluation of the home, considers the home in comparison to others of comparable type and so on. Once completed, the appraiser then issues a written appraisal value of the home. Many homebuyers make the assumption the appraisal is the true value of the home both now and in the future. This can be a dangerous assumption.

First, appraisals are limited by something known as a moment in time. The appraisal done today, may not be entirely relevant a month or two later. If a property has been on the market for a few months, the appraisal may not reflect a slowing market. This, in turn, means the appraised value is actually higher than the current market will support. Homebuyers run into problems when this occurs because they put too much value on the appraisal. A seller will often list the home below the appraised amount and homebuyers will think they are getting a deal. In reality, they are not and may actually be paying more than a new appraisal would support. The older the appraisal, the less value you should put into it.

Most homebuyers assume an appraiser inspects the home for defects and discounts the value of the home accordingly. This is not really the case. An appraiser is not really doing a critical home inspection. In fact, the appraiser contract and/or report usually contains a long disclaimer whereby the appraiser covers his derriere by noting he assumes the property is in good condition and isn’t liable if it is not. Obviously, that should scare you. This, of course, is why you should insist on a home inspection for any property you make an offer on.

An appraisal is a solid part of the equation when considering a home purchase. It is not, however, the piece de resistance when valuing the property.

"Don't Sell Your Property Without It"

For most people, the prospect of selling their home can be positively daunting. First of all, there are usually plenty of things to do just to get it ready for the market. Besides the traditional clean-up, paint-up, fix-up chores that invariably wind up costing more than you planned, there are always the overriding concerns about how much the market will bear and how much you will eventually wind up selling it for.

Will you get your asking price, or will you have to drop your price to make the deal? After all, your home is a major investment, no doubt a rather large one, so when it comes to selling it you want to get your highest possible return. Yet in spite of everyone's desire to get the top dollar for their property, most people are extremely unsure as to how to go about getting it. However, some savvy sellers have long known a little financial technique that has helped them to get top dollar for their property. In fact, on some rare occasions, they have even sold their properties for more than they were worth using this powerful financing tool. Although that might be the exception rather than the rule, you can certainly use this technique to get the most money possible when selling your property.

Seller carry-back, or take-back financing, has proven to be a surefire technique for closing deals. Even though most people do not think about when it comes to selling a property, they really should consider using it. According to the Federal Reserve, there are currently over 100 Billion dollars of seller carry-back (seller take-back) loans in existence. By any standard, that is a lot of money. But most importantly, it is also a very clear indication that more people are starting to use seller take-back financing techniques because it offers many financial benefits to both sellers and buyers. Basically, seller take-back financing is a relatively simple concept. A seller-take back loan is created when a property is sold and the seller performs like a lender by assisting in financing all or part of the total transaction. In effect, the seller is actually lending the buyer a certain amount of money toward the purchase price, while a traditional mortgage company usually funds the balance of the purchase price. A seller take-back loan is secured with the property. The loan then becomes the primary mortgage and is fully secured by the property. In most seller take-back financing transactions, the buyer repays the seller with interest in accordance to mutually agreed terms over a period of time. Usually, the terms call for the buyer to send the payments, consisting of principal and interest, on a monthly basis. This is advantageous because it creates a steady monthly cash flow for the note holder. And if the note holder decides to cash out, he or she can always sell the note for a lump sum cash payment.

Regardless of market conditions, seller take-back financing makes sound financial sense; whereas, it provides both buyer and seller with flexible financing options, makes the property easier to sell at higher price and shortens the sales cycle. It also has the added advantage of being an excellent investment that generates a steady cash flow and high return. If you ever need immediate cash, you can always sell the note through our office. If you are planning to sell a property, then consider the many benefits of seller take-back financing.