Last updated 14 October 2026. By Demetre E. Katsouris, Managing Partner, Katsouris Law Firm.
The short answer: a straightforward resale with clean paperwork takes roughly six to twelve weeks from reservation to signed deed. A property with a cadastral error, an unlegalised extension or an unresolved inheritance takes months longer. A unit in a building under construction takes as long as the building does. The honest answer is a range because a Greek sale closes only when around twenty documents from ten different sources coincide, and the buyer controls fewer than half of them.
Who controls what
| Stage | Who controls it | Typical time if nothing is wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer’s tax number (AFM) and bank account | Buyer, with the lawyer | 1–2 weeks |
| Power of attorney if the buyer is abroad | Buyer | 1–3 weeks, depending on consulate or notary availability |
| Title search at Land Registry and Cadastre | Lawyer | 1–3 weeks |
| Engineer’s check of permit, legalisation, energy certificate, building identity | Engineer, with the seller’s cooperation | 1–4 weeks |
| Seller’s tax, ENFIA, municipal and social-security certificates | Seller | 1–4 weeks |
| Cadastre extract and topographic diagram | Seller, engineer, Cadastre office | 1–6 weeks |
| Transfer-tax declaration and payment | Buyer’s lawyer and the tax portal | Days |
| Notarial deed | Notary | Signed on the day, once everything above is in hand |
| Registration at the Cadastre | Notary or lawyer, then the Cadastre office | 1–8 weeks |
The deed is signed only when every row above it is complete. That is why a purchase can sit at “almost done” for weeks: one certificate has expired, or one document is still with an office that answers in its own time.
The twenty documents
A typical resale needs, in one form or another:
- From the buyer: passport, tax number, proof of the source and transfer of funds, power of attorney if signing remotely.
- From the seller: the title deed and its registration certificate, tax clearance, the ENFIA certificate covering the last five years, municipal clearance, social-security clearance where the seller is a business, and the identity documents of each co-owner.
- From the engineer: the certificate that the building matches its permit or has been legalised, the energy performance certificate, the electronic building identity, the topographic diagram with state coordinates for land, and a declaration on any unpermitted construction.
- From the public offices: the Cadastre extract, Land Registry certificates of ownership and absence of charges, and the transfer-tax payment confirmation.
- From the notary: the draft deed, circulated to both sides.
Several of these certificates have expiry dates measured in weeks. If one step stalls, another certificate lapses and must be reissued. This is the single most common reason a closing date moves.
What slows a purchase down
Cadastre discrepancies. The property on the ground does not match the Cadastre record: a boundary is wrong, a surface area differs, a previous owner was never registered. Since September 2026 certain boundary corrections can be filed digitally, which helps, but a correction still takes weeks to months.
Unlegalised construction. A closed balcony, a converted basement, a pergola: anything not on the permit must be legalised or removed before the deed. The seller usually pays, but the buyer waits.
Unaccepted inheritance. The seller inherited the property but never completed the acceptance and registration. That has to be done first, with its own documents and tax declaration.
Multiple sellers. Three siblings abroad means three powers of attorney, three sets of certificates and three diaries.
A building still under construction. No deed can be signed for a unit until the horizontal-property deed exists and the unit is legally defined. Completion dates in brochures are estimates.
Funds. Money arriving from outside the EU is checked by the receiving bank. A large transfer can be held pending source-of-funds documents; several smaller transfers each need their own. Plan the transfer with the bank before the deed is scheduled.
What the buyer can do to shorten it
- Obtain the tax number, open the bank account and sign the power of attorney before a property is chosen. These are the same whatever you buy.
- Instruct the lawyer and the engineer together, at reservation, so title and building checks run in parallel.
- Make the reservation agreement conditional on clean title and legalisation, with a fixed long-stop date and the deposit returnable if the seller cannot deliver.
- Ask the seller’s side for the list of certificates on day one, with the expiry date of each.
- Fix the deed date with the notary only when the last certificate is in hand.
A note on the 15% transfer tax
From 1 July 2027 the transfer tax for non-EU individuals buying a home is expected to rise from 3% to 15%. For those buyers the timeline above is no longer academic: the deed, not the reservation, is what counts. See our separate article on the new tax.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy without coming to Greece? Yes. A power of attorney signed at a Greek consulate, or before a foreign notary with an apostille, lets a lawyer obtain the tax number, open the account, pay the tax and sign the deed.
Why does the notary need so many certificates? Greek notaries are responsible for the validity of the deed and will not sign without the full file. That protects the buyer as much as anyone.
Does a deposit secure the property? Only to the extent the reservation agreement says so. A well-drafted one fixes the price and the long-stop date and sets out what happens to the deposit if either side fails to perform.
This article is general information, not legal advice; it reflects the position on the date above and may change.
Katsouris Law Firm handles conveyancing for private buyers and for developers across Attica and the islands. For a timeline on a specific property, contact us at info@katslaw.eu or +30 210 8982 864.
