Chinese Peter Chang has had to stop real estate for the past three years. After six years of almost daily organization of services for their compatriots who came to Greece in search of real estate, the pandemic came and everything “froze”. But in recent months – despite the fact that the Chinese are still unable to travel – there has been a sudden surge of interest. Every day his phone rings again: brokers or lawyers ask him to help with express contracts. Cause; The Prime Minister’s announcement at TIF in September that the price of a golden visa would immediately rise from 250,000 to 500,000 euros is the main reason why the Chinese are buying property in Greece. “This allows them to travel around Europe without the hassle and restrictions of a simple visa. For 250,000 euros in Beijing, they cannot even buy a parking space. It’s worth the investment, so everyone is in a hurry now,” Chang explains.

He is in contact with 30 different lawyers and the same number of brokers. Most, if not exclusively, deals are with Chinese clients, and all have returned to pre-COVID prices. Chang, of course, arranged every aspect of the visit: he booked tickets and hotels, suggested all-Chinese restaurants, and provided them with a Chinese-language guidebook. It is known that these investors want the country to be “china ready”, i.e. ready for their arrival. Now, of course, mediation is done through Facetime. Those in China and Chang in an apartment with a realtor are translating and running a digital tour.

From 2014 to August 2022, 5,945 Chinese received a “golden visa” and Chang experienced incredible scenes. Chinese real estate agents on motorcycles drive through the neighborhood, breaking up sales and then contacting the seller, promising that if he grants them exclusive rights, they will immediately sell the property. “Of course, many houses were sold for much more than their real value. I know Chinese people who later learned from their neighbors that the property they bought for 250,000 euros didn’t sell for much less in months.”

He believes that the upcoming change will not reduce the interest of his compatriots and that this is the right decision for the Greeks: “So that they can find a house at a reasonable price,” he says. Of course, the new legal framework has yet to be announced. If investors are finally given the option to buy more properties at a lower value, assuming their total value is €500,000, the government will not achieve its intended result of increasing the amount of available property for Greeks. According to K, the terms of the new framework have not yet been determined. The processes are carried out by the government at the central level, and announcements are expected at the beginning of the new year.

Estelle Rami, a Lebanese lawyer, has been living in Greece for 4 years and has been serving clients from Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt on issues of obtaining a “golden visa”. And their own clients are in a hurry to complete the procedures before the increase in the limit. She herself lived in Iraq for several years and, having taken on the certification of powers of attorney and permits for various embassies, including the Greek one, she saw that the Greek golden visa program was the strongest in Europe. Therefore, he decided to move here and build a network of partners – brokers, insurers, drivers, travel agents, with the help of which he welcomes potential buyers.

From 2014 to August 2022, 5,945 Chinese received a golden visa.

Her clients want a package of services: she waits for them at the airport, they see 3-4 houses that they have already seen in the photos, and then they go on a tour. He escorts them to restaurants, advises where to go shopping, almost everyone wants to go to the bouzouki. After the economic crisis in Lebanon, many of her clients decided to move here permanently. She helps them move, choose a school, and even start a business – one of her clients is now opening a beauty salon in Kukaki.

She is present at every stage of the process, especially when buying and selling: “I can’t leave anything to chance, because in the early days all sorts of unexpected things happened. Brokers who suddenly showed up and asked for brokerage right before we signed the contract, as well as brokers who didn’t have direct contact with the owner and at the last minute we found out that the house was finally sold.”

And the Turkish broker confirmed not only the increase in interest, but also the panic caused by the announcement of the price increase. She was bombarded with phone calls. Earlier in the Turkish press it was reported that the new system will operate retroactively. She tried to calm them down – having lived permanently in Greece since 2017, she now knows the rhythms of the Greek state and knew that no changes would come immediately.

However, in their office, he estimates a 50% increase in contracts since then. And even more growth of interest that exists. But they are strictly selective in who they serve: “If we don’t know a customer from somewhere, we tell him that we are busy and that we don’t have time. We don’t want to waste our time if someone isn’t interested.”

There is, of course, another reason for this attitude – the one that the broker asked to speak about anonymously (as did two other Turkish brokers who spoke to “K”.) “Obviously we are not doing anything illegal, but there is a feeling of” never you do not know”. Some are even harassed for Facebook comments,” he explains. After all, the political situation in the country after the coup is one of the main reasons that pushed the Turks to buy real estate (585 until August). With the increase in the limit, she does not think that their interest will decrease, while she predicts that now her customers will return to Kolonaki and Glyfada, where they bought almost exclusively in the early years before the price increase.