Blog

No. Crete has party resorts, which is a different thing. Mykonos and Ios are built around nightlife; Crete is a working island of more than 600,000 residents where the party scene occupies a few kilometres of the northern coast, and the rest of the island gets on with its life. Whether that scene matters to you depends entirely on where you stand on it, and on Crete you can stand more than 200 kilometres away. That distance is the real answer to the question. The island runs 260 kilometres from west to east, with over 1,000 kilometres of coastline. Hersonissos and Malia, where the late-night scene concentrates, sit on a single stretch east of Heraklion. A house in Apokoronas, the Asterousia foothills, or anywhere on the south coast belongs to a different island in every way that matters after dark.

The official language of Crete is Greek, and that's what you'll find on every road sign, menu, and legal document. You won't need it to get by, though. In the tourist areas and the main towns, English is widely spoken, and German, Dutch, and French are common too, thanks to the island's long-standing international communities. For buyers, the real question is usually whether you need Greek to purchase a home here. The short answer is no, as long as you have the right multilingual support. Here's the full picture.

Our second webinar explores the essential differences between purchasing an off-plan property — a home bought before or during construction — and an existing home that is already built and ready to move into. Participants will gain a clear understanding of how these two options differ in price, process, legal aspects, and flexibility.


The session explains how off-plan properties often offer modern design, customization opportunities, staged payment plans, and potential for higher resale value, while also requiring trust in the developer and patience during construction. In contrast, existing homes provide immediate availability, traditional character, and the security of seeing exactly what you are buying, but may come with maintenance considerations or less flexibility in design.


Through professional insights from both legal and real estate perspectives, the webinar helps buyers make an informed decision on which option best suits their financial plans, lifestyle goals, and risk tolerance when purchasing a home in Greece

Greece has a special tax program to encourage high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) to transfer their tax residence to Greece. Similar to benefits to pensioners who move their tax residence to Greece, this is a great deal when stacked up to tax systems in other countries, where income for high earners can be taxed up to 50%. Instead of paying a percentage tax on foreign income, Greece offers you the possibility to pay a flat rate of 100,000 euros per year on the foreign income by transferring your tax residence to Greece. You can add a family member for 20,000 Euros per year. The flat rate is applicable for a period of 15 years. A similar tax system is available in Italy, where taxpayers who join the "Res Non-Dom Program" pay a flat rate of 300,000 Euros per year on foreign-sourced income for new residents from 2026 (up from 100,000 in 2024), and can add a family member for an additional 25,000 Euros each.

Elxis' offices in Thessaloniki opened their doors last weekend, November 22-23, with hundreds of locals and tourists having the opportunity to visit them as part of OpenHouse Thessaloniki. The beautiful offices, designed and curated by Urban Soul Project, are located in Aristotelous Square, in the most central part of the city, facing the Thermaic Gulf.

Selling a coastal property in Greece is a different job from selling one at home. Your most likely buyer lives in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, or the UK, speaks a different language, and will probably see your property on a screen long before they see it in person. Reaching that buyer takes more than a sign on the gate and a listing on a Greek portal. If you are managing the sale from abroad, the challenge is sharper still. You cannot show the house yourself, and you cannot be there when an interested buyer happens to pass by. The marketing has to do that work for you. These are the nine channels that do it best, and an honest word on which ones you can run yourself and which ones need a professional behind them.