For those searching for a golden visa opportunity in Europe, you may have noticed that options are becoming increasingly limited. However, Greece remains a viable choice. In an interview with BizNews, Richard Haller from immigration specialists Sable International stated that Greece offers a residency programme, allowing investors to live in Greece and travel within the Schengen area for 90 days out of every 180 days. To qualify, a property investment of €250,000 in Athens is required in developments that have been rezoned from commercial to residential. Athens is now a more accessible option, as the golden visa for the islands is now €800,000. Haller, who has recently explored potential investment opportunities, identified a development called Moschato Hive, which consists of 110 serviced apartments and is currently under construction. He described it as an ideal investment opportunity, located in a “vibey suburb with trees and lots of coffee shops.” He encouraged potential investors to act quickly, as options may become limited due to changing regulations and increasing price points.
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Highlights from the interview
In a BizNews interview, Richard Haller from Sable International discusses obtaining Greece’s Golden Visa through property investment, focusing on a €250,000 investment in Athens. Greece offers a residency program that grants investors the right to live in the country and travel within the Schengen area for 90 days out of every 180 days. To qualify for this visa, properties must be part of developments rezoned from commercial to residential.
While the Golden Visa program for Greek islands now requires an investment of €800,000, Athens remains a more affordable option. Haller highlights a promising development in Athens called Moschato Hive, which offers 110 serviced apartments and a 10-year lease guarantee. The development is located in the vibrant Moschato suburb, known for its tree-lined streets and local coffee shops. Buyers can invest in two micro-apartments that qualify for the Golden Visa together. Haller recommends the investment for its 4% guaranteed yield and well-located, high-potential value.
Haller cautions about potential risks, including economic factors and changes in legislation. While the Greek economy is improving, investors should be aware of the volatility in foreign jurisdictions. He suggests securing a property as soon as possible due to increasing property prices and regulatory changes.
Haller advises interested parties to act quickly before the opportunity is further limited, as the European Golden Visa programs face pressure and adjustments. The investment offers long-term benefits, including EU residency for families.
Edited transcript of the interview
Linda van Tilburg (00:25.966)
Hi, I’m Linda van TIlburg for BizNews. For those searching for a golden visa opportunity in Europe, you may have noticed that options are becoming increasingly limited. However, Greece remains a viable option. Today, we have Richard Haller from Sable International in the studio to discuss this. Richard has just returned from Greece. Hi Richard, welcome to BizNews.
Are Greece’s stunning beaches and warm summer waters the most compelling reason to consider a golden visa?
Richard Haller (0:59)
One of the main reasons was that the weather was excellent. We were there in wintertime, at the end of January, and the sun was shining, which was nice. But certainly, it is an interesting option to consider, given that all these EU programs are under pressure. The Spanish one is now closing at the end of April, and that’s been going on for a long time. And more and more, we’re just seeing pressure on these programs from the EU.
Linda van Tilburg (01:30)
What does this program offer? It’s permanent residence, not a passport.
Richard Haller (01:36.154)
It is not a passport; it’s a residency program. That gives you the right to live in Greece and traverse the Schengen area 90 days out of every 180 days. It essentially gives you a plan B. You can’t go live in Greece, you can rent something on an island if you like, and you can travel to Europe a lot more freely than you can on a South African passport, for example.
Linda van Tilburg (02:02)
What does property investment entail?
The property investment now is €250,000 and must be in a development that has changed us. The law recently changed, so to qualify for the golden visa, you must buy within a development rezoned from commercial to residential. This qualifies as a golden visa at the €250,000 level in Athens.
Linda van Tilburg (02:33.89)
So, all the islands are out.
Richard Haller (02:35.000)
Yes, they’re €800,000 if you want to qualify for the golden visa.
Linda van Tilburg( 02:39.000)
What is available? Have you looked at any complexes that you can invest in?
Richard Haller (03:39.000)
Ultimately, we had to give the developers time to pivot to the new legislation and find properties to rezone them from commercial to residential. We took our time last year waiting for that to happen and built a bit of a waitlist with clients. Our trip at the end of January was to run on the ground. We ran back and forth between North, South, and Central Athens for six days. We saw over 30 development opportunities and ultimately came back with one that we thought was suitable for our clients. This was due to the evident risks in very new developments. Developers might launch projects without the necessary permits, so we had to mitigate that risk where possible.
Linda van Tilburg (04:42)
So tell us more about this development. What is it called? Where is it? Is it convenient?
Richard Haller (04:49.926)
The development is called Moschato Hive. It’s in a suburb called Moschato, and it’s a very, very pretty suburb with trees, lots of coffee shops, and lots of people walking around. So, it’s quite a vibey. It’s one of the best suburbs that we saw in all of Athens. His particular development has 110 service departments, which translates into 55 golden visa opportunities.
This development consists of 110 serviced apartments, translating into 55 golden visa opportunities. Essentially, as a buyer, you would purchase two micro-apartments, which together make up one golden visa opportunity. This development is underpinned by a 10-year lease from the operator, with a five-year right of extension. They offer a 4% guaranteed yield, which is a gross yield, so after accounting for rental tax, we estimate about a 3.2% net yield.
The development is very well located, 75 meters from the metro and the bus stations. And on top of that, you’ve got the facility. You’ve got a co-working space in there. You’ve got a cinema lounge, another lounge. You’ve got a gym facility. So, it’s one of those developments where if you look at all the ingredients in terms of being well-located, a good developer with a track record, and lots of facilities, it sort of ticks all the boxes. And the big one is that has its change of use permits and is currently under construction.
Linda van Tilburg (06:26.000)
So how does it work? You can’t go and stay there full-time. The idea is that you rent out these units.
Richard Haller (06:28.44)
Correct, so with the new laws, ultimately, you’re not buying something you will live in. You’re buying something that will hopefully be a decent long-term investment, and then it will give you the golden visa to reside in Greece if you want to work full-time and then traverse the Schengen area. Ultimately, if you wanted to go live in Greece, then you would rent something, maybe on an island or other lying atoms.
Linda van Tilburg (06:57)
What are the pitfalls of investing in this? Are there any?
Richard Haller (07:02)
Yes, I think the Greek economy is on its way up from a relatively low base. It was the best economy for 2023. They seem to be making headway in terms of decreasing their debt-to-GDP ratio. So, there are a lot of positive indicators. However, investing in a foreign jurisdiction always carries some risk, whether that’s economic or legislative. Part of the risk here is that the investment may not perform as well in capital growth. We have mitigated the risk that it won’t qualify for the Golden Visa. The process we’ve just gone through now ensures it will qualify for the Golden Visa and will also expedite the timeframe in which you can obtain your Golden Visa. The process takes about 18 months for application—12 to 18 months maximum.
We can only apply for the client’s Golden Visa once they’ve paid the full purchase price, and that’s where the risk comes in. That’s why we concluded that, out of all the developments we saw, this one, Moscato Hive, is under construction and is due for delivery in the last quarter of this year. It’s about 40 to 50% complete, which significantly lowers the risk in terms of the client paying money directly to the developer. It is a lot lower, so we can apply for the gold visa quite early on.
Linda van Tilburg (08:27.054)
If you look at Athens right now, I remember going a couple of years ago and noticing some graffiti and rundown areas. Is Athens on the way up?
Richard Haller (08:42)
Yes, it is on the way up, but there’s still a lot of graffiti around. It’s a big city. If you compare it to something like Lisbon, which underwent massive regeneration through the Golden Visa program over the last 10 years, Athens will take longer to see similar results. However, you are starting to see regeneration in certain areas, but it will take time. But I think the long-term view is that provided they don’t change the legislation too much, in terms of the Golden Visa, We should see that trickle down over the next sort of 10 years or so.
Linda van Tilburg (09:19)
So, what kind of changes could there be for the golden visa? Well, not only in Greece but in other countries as well.
Richard Haller (09:23.352)
All these programs ultimately change as the benefits become apparent, and so do all the downsides for the local population. So we saw the price points in Greece and the mechanism change in that you can’t just buy anywhere anymore in Athens. You have to now buy within certain developments. They also continue to change the price points. The price points end up increasing throughout the program.
Eventually, the program falls away because it’s achieved its ultimate objective of driving foreign direct investment into the country. So, as all these European programs are under pressure, we are ultimately looking at a situation where, in a couple of years, there are potentially very limited options for EU access.
Linda van Tilburg (10:13)
So, you would recommend people jump on these opportunities if they are there.
Richard Haller (10:17)
Absolutely. So, between the Greek gold visa, which, as you mentioned, is residency, the Portugal gold visa is still running. It’s not property anymore. It’s the investment into equity funds or venture capital funds, essentially. We continue to do a number every month in terms of clients investing into a solid equity fund in Portugal, which qualifies them for residency in Portugal but gets them a passport about seven years from now. So, the Portuguese and Greek programs are the main ones for now. And then you get Malta, which also has residency, incidents and sub-options.
Linda van Tilburg (11:19.968)
So, what happens? You invest, and something happens to you. What happens? Does your family inherit it? Inherit the building? Inherit the investment?
Richard Haller (11:31)
Yeah, the best way to approach the Greek Golden Visa is for families wanting to give their kids EU access. So, parents would invest in a real estate opportunity at €250,000. They would put it in their kid’s name or one of their child’s names. The child would have to be over 18 for that. We can then apply for the Golden Visa for the child as the main applicant, and then the parents become dependents on that golden visa. It just means that because the inheritance and recruitment laws in Greece are quite tricky, it means that it ultimately gives your kids longevity in terms of the golden visa program.
Linda van Tilburg (12:49.322)
So, if this sounds appealing to someone listening, how can they make it a reality?
Richard Haller
Okay, so as we stand now, about 28 opportunities remain out of 110, translating to 14 opportunities because of two. In terms of proceeding, you would choose a unit, put a 20 % deposit down on the unit, and from there, the client can decide whether they want to pay the balance in draws over the construction period or whether they want to pay the full amount to the developer. At this stage, we can start applying for their golden visa.
It’s up to them whether they want to pay the 20 % deposit and secure the unit. They’d probably pay another 40 % odd or 50 % now because it’s under construction and is nearing completion by the end of the year. So there’d probably be about a 30 % balance left, and thereafter, at that stage, they could decide whether they want to proceed with the golden visa immediately or wait until the end.
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