Athens is the European capital with the lowest real estate sales prices and the highest returns. It comes in first among European capitals, and second in the ranks of European cities.

For prospective investors in the field of real estate, besides the traditional way of acquiring real estate, i.e. through a real estate agency, there are other alternative means.
One of those ways is to address the banks that own the real estate obtained by auction from companies which could not repay their loans.

This way of acquiring real estate, however, presents the following disadvantages:

– High purchase price because banks sell at high prices.
– Time-consuming processes.
– Long term court involvement with the previous owner.

Instead of the above way, we propose the following method of acquiring real estate:

The investor does not buy the real estate property directly, instead, he proposes a business plan for the consolidation of the company to which the real estate belongs.

The business plan is created by the investor and includes the terms and conditions he approves.
After examining all the economic data of the company which owns the real estate and is indebted to the bank, the investor composes a business plan that is submitted to the bank. With that business plan, the heavily indebted company can be consolidated.

The business plan may include many different financial proposals including:

– Debt write-off which can reach up to 90% of the debt that is due to some creditors.
– Many other economic solutions and proposals selected by the investor.

The advantages of our proposal are the following:

– The investor does not pay in advance for acquiring the real estate.
– When the business plan (composed by the investor) is approved, he will implement it and only then he is obliged to pay, according to his business plan.

– The previous owner is not involved in the process.
– All the creditors – mainly the bank – are satisfied because the company is consolidated.
– The investor has acquired the real estate with the terms and conditions he has selected.
Obviously, our proposal is not suited for everyone, however prospective investors should have it in mind.

Photis Hadjis and Vassilis Kokkinis are attorneys at law and members of the Athens Bar Association