The Notary is a special kind of lawyer. They are in part public officials but also in the business of making their living from the fees that they charge for their services. There are over three thousand Notaries in Greece. Under Greek Law, only purchase deeds approved and witnessed by a Notary can be registered at the Land Registry. For practical reasons all sales of real estate in Greece must be carried out in the presence of a Notary. The charges levied by the Notary are fixed by law at 1.2% of the value of the contract, plus charges for documents. In general charges will be about 2% in total.

The Notary is normally appointed by the buyer. In many situations the Notary should not be connected to the seller. The Notary is a neutral party in the transaction. Their duties are to ensure that the documentation is complete, that the documents comply with the strict rules that are applicable to the transaction and that the sale contract is properly drawn up so as to be acceptable to the Land Registry for registration of title.

It is not uncommon to find that Greek Notaries do not speak English or certainly do not speak it well enough to give advice on complex legal issues. In any case the buyer will seldom meet the Notary before the signing of the contrat and there is little reason for seeking legal advice from them. It is also a requirement, if you are signing the contract in person, rather than giving Power of Attorney to a lawyer, that you pay for a translator, if you do not speak fluent Greek yourself.