A property advertised with an attractive rental yield can produce a different amount in its owner’s bank account. The difference often comes from comparing annual scheduled rent with the purchase price while leaving acquisition expenses, empty months and ownership costs outside the calculation.
For a buyer comparing property in Greece, the useful question is what cash the particular home could produce under a lawful rental arrangement, on stated assumptions, after the expenses the owner must bear.
Separate three measures of return
Gross rental yield is annual scheduled rent divided by the purchase price. Operating cash yield uses rent collected less defined owner-paid operating costs, divided by the full acquisition outlay. State whether income tax, borrowing and major capital works are included: the word “net” is ambiguous without that definition.
Total investment return also depends on net disposal proceeds, selling costs, further capital invested and the holding period. A simple holding-period gain and an annualised measure such as IRR are different calculations. Expected appreciation cannot pay current bills. A residence benefit is a separate personal consideration, not rental income.
An example, not a market forecast
All figures below are invented for calculation only. They are not an Athens market estimate, a Santheos offer or a promised return.
| Assumption | Illustrative amount |
|---|---|
| Purchase price | EUR 250,000 |
| Acquisition and setup costs | EUR 25,000 |
| Total acquisition outlay | EUR 275,000 |
| Scheduled monthly rent | EUR 1,000 |
| Rent collected over ten months | EUR 10,000 |
| Annual owner-paid operating costs, including assumed property tax | EUR 3,000 |
| Surplus before income tax, borrowing and capital works | EUR 7,000 |
Twelve scheduled payments imply EUR 12,000 / EUR 250,000 = 4.8% gross yield. Ten collected payments, less the stated expenses, imply EUR 7,000 / EUR 275,000 = 2.55% before the exclusions above. These figures answer different questions.
Make every cost visible
Request separate estimates for transaction expenses, legal and technical review, furnishing, annual property tax, insurance, management, owner-paid building charges, maintenance and letting costs. Avoid double counting. Show a reserve separately from expenditure already incurred, and distinguish routine repairs from major capital work. A transfer into a reserve is not itself a repair expense: do not subtract both that transfer and the later invoice when measuring the same cash-flow period. In the example, operating costs include the assumed annual property-tax expense, while income tax, borrowing and capital works remain excluded.
AADE explains annual ENFIA ownership taxation and E9 property reporting. Its non-resident guidance also identifies Greek property income as Greek-source income. Ask a tax adviser to calculate the owner’s position for the relevant year rather than applying a generic percentage to this example.
Test a weaker year
In a downside illustration, EUR 900 collected for nine months gives EUR 8,100. With EUR 3,500 of operating costs, the surplus is EUR 4,600, approximately 1.67% of EUR 275,000 before tax, borrowing and capital works. An additional EUR 5,000 capital repair would produce a EUR 400 cash deficit that year.
Keep growth and eligibility separate
The Bank of Greece apartment-price index uses valuation data to describe broad market movements. It is not a resale valuation or guaranteed appreciation rate for one home. Likewise, a rental model does not establish Golden Visa eligibility. Have the lawyer confirm the proposed use and the specific property’s legal basis before relying on the forecast.
Ask Santheos for the current information available for the exact unit. A useful investment worksheet identifies the total cash required, evidence supporting rent assumptions, expenses, downside scenarios and facts still awaiting confirmation.
General information, not investment, tax, legal or immigration advice. Hypothetical figures do not represent a project offer.
