Wednesday 8 November 2017

Real Estate




This large, traditional greek house is for sale.  Owned by an English family it is in an ideal setting.  If you look carefully down that narrow road one of the balconies is flying a Greek flag.  This is the Police Station.  This is a big old house with a garden but needs a lot of work.  It is only a five minute walk from here to the harbour or the supermarket.  Asking price rumoured to be 300,000euros.  Far too much considering the repairs that it needs and especially considering they haven't paid taxes in Greece for years and there is probably a tangle of horrendous paperwork to be sorted out 



A German owned house, Villa Metina.  The woman who owns the house has died and her children don't seem to be attracted by holidays in Greece.  It is a little walled complex, very private, with two larger apartments, one tiny guest house, all fully equipped, a private garden and two terraces with views out over Poros Harbour.  It is rented now by a friend of ours.



This little house is next door.  Almost abandoned, covered in wild foliage but still a sturdy little residence.  I don't think this is for sale.  The family live in Athens and the elderly parents who spent their last years here have long gone.  It looks tiny, with two or three rooms but has a private terrace and garden.

One of many such houses on the island.  The families that live in them move on to the big city and the house gets left to its own devices.  No-one has time or money to fix them up anymore and property tax is a burden.  Some are used for a few weeks during the summer and some eventually go onto the market in the hope the family can sell at a decent price to a foreigner.



And another sturdy old house.  Abandoned for over twenty years.  Worth buying just for the view from that big front balcony





This house is also owned by a German family.  It has been restored with great care and is a house that brightens up the neighbourhood.  The couple that own it have grown old and hardly ever visit now.  I suppose it will be sold or one day the next generation will appear for their Greek holiday.

The flowers and shrubbery are all out on the roadside.  

Imagine sitting out on that little balcony, framed by its dark blue shutters, hidden behind a tangle of brilliant Bougainvillia surveying the neighbourhood and drinking in a spectacular summer sunset over the 'sleeping lady' (the shape of the mountain opposite).



These steps lead up to two houses owned by foreigners.  The apartment behind the blue door on the right is rented out for a monstrous amount.  Or was.  My brother and another couple stayed there a few years ago because it is only minutes from our old house.  An ancient house, probably included a stable back then.  Wonderfully restored and modernised but tiny inside.  Listed to sleep 6 people, only if they're very good friends.  And a pool in the garden.  I can't find it advertised now.  Maybe this has been handed on to the next generation too.


Continue up those steps and you'll find the villa owned by English actress Claire Bloome.  Her house is also just down the road from us .  It too has a wonderful view of the harbour.

It is advertised at $136 a night.



Google for more info

9 comments:

  1. So interesting. And so many "abandoned" houses it seems. It always seems such a shame to me when decent places go unlived in. -Jenn

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    1. There are many abandoned houses, some more or less just a shell of thick stone wall.s. No one has the money anymore to fix them up.

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  2. Poros is stunning. House prices are high can understand why. My lemonaide budget is a crash pad in Athens. Little flats with gardens selling as low as euros 8000.. Then overnight trips to the islands.

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    1. Small apartments in Athens can be bought for almost nothing but you have to be very careful about the neighbourhood. Some are downright dangerous now unfortunately.
      Spitogatos has not got a variety of photos because from what I've heard they dont even represent a lot of the houses they have listed. They know the places are up for sale and have just included whatever photo they can find.
      You have to be very careful about Poros real estate agents. There are some sorry tales to tell by the english who have been caught in some trap or other.
      If you can get hold of the actual owner it is a different story.

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  3. I like the look of the houses (which one can't see) up the flight of steps. That's just where I imagine my Greek island house to be.

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    1. The two houses up those steps have been done up in the best of island styles, using foreign money and foreign knowledge. I tried to get a photo from higher up but it wasnt possible. One is behind high walls but with balconies with views of the harbour.

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    2. Yup; that's the one for me!

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  4. If I was rich I’d buy a house on the island my father comes from and holiday for at l least three months a year unfortunately I’m not. So I dream on

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    1. There are a few australians who visit regularly but the air fares alone are damn expensive.

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