Can you get rich from renting in Greece? A real Athens deal, broken down

Buying a flat by the sea or in a beautiful city, renting it to tourists and living off the income is a dream for a lot of people. On social media it looks easy: a couple of photos, guest reviews, money rolling in. I decided to look at the real numbers from one actual deal in Greece and honestly work out whether you can get rich from renting.

A real example: an apartment in Athens

The analytics site Global Property Guide broke down a deal by a foreign buyer in Koukaki — a cosy Athens neighbourhood next to the Acropolis. The buyer purchased an apartment that was already operating as a short-term rental.

• The seller asked €420,000; after negotiation they agreed on €390,000.
• Transaction costs were about €30,000, so the total came to almost €420,000.
• The whole purchase took about six months. The buyer didn't even fly in for the signing: a local lawyer handled everything under a power of attorney.

Now the most interesting part — income over 12 months, from April 2024 to March 2025:

• about €43,000 in revenue;
• about €26,400 net after costs. The management company takes 20% of revenue, the accountant €200 a month;
• that's roughly 6.3% a year on the money invested, before tax.

So is that wealth?

In my view, it's a good, honest result. But it's not "got rich in a year". Counting rent alone, the investment would pay for itself in about sixteen years — and that's before tax.

The real gain comes from three things: rental income, growth in the value of the flat itself, and time. Apartment prices in Greece rose 5.5% over the past year, according to the Bank of Greece. Together with the rent, that's noticeably more interesting than a bank deposit. But it's a story about patience, not quick money.

Pitfall no. 1: where you can no longer rent short-term

Here's a detail many people miss. In central Athens — including Plaka, Kolonaki and Koukaki itself — registering new short-term rental properties is banned. In September the government announced it is extending this ban until the end of 2027. The same applies to central Thessaloniki.

So the buyer in our example also won because the flat came with an existing registration. If you buy an ordinary flat in such a zone hoping to rent it to tourists, you may find you can only rent it long-term.

And another lesson from the same deal: the buyer bought the flat through an EU company, and then it turned out that short-term rentals required a Greek one. These things are better checked before the purchase, not after.

Pitfall no. 2: the Golden Visa

If you're buying property for a Golden Visa, you can't rent it out short-term. This is written directly into a 2024 law. The fine is €50,000, and the residence permit can be revoked. Long-term rental, on the other hand, is allowed. So it's worth deciding right at the start: do you need the visa or income from tourists? Sometimes those are two different flats.

Pitfall no. 3: taxes and checks

The Greek tax authority now cross-checks Airbnb and Booking data against owners' tax returns. The fine for an unregistered property is 50% of annual revenue, but at least €5,000. If you rent out three or more properties, it counts as a business with 13% VAT. On top of that, a climate resilience fee is paid for every guest night — for an apartment in summer it's €1.50 a day.

Why it's still interesting

For all the rules, demand for Greece is huge. According to AirDNA, in July a night of short-term accommodation in Greece earned its owner €142.80 on average — 14.3% more than a year earlier and well above the European average (€110.10).

My advice

1. Count net income. Don't trust revenue figures in adverts: subtract management, cleaning, taxes, utilities and empty winter months.
2. Check the address first. Find out whether short-term rental can be registered there — before the deposit, not after.
3. Decide what matters most: the visa or tourists. You can't combine them in one flat.
4. Have a plan B. It's good if the flat also pays off with long-term rental: the rules for short-term rentals in Greece are gradually getting stricter.

You can get rich from renting, but slowly and with careful calculation. If you like, I'll help you work out the real yield of a specific flat before you pay a deposit.