Many owners of property in Athens and Attica do not live there. Some are Greeks working abroad who kept the family apartment. Others are foreign buyers with a holiday home on the Athens Riviera, or heirs who have not yet decided what to do with an inherited house. Their situation is the same: a property that is empty most of the year, in a country they visit a few times a year, with no one nearby to check on it.
This guide explains what key-holding and property management cover, what keeps happening while you are away, and how to choose someone to look after it.
What actually goes wrong in an empty property
Most damage to unoccupied homes is ordinary and slow. A small roof leak after an autumn storm. A failed water heater. Damp in a closed room. A shutter left loose. A pest problem that nobody notices for months. These issues are cheap to fix in the first week and expensive by the time the owner arrives in July.
The second risk is that the property looks empty. Closed shutters, a full letterbox and an overgrown garden tell anyone passing that no one has been there for some time.
The third risk is paperwork. Utility bills, building common charges, municipal fees and annual property tax all keep falling due. An unpaid bill can lead to a supply being cut off and a reconnection fee, at exactly the moment you arrive.
Key-holding: the person at the door
Key-holding means a trusted company keeps a set of keys and access codes and can attend the property when needed. Done properly, it involves:
- Controlled custody. Keys are logged, stored securely and released only on written instructions from the owner.
- Alarm response. When the alarm goes off, someone attends, checks whether it is a real event or a fault, and reports back with what they found.
- Access for others. Letting in a plumber, a meter reader or a family member, and locking up after them.
A key-holder is not the police. If there has been a break-in, the right response is to secure the site, call the police and stay until the property is closed up again. The value of a key-holder is that a person can tell the difference between a forced lock and a shutter moving in the wind, without the owner having to get on a plane.
Regular inspections
Scheduled visits are the core of the service. A useful inspection follows a fixed checklist: water, electricity, damp, drainage, roof, shutters, garden, pool and the condition of the boundary. Visits can be weekly, fortnightly or monthly, depending on the property and the season. An extra visit after storms or heavy rain is often the most valuable one, because that is when most avoidable damage happens.
Every visit should produce a dated report with photographs. A message saying “all fine” is reassuring. A photo file that shows a stain spreading over three months is more useful.
Opening and closing the house
Many owners need help at both ends of their stay.
Before you arrive
The house is aired and cleaned, water and electricity are on, the boiler and air conditioning are tested, the pool is serviced, and the fridge is stocked if you want it to be. A car can wait at the airport.
After you leave
Water off at the mains, appliances off, rubbish removed, perishables cleared, shutters closed and the alarm set. Owners rushing for a flight often get this part wrong.
Bills, taxes and the rules that keep running
While you are away, the property still has obligations. A manager can monitor bills and pay them on your instructions, and keep the correspondence in order. Original documents for a lawyer or a notary should travel by a secure route rather than ordinary post.
If you let the property
If you let the property, a few rules apply that owners abroad often miss:
- Energy Performance Certificate (PEA). Under Article 12 of Law 4122/2013, a valid energy certificate is required when a property is sold or let to a new tenant, and the energy class must appear in every advertisement for the sale or rental.
- Lease declarations. Leases are declared electronically to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE).
- Short-term letting. Under Article 111 of Law 4446/2016, each property let for short stays through online platforms must be entered in AADE’s Short-Term Residence Property Register. The property’s registration number (AMA) must appear prominently in every listing, and each stay is declared to AADE.
The details change from time to time, so check the current position with your accountant before you start letting.
Long-term or short-term letting?
Both options can work, but they are very different jobs. A long-term let needs a reliable tenant, an inventory, a deposit, periodic inspections and someone to take the tenant’s calls. A short-term let needs changeovers, cleaning, linen, guest access and a condition check between every stay. A short-term let also earns less than the headline figure once you deduct cleaning, commission, empty weeks and wear. An honest manager will tell you which one suits your property, rather than the one that pays them more.
Making the property look lived in
A large part of the work is simply making the property look cared for. That means clearing the post, keeping the garden tidy, moving the shutters and varying the lights. For higher-value properties or owners with a higher profile, a wider security assessment of the residence may be worthwhile.
How to choose a property manager or key-holder
Ask these questions before you hand over the keys:
- How are keys stored and logged, and who can release them?
- What happens when the alarm goes off at three in the morning? Ask who attends, how quickly in practice, and how you are told.
- What does a visit report look like? Ask to see an example.
- Who are your contractors, and do you supervise their work? Passing on a phone number is not management.
- What can you approve without asking me? An agreed spending limit avoids both delays and surprises.
- Who will be my single point of contact?
Our service
Our property management and key-holding service covers Athens and Attica and is built around these principles: controlled key custody, alarm response, scheduled inspections with photo reports, opening and closing the house, and supervised maintenance. For buyers who have just completed, it pairs naturally with our property valuation and mediation work.
If you own a property in Athens and live elsewhere, contact us or call +30 690 856 0514. Tell us where the property is and how often you use it, and we will suggest a level of care that fits.
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Sources: Law 4122/2013, Article 12 (energy certificate); Law 4446/2016, Article 111, and AADE guidance on short-term letting.