House on the island
Text: Danae Tal
There were permanent residents in Paros and Antiparos before the tourist boom. But, since these islands became more accessible to visitors (by ferry, private boat or plane), the demand for residential property has been rising at a rapid rate.
Some set the stepping stone with an agricultural or a residential land plot where they had a home built while others got it ready-made: modest or large, minimal or deluxe, overlooking the mountain and the bountiful hinterland or the endless blue, interrupted only by the other islands of the Archipelago, or, alternatively, in the alleyways of the villages with the whitewashed walls reflecting the Cycladic light. Greeks and foreigners, EU and non-EU citizens, young and young-at-heart, families and sworn bachelors – all, without exception, scouted for, found or built their own home. And this goes on non-stop as Paros receives visitors who come from all over the world to send local real estate soaring. Real estate practitioners on Paros have been playing a serious role in this trend since about 1965. This is why, in this feature, we invite them to give us a glimpse into the essence of their experience. Real estate agents, construction professionals, contractors, lawyers and notaries offer specialized services in many languages and are at the disposal of anyone interested to counsel, enlighten and represent them through all the stages involved in acquiring a residence on the islands of Paros and Antiparos.
The Cyclades islands, where property ownership status branches back in time, present certain peculiarities. Land uses and their restrictions, the traditional character of the settlements and other quaint local ways seem like an oracle’s riddling answer to the question: “When will I get into my own house?”.
A host of Paros-based professionals can serve as your advisors: they know every nook and cranny of the island and possess the business savvy needed to make a difference in any property deal.
The real estate services on the island operate under Act 4072/2012, inasmuch as the professionals who provide them are active members of the General Commercial Registry (GEMI). The pool of multilingual lawyers and civil engineers operating locally are members of the professional scientific societies of the Cyclades and beyond. A well-organized and constantly updated network of related specialists for the decoration, renovation and relocation to your new home help make your dream come true. If you decide to call Paros your “home, sweet home” in your own language, think of the privilege of living on an island that has been inhabited uninterruptedly since the Bronze Age; don’t consider yourselves quirky eccentrics who parachuted into this gorgeous stretch of land – you are one among a large group of people, yet another generation of visitors to Paros, who switched from paying a random summer visit to letting themselves into a local house with their own key year in, year out. All you need to do is carefully choose the professional who is best suited for your needs, know what you want, and respect the natural environment that hosts you. Then, your dream house on the island will become your home for a lifetime of good living.
Parola gives the floor to real estate practitioners who can inform you about the practicalities entailed in your decision. As for the other, more personal, issues concerning every home, the poet has seen to it to ensure the strongest foundations for the ideal dwelling in Paros when, back at a time of sparse, low-rise housing, he wrote about what you are bound to witness for yourselves looking out through your own window every day: “A late afternoon in the Aegean includes joy and sorrow in such equal doses that only truth remains in the end “.*
*Odysseus Elytis [1979 Nobel Prize in literature] (2004), The Collected Poems of Odysseus Elytis, translated into English by Jeffrey Carson and Nikos Sarris, Baltimore and London, Johns Hopkins University Press.
