The word "advisory" has become fashionable among Greek real estate firms in the last two years. Most of what it is attached to is still, structurally, an estate agency. Here is how to tell the difference — and what to check before you sign anything.
Search "Greek property advisory" today and the results are almost indistinguishable from a search for "Greek estate agent." Firms that would have called themselves brokers five years ago now describe themselves as advisers, consultants, or private buying specialists. Some of that shift is genuine — the buyer-representation model long established in London and New York is finally arriving in Greece. Much of it is relabelling: the same dual-sided commission structure, the same vendor relationships, with different words on the homepage.
For a buyer, the distinction is not academic. It determines whose interests your adviser is actually structured to serve when a negotiation gets difficult, when a title has a defect worth knowing about before you fall in love with a view, or when the property that best suits you happens to be the one paying the introducing agent the smallest commission.
Almost every other question about a Greek property advisory resolves once you answer this one. If a firm is paid, in whole or in part, by the seller or their agent — a commission, a referral fee, a co-brokerage split, however it is described — then the firm has a structural incentive that runs alongside yours at best, and against it at worst. This is not a comment on any individual's honesty. It is simply how incentives work, and it is why the concept of a "buyer's advisory" exists at all: a firm paid exclusively by the buyer has no seller-side interest to balance against the buyer's.
"Ask one direct question before any other: who pays you, and would that answer change if I asked in front of the seller's agent?"
A genuine buyer's advisory will answer this question without hesitation, because the answer is simple: you do. If a firm's answer requires qualification — "mostly the buyer, but sometimes we also receive a referral fee from the seller's side" — that is not a buyer's advisory. It is a conventional agency with newer language.
Who instructs them: Estate agent — the seller, or both sides · Buyer's advisory — the buyer only
Who pays them: Estate agent — commission on sale, often 2–4% + VAT · Buyer's advisory — retainer plus success fee, paid by the buyer
What they show you: Estate agent — their own listed stock · Buyer's advisory — the whole market, including off-market
Legal representation: Estate agent — often points you to an affiliated lawyer · Buyer's advisory — insists on independent counsel of your choosing
Role after completion: Estate agent — typically ends at signature · Buyer's advisory — often continues into relocation and aftercare
Pelagos Private Office was built specifically to close this gap in the Greek market. We act exclusively for buyers — we do not list property, we do not accept vendor instructions, and where a seller-side commission share is ever offered to us, we decline it or disclose it in writing and credit it against your fee. Our fee structure is a retainer plus a success fee, paid by you and no one else, set out in full before any work begins.
We require an independent Greek lawyer on every transaction we advise on, chosen by the client, never by us. Our relationships with vendors, agents and notaries across Corfu, Paros, Athens and beyond exist to surface opportunities before they reach the open market — and our involvement does not end at completion; relocation, tax registration and aftercare are part of how we work, not an afterthought.
None of this makes us the only legitimate way to buy in Greece. Reputable conventional agents exist, and for some buyers a straightforward listing relationship is genuinely all that is needed. What matters is knowing which relationship you are actually in before you rely on the advice inside it.