← Back to the research (Oct 25)
Real listings, Crete ยท scanned Oct 26, 2026
Buy this one: a €45,000 two-bed in Heraklion, fix it up, rent it to a long-term tenant.
I read all 482 apartments and auctions listed on xe.gr in Heraklion, Chania and Rethymno, opened 47 of them, and ran every one through the loan math. This is the only flat that pays you every month and still beats a Treasury bill if prices never rise.
The flat: 70 m², 2 bedrooms, 2nd floor, double-fronted, 1977 building, Partheniou Perida 56, Atsalenio, Heraklion. Semi-finished, needs repairs. Asking €45,000 (€643/m²; the cheapest quarter of Heraklion flats asks €2,000+/m²).
The plan: offer €40-45K, Alpha Bank loan for 70%, about €31,500 of repairs, then a 12-month tenant (students or workers; Heraklion has two universities). Not Airbnb: it is 2.5 km from the old town.
Every month: rent about €600-710, loan €201. You keep about +€170 to +€240 after costs and tax.
Over 5 years: +98% to +106% on your cash if prices keep today's pace (+5.5% a year); +51% to +59% if prices never rise. A T-bill pays +23%.
The catch: it needs about US$64,000 of cash (down payment, buying costs, repairs, furniture, reserve), not US$50,000. Offering €40K and keeping repairs to €25K brings that to about US$55K. Otherwise a partner covers the gap.
Correction to yesterday
Yesterday's page assumed a 1-bed Airbnb in Crete grosses about €14,500 a year. The per-bedroom data says much less. The €29K "Rethymno median" is pulled up by big, well-run homes.
| Average 1-bed Airbnb, yearly gross | Heraklion | Rethymno | Chania |
|---|
| AirROI, 12 months to Sep 2026 moderate | €7,380 (n=568) | €9,690 (n=60) | €11,700 (n=989) |
| 2-bed | €11,800 | €15,200 | €18,900 |
At those numbers, an Airbnb on a 70% loan loses €180-450 a month on every listing I found, even the central ones. A plain 12-month let of a cheap, bigger flat is what pays. In Heraklion a year-round tenant grosses about the same as the average Airbnb, without the 15% platform fee, the 20% manager, cleaning and utilities.
The shortlist
| Flat | Where | Price | Cash you need | Monthly, long let | 5 yrs, prices flat | 5 yrs, today's pace |
|---|
| H45 70 m² 2-bed, 2nd fl, 1977, semi-finished | Atsalenio, 2.5 km from old town | €45,000 | US$64K | +€170 to +€240 | +51 to +59% | +98 to +106% |
| H90R 55 m² 1-bed, top floor, renovated 2016 | Bentenaki: 300 m to centre, 500 m to sea | €90,000 (offer €80K) | US$44-48K | -€58 to -€12 | -18 to -14% | +32 to +38% |
| H83 78 m² 2-bed, ground, own entrance, courtyard, parking, 1980 | Mastampas/Atsalenio, 2 km to sea | €83,000 | US$63K | +€124 | needs a valuation; partial repairs weak |
| H75 61 m² 2-bed, 2nd fl, lift, 1968, needs work | Agia Triada, 1.5 km to old town | €75,400 (listed since Sep 2025) | US$74K | +€44 | repairs eat the discount |
| H58 25 m² studio, 2005, lift | Centre, 50 m from Agios Minas Sq | €58,000 | US$37K | -€115 | -8% at pace | priced at the top |
H90R is the one to take if US$50K is a hard cap and you want an Airbnb-able location: central, ready, breaks even on a tenant. It earns from prices rising, not rent. "Prices flat" for H45 values it at only €1,500/m² after repairs my judgment; "today's pace" = Bank of Greece apartment index +5.5% a year strong. Rent = Heraklion average €10.14/m² moderate, or €600 for H45.
Checked and dropped
7 basement and semi-basement flats (€58-105K): Airbnb is banned in them since Oct 1, 2025, and most were the "cheap" ones.
H90G sold. H97G is really a bank auction. H84 stale (agent page gone). H90E price conflict (€90K vs €115K), half of it is legally storage.
T88 Chania studio: 6 km out, still being renovated, photos are renderings. G75 Gallos: already rented. R100 Rethymno: an unfinished shell.
All 57 auctions: about 74% of Greek home auctions go unsold, you cannot see inside, you pay in full within 10 working days (no confirmed loan for non-residents), and evicting an occupant takes 6-12 months. One Rethymno lot is only a 50% share. Watch list only.
What I need from you
- Cash: is the $50K in USD or CAD, and is a partner in for the gap to about US$64K? (If CAD, the budget is about US$36K and none of these fit without a partner.)
- OK to email the H45 agent (Theocharakis Real Estate) and Cretarealty (H90R) for photos, permit and title status and their lowest price, and Alpha Bank's foreign-buyer desk to confirm it will lend on a semi-finished flat? Nothing goes out without your yes.
- Deadline: close before July 1, 2027, when Greece plans to raise transfer tax for non-EU buyers from 3% to 15% (announced, not yet law).
Risks, in one line each
- Alpha may refuse to lend on a semi-finished flat until it is finished (then the repairs come first, from cash).
- Repairs can overrun: with a €10K overrun and €600 rent, H45 still returns +28% in 5 years if prices stay flat.
- Illegal build-ups and missing permits are common in old Greek flats: a Greek lawyer checks title and permits before any deposit.
- Prices: a 10% fall in Heraklion would erase most of the 5-year gain on the leveraged cash.
Sources
- xe.gr apartment and auction listings, Heraklion / Chania / Rethymno, read Oct 26, 2026 (482 unique; 47 opened). H45: xe.gr/en/property/d/property-for-sale/95911b31-7d31-4ea9-b54a-14227c6bbb2f ; H90R: cretarealty.com/property/823 ; H83: remaxreal.gr/property/5358 ; H75: cretarealty.com/property/161 ; H58: danos-melakis.gr/property/4223
- AirROI, Airbtics, AirDNA Crete market pages (12 months to Sep 2026); xe.gr Heraklion and Chania rent per m² (Sep 2026).
- Alpha Bank "Mortgage loan for foreigners" page (non-EU 70%, 20 yrs). Law 5170/2025 short-term rental standards. Auction statistics: 2025 auction results (26.3% of homes sold), IOBE.
- Model: crete-scan/deals.py and sensitivity.txt in the research folder.