Living and Working in the Greece

[JSAston]

Hello

I am new to this part of the forum, I have posted on the Cyprus pages before. My Partner and I want to relocate abroad sometime in the not to distant future. We are interested in the southern side of Cyprus, as It is simular to Greece, and there is work for us both there. However the wages are quite low, even though we are profeshionals.

To be honest our prefered location would be the Ionian Islands, Cephalonia to be excact. We have been many times, and love the place to bits. We will be out there again in September. What I would like to know about is the cost of living, and work opertunitie's for us on the Island.

My partner is an IT profeshional, working for the London Stock Exchange. She is university educated to Masters level, and can develope software, websites ect. I work in Enviromental Health, and I am trained to UK standards in both food Hygine and Pest Control. Also I would like to setup my own business as a Profeshional Photographer, shooting Weddings, and stock images for agencies back in the UK.

The info I am after is, will we be able to find work? What are the wages worth, we are not expecting the kind of money that we earn in the UK, but would like to live a reasonable lifestyle. Also house prices for 2 - 3 bedhouse, with private or shared pool. Ideally in Skala, Kefalonia, but would consider other area,s.

Any info would be gratefully recieved.

[Ade03]

Originally Posted by JSAston

Hello

I am new to this part of the forum, I have posted on the Cyprus pages before. My Partner and I want to relocate abroad sometime in the not to distant future. We are interested in the southern side of Cyprus, as It is simular to Greece, and there is work for us both there. However the wages are quite low, even though we are profeshionals.

To be honest our prefered location would be the Ionian Islands, Cephalonia to be excact. We have been many times, and love the place to bits. We will be out there again in September. What I would like to know about is the cost of living, and work opertunitie's for us on the Island.

My partner is an IT profeshional, working for the London Stock Exchange. She is university educated to Masters level, and can develope software, websites ect. I work in Enviromental Health, and I am trained to UK standards in both food Hygine and Pest Control. Also I would like to setup my own business as a Profeshional Photographer, shooting Weddings, and stock images for agencies back in the UK.

The info I am after is, will we be able to find work? What are the wages worth, we are not expecting the kind of money that we earn in the UK, but would like to live a reasonable lifestyle. Also house prices for 2 - 3 bedhouse, with private or shared pool. Ideally in Skala, Kefalonia, but would consider other area,s.

Any info would be gratefully recieved.

Hi Aston,

We moved to Greece not too long ago, however we live in Athens which is a big difference in terms of work.

You might want to consider living in Thessaloniki or Athens and having a small holiday house in Kefalonia.

The kind of companies that will employ an IT professional are mainly in the cities. except she want to work freelance. Which means she could serve clients from all over, UK, Greece etc.

As per photography, again, am not sure you will get many weddings in the island all year round. People get married mainly in the summer. Then again you could work all summer and make enough money to sustain you for the rest of the year.

I think you can both work from home with the type of jobs you've mentioned.

Cost of living, well its not as expensive as the UK, and especially on the islands living as locals not tourists.

I worked in Real Estate in the UK and have been able to carry on here, so I might be able to help you with housing when you are ready. Send me a list of your requirements.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Ade

[JSAston]

Hi Ade

Thanks for your feed back.

I might take a look at Thessaloniki, as for Athens I think it would be like trading London for a much warmer version of it. Would perfer to be based in one place, not having 2 houses in different parts of the country.

It is very possible for my partner to work remotely, as long as we have a fast reliable Broadband link up at home. Can you tell me what the Broadband suppliers are like in Greece ie, reliabillity etc?

As for Photography, my main aim will be to work with UK customers coming over through the holiday season to get married, so I will be working the summer period for weddings, and then shooting stock images for a couple of agencies back in London when the season ends. Plus my Enviromental Health knowledge may come in use, if I find myself short of a euro or two.

As for my housing needs, I have not given it to much thought, as I am not sure where we will end up. I have been looking at the cost of Villas in Cyprus, large Villa, 3 to 4 beds, with private pool, the usual thing really. Brand new or almost new, no building work required. Will probably have a budget of 750k to cover the house and the move over, once we decide where we are going.

Regards Jon

[kristiancarhart]

Hi ,

My partener and I are seriously considering moving to greece, we have at present a 4 bedroom holiday home in Agios Georgios South which we would move into . We plan to open a small buisiness , pub / restaurant maybe .
One of my concerns though is my son who is 6 years old , how is the education system set up, do they teach English children.

any information would be appreciated !

[Ade03]

Originally Posted by kristiancarhart

Hi ,

My partener and I are seriously considering moving to greece, we have at present a 4 bedroom holiday home in Agios Georgios South which we would move into . We plan to open a small buisiness , pub / restaurant maybe .
One of my concerns though is my son who is 6 years old , how is the education system set up, do they teach English children.

any information would be appreciated !

Hi,

Yes, there are a number of good english / american schools.
You can check out the following...

St Catherines
American Community School
British School at Athens
Champion School Athens

Hope this helps.

[mentalist]

The education in Greece is first rate from what I have seen.

[bhanu_gupta]

Dear Friends,

Greetings for the day!


I am getting an opportunity to work for a company in Greece and they want me to relocate to Athens. I have family and 2 kids and my son is 3 years so immediately he will go to a British school. We are moving to Greece from India.

Please can any one help me and guide me to understand what is going to the minimum cost of have a decent living in Athens along with my family taking into consideration the cost to education for my son, a car to buy a car, Renting a 2 bedroom apartment furnished (I think the company will not provide me housing) and other normal expenses of food, phone, petrol, medical, internet, a little outing on weekends etc etc.

My daughter is still 9 months old so my wife will not be able to work for at least 2 more years.

If an Indian company can share their number of email id and give me an opportunity to discuss with them, I will be really grateful as it’s a big decision to move from India to Greece. I wish to know how much should I ask as my minimum remuneration from this company

Any replies will be highly appreciated,

Thanks and regards
bhanu

[mentalist]

Greece is not a cheap country anymore but rents are still pretty reasonable.

[bhanu_gupta]

Dear friend,

I know its not cheap that is why i need some more information from you people. please can you add some minimum Euro i should be getting.

regards
bhanu

[Jane&Jack]

Hi

I'm not sure about Athens but I am moving to Thessaloniki and have worked out the following:

Rent approx 500 Euros (possibly furnished)
Car: 1-2000 Euros (second hand)
Utility bills 150 (approx per month)
Food/shopping 600 (approx home cooking etc )

you will need to earn at least 1200 euros per month, as for the school if you are going to pay for private english school that will be expensive....for a rough estimate look up Pinewood school Greece they have some prices. If you are in a well paid job you should be ok. Unfortunately Greek wages are not much thats why I will be working in UK during the winter..

Good Luck!