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Comment by return0 | Hacker News Reader

You're not wrong. Greece experienced a property bubble that is bursting painfully slowly. Homeownership is high in greece; it's part of the culture and successive governments protected it despite its heavy cost as a populist measure (e.g. by instituting laws that disallowed foreclosures). The bubble has not yet burst completely, that's why rent prices are very cheap.

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Is it worth moving to Greece at this point if you have sufficient (ways of generating) capital to sustain your lifestyle? Or would that be a fools errand given the state of the economy?

A lot of people are thinking to move out because of the steps backwards in all fronts such as law enforcement, health and social care quality, education quality etc. Everyday life gets worse for everybody more or less. Economy does not collapse without collateral damage.

Sure it is. Greece is still a very safe country with excellent climate. Avoid athens, the overcrowded center and heavily-hit by the crisis. You will find the cost of living is very cheap for a european country (provided that you have your own source of income as you said- don't rely on finding a job here)

Sounds interesting. I can, but it's not much fun living in a country where very little is happening. Is there still stuff happening in Greece, or has the economy been thoroughly fucked up by the austerity measures? At first glance, for example, taxes still look low compared to other EU countries.

I have a wealthy friend in the UK, and I want to a party there once thrown by some wealthy greek shipping magnates. They had sold their shipping empire for billions in 2007 and bought it back in 2012 for hundreds of millions. They left the country shortly afterwards. Have all the wealthy greeks left the country? Or is there still an opportunity to do business?

Hey we are not all shipping magnates! For a greek at this point, the taxes are extremely heavy, because you have to add mandatory insurance costs. The current govt. has chosen taxes instead of public sector cuts, so greece is bad for business at the moment. Local businesses are looking to neighboring low-tax countries for relief (bulgaria/cyprus).

Depends on what is your definition of fun living. The islands are certainly a fun place in the long summer. Greeks are still fun-loving, and our cafes are packed despite the crisis. No it's not a grim place, if thats what u are asking.

Cool. Where would you say the best places are to live?

big subject, and i m likely to start civil war with other greeks here. Certainly its better somewhere with an airport (preferably international). Salonica can be great, or some island. I am biased, but Crete is usually loved by visitors and expats.

If you can generate income from all over the world Greece is a great place to work at. Great weather, great food, private health coverage with about 1K per year, private international schools for about 1K per month. Life and especially rent is pretty cheap compared to other European cities.

The problem though is that there is always a danger of a Venezuela style collapse but you can always move out.

If you have an outside source of income, moving someplace with distressed prices can be a great idea if a) there are other draws beyond the low cost (such as great weather or something else you value) and b) the distress is not to the level of making the area excessively dangerous for you.

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