Leasing of real property
As the country has emerged from a ten year financial crisis and despite unfavourable global conditions, the Greek real estate market has recovered, with demand and prices on the rise.
Particularly in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises, office space and other premises that host their various activities, such as production facilities, are inevitable needs that must be met under terms that are as favourable as possible and yield real benefits for the business.
Leasing is a solution that more and more entrepreneurs are turning to. Briefly, the basic procedure is as follows:
- You find the property you want, choosing either from those included in leasing companies’ portfolios or from independent spaces you’ve come across in your own market research.
- The company-provider then undertakes to lease the property to you for a specific period of time, after which you can acquire its full ownership by paying the pre-agreed amount.
- At the same time, you have the option of Sale and Lease back, based on which the leasing company buys the commercial property from your business and leases it back to you on pre-agreed terms.
Key points of the leasing agreement
The entrepreneur concerned can submit an application, which usually needs to include the following information:
- The shareholder structure, that is, who participates in the company and at what percentage, as well as the composition of the board of directors
- Any subsidiaries or other partner companies
- The financial data of the business
- Any loan obligations
In any case, what you need to know as a business owner is that leasing concerns the purchase and not the construction of real estate, exclusively for professional use, while the purchase price is determined pursuant to an agreement with the leasing company and in accordance with the terms of said agreement.
Why lease property?
Leasing is flexible and usually offers the business a number of advantages, such as the following:
- The lease is tax deductible.
- No collateral, such as a mortgage prenotation, is required.
- The liquidity of the business is maintained, where otherwise a significant amount of capital would be paid for the purchase of the property.
- There is the option of purchasing the property at the end of the contract or sometimes earlier, depending on what is provided for under the relevant terms.
- It is possible to re-lease the same property.
Leasing of vehicles
Some businesses rely on having an effective fleet of vehicles, with the cost of maintaining it being particularly high. If company funds cannot be committed, the ideal solution is, once again, leasing.
From the moment you buy the road vehicle or vehicles your business needs, they start to depreciate in value. In addition, rapid developments in technology render your vehicles obsolete in only a few number of years, again diminishing the value of your company's assets, and likely affecting your operations.
An additional benefit in the case of leasing is that the annual maintenance costs of the car, such as its service, any breakdowns and road tax, are covered by the monthly rent, thus making them a foreseeable and controlled cost factor in the annual budget of your business.
Accordingly, when you lease vehicles for your business, you get the following benefits:
- A regularly renewed fleet, with the latest vehicles on the market
- Retention of your company's funds, there for you to place in more profitable investments
- Exemption from various maintenance costs, such as road tax, insurance, repairs, etc.
According to the annual data of the Association of Greek Leasing Companies, in 2019 there was a 40% increase, by €463.2 million, in the sector’s new business, while in 2020, a year significantly affected by the pandemic and the measures imposed to limit it, the growth trend nevertheless continued at a rate of 15%, reaching €534.6 million.
Given this situation, clearly any business owner needs to be well informed about all of the options and solutions at their disposal before going ahead and committing significant funds. One of these options is leasing, which can enable a business to better allocate its funds today and in the future.