Everything owners abroad ask before trusting someone with their Athens home - from what happens on a visit to keys, pricing, insurance and repairs.
A free 15-minute Zoom with Yanis. No pressure.Home Watch Athens is a founder-led, members-only home watch service for people who own a home in Athens but live abroad. Founder Yanis Zisis visits every member home once a month, works through a 12-point checklist and sends a photo report on WhatsApp.
Membership costs from €70 per month including 24% Greek Tax, billed monthly, and you can cancel anytime. Everything else is quoted separately and only goes ahead once you approve it.
Browse the questions by topic below.
Home Watch Athens is a founder-led, members-only home watch and property management service in Athens, Greece, for people who own a home in Athens but live abroad. Founder Yanis Zisis personally visits each member's home every month, works through a 12-point checklist, sends a photo report on WhatsApp and handles repairs, contractors and building admin on the owner's behalf.
A home watch service is professional oversight of a home while the owner is away: scheduled, documented visits to catch problems early - leaks, humidity, pests, blocked drains - and to coordinate repairs before they escalate. It is different from a rental or letting agency, because the home is looked after, not rented out.
Home Watch Athens was founded by Yanis Zisis, who was born in Volos, Greece, and spent 15 years living and working in fintech in London. He created the service after a hidden kitchen leak at his own Athens apartment went unnoticed and his insurer refused the claim because there was no proof the home had been checked. Read Yanis's story.
Most property management agencies in Athens focus on rentals and sales. Home Watch Athens only looks after homes that stay yours: one person holds your keys, visits every month and reports with photos. There is no rental income taken, no percentage fee and no fixed-term contract - the membership is billed monthly and you can cancel anytime.
No. Home Watch Athens does not handle Airbnb listings, bookings, guests or rented homes. The service is best suited for holiday homes and empty apartments in Athens and the Attica region.
No. Home Watch Athens is not a security or alarm company. The service is scheduled visits, preventive checks and professional oversight of your home, documented with photos after every visit.
Yes. Home Watch Athens is a registered Greek business listed in GEMI, the official General Commercial Registry, with Greek VAT number EL113567334. It holds professional liability insurance with a Greek insurer and has 5-star reviews on Trustpilot.
Home Watch Athens deliberately keeps a short member roster so that every home gets consistent, personal attention from the founder. Limiting the number of homes is what makes one-keyholder, founder-led care possible.
Each visit takes approximately 45 minutes and follows a 12-point checklist: full interior inspection; air circulation and airing; heating, air conditioning and hot water operated; leak, moisture and odour check; pest check; tap and toilet flushing; balcony and terrace check with drain leaf removal; visual electric panel inspection; indoor plant watering; mail collection; a 10-minute car start/stop; and a photo report via WhatsApp. See the full property check.
The membership includes one visit a month. Extra visits can be added whenever you need them - for example before you arrive, after a storm or during a long absence - and are quoted before they go ahead.
After every visit you receive a timestamped photo report on WhatsApp showing what was checked and anything that needs attention. If something needs action, you are told straight away, with a quote if a paid service is required.
Yes. During onboarding Yanis walks through the property with you (or on a video call) and adds your personal checks to the standard checklist - a known damp corner, a pool pump, a storage room or anything else that matters to you.
Every visit is carried out by Yanis Zisis, the founder. There are no rotating staff or subcontractors, so it is always the same person who was there last time.
Yes. Members can add pre-arrival cleaning, fridge and supermarket re-stocking, arrival gifts and airport transfer coordination, so the home is ready when you land. These are quoted separately. See concierge and lifestyle services.
Membership starts from €70 per month including 24% Greek Tax, billed monthly, and you can cancel anytime. It covers one monthly visit with a photo report on WhatsApp plus the admin in between. All other services are quoted separately and only go ahead once you approve them.
The membership includes one monthly Home Watch visit of approximately 45 minutes with a 12-point checklist and a photo report on WhatsApp, and non-visit admin: communication and emails with third parties such as your building management company, developer and contractors.
Members can add on-demand services in four areas: maintenance and oversight (contractor supervision, AC maintenance, pest control, external drain unblocking, fireplace cleaning), administration (utility bill payment, building meeting representation, home and vehicle insurance renewals), lifestyle concierge (pre-arrival cleaning, fridge re-stocking, arrival gifts, airport transfers) and vehicle care (start-stop visits, MOT coordination, car wash and tyre checks). Each is quoted from a clear price list and approved by you first.
No. The membership is billed monthly and you can cancel anytime.
Yes. Membership pricing includes 24% Greek Tax. Where a quote for a separate service is given, you are told upfront what it includes.
No. Contractor costs are passed through to you at cost, with invoices and receipts. Any coordination fee is charged separately and agreed in advance. How maintenance oversight works.
Renovation oversight is priced at 15-20% of total project value, depending on the project, quoted once project requirements are scoped and excluding 24% Greek Tax. Every renovation client is also a Home Watch Athens member. Renovation oversight in Athens.
Yanis Zisis, the founder, is the sole keyholder for every member home. No staff, cleaners, subcontractors or other third parties hold your keys. How our key holding works.
Keys are stored securely under strict internal procedures and are never labelled with your address or any identifiable property details, so a lost key cannot be traced back to your home.
Yes, with your written authorisation. Yanis attends in person, stays while the work is done and sends you photos when it is finished. Keys are never handed over for unsupervised access.
In the highly unlikely event of a key loss, Home Watch Athens arranges the immediate replacement of your locks at its own expense.
No. Home Watch Athens coordinates and supervises vetted local tradespeople - plumbers, electricians, AC technicians, painters and others - rather than doing the work itself. Yanis sources the right trade, gets a fair quote, supervises on site and checks the result before the contractor leaves. Maintenance and technical oversight.
The contractor network was built through years of hands-on renovation and property management in Athens. Every tradesperson is personally vetted for quality, reliability and fair pricing, and works with legitimate invoices. Home Watch Athens does not use open marketplaces or accept referral fees.
No. Nothing goes ahead without your written approval of the scope and cost. You receive a clear quote first, and photos, invoices and receipts after every job.
Yes. Home Watch Athens offers independent renovation oversight for owners abroad: written scope, 2-3 vetted contractor quotes, contracts with milestone-tied payments, weekly site visits with photo reports and a full document archive at handover. See renovation oversight.
Yes. Yanis can attend the handover, record defects with photos, follow up with the developer on your behalf and begin regular visits from the day you receive your keys - common for new-builds in Elliniko and across the Riviera.
It can. Many Greek home insurance policies include a vacancy clause: if a home is left unattended for more than 30 consecutive days without proof it was checked, cover may be limited and a claim could be rejected. Read our guide to Greek home insurance.
Every visit is dated and documented with timestamped photos, giving you a record of regular attendance to show your insurer. No service can guarantee an insurance outcome, but documented visits significantly strengthen your position if you ever need to claim.
Yes, as coordination. Home Watch Athens provides photos and a written record of what happened, liaises with your insurer and can be on site for the assessor's visit. We are not insurance brokers and do not give policy advice or make policy decisions.
Yes, as a member service. Home Watch Athens can monitor, pay and reconcile electricity (DEI/PPC), water (EYDAP), gas and telecoms bills, with confirmation of every payment. Bills, admin and building representation.
Yes. Yanis reviews the agenda with you beforehand, attends in person with your written proxy, votes according to your instructions and sends you a written summary of every decision and cost discussed.
Only with your prior approval. Home Watch Athens acts on your instructions, and any decision that needs approval is discussed with you in advance, so you stay in control.
Yes. Communication and emails with your building management company, developer and contractors are included in the monthly membership.
Yanis goes to the home, assesses the situation, takes urgent containment steps such as shutting off water or securing a door, sends you photos on WhatsApp and coordinates repairs after your approval. Emergency and storm property checks.
Yanis is based in Athens and can often respond the same day. Timing depends on where the home is, traffic and conditions after a major event, and you are kept updated on WhatsApp throughout.
Emergency checks are available to members, but emergency and out-of-hours visits are not part of the monthly fee and are quoted separately. Repairs are always quoted and approved by you first.
Yes. Members can request an extra visit after severe weather or an earthquake to check for water entry, leaks and visible damage, with a photo report. Balcony and terrace drains are also cleared on every regular visit.
Home Watch Athens covers Athens and the wider Attica region, including central Athens (Kolonaki, Pagrati, Koukaki, Makrygianni), the Athens Riviera (Faliro, Elliniko, Glyfada, Voula, Vouliagmeni, Varkiza) and the northern suburbs (Kifisia, Ekali, Psychiko, Filothei, Marousi, Chalandri, Nea Erithrea). If your home is elsewhere in Attica, get in touch to check availability.
The service is built for people who own a home in Athens but live elsewhere: international owners from Europe, Israel and the UAE, Greeks abroad with a family home, holiday home owners who visit a few weeks a year, and Golden Visa holders whose property sits empty.
Yes. Golden Visa properties cannot be let short term and the permit has no minimum stay, so many sit empty most of the year - exactly the homes Home Watch Athens looks after. For advice on your permit, speak to your lawyer. Golden Visa property management.
Most members live abroad, but the service suits anyone who is away from their Athens home for long periods - including owners who live elsewhere in Greece or travel frequently.
Yes - that is the core of the service. Yanis visits every month, checks everything properly and deals with problems as they come up. He does not move in like a house sitter. Property caretaker in Athens.
Book a free 15-minute Zoom with Yanis to talk about your home and what it needs. If it is a good fit, you start your membership, hand over the keys and receive your price list for member services. Monthly visits begin from there.
Yanis coordinates the key handover as part of onboarding - in person when you are in Athens, or by arranging collection if you are abroad - and documents access details securely from the outset.
WhatsApp is the main channel, with 24/7 access for messages, photos and voice notes across time zones. Email is also available. You always deal directly with Yanis, not a call centre.
English and Greek. Yanis speaks Greek to building managers, tradespeople and utility companies, and English to you.
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Tell him about your home on a free 15-minute Zoom. Membership is from €70/month incl. 24% Greek Tax, billed monthly, cancel anytime.
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