[SocratesV]

Went to Crete a few years ago and was surprised by the number of (what seemed residential) buildings with unfinished roof/terrace, but otherwise being used and perfectly normal. You could see the concrete pillars with the steel bars coming out on top.

Imagine it is some kind of way to dodge taxation since it is still considered unfinished?

Have also read Michael Lewis' "Boomerang", which also has a lot of similar anecdotes about Greece (and Iceland, Ireland, etc).

[yagodragon]

Unfinished buildings isn't a way to dodge taxation . You can see a lot of them in the whole country because people don't actually have the money to finish them and even if they had ,they wouldn't spend a dime to something so undervalued like real estate is in Greece.

[orbifold]

In Israel it definitely is a way to dodge taxes.

[return0]

How many years ago? You might be experiencing the property boom - everything under construction with cheap loans from a careless ECB. It's not a way to dodge taxes. Many of those constructions were finished, others stayed halfway. What many of them have in common is they are looking for buyers.

[SocratesV]

This was fairly recent, 2013. The houses were otherwise perfectly good. Painted, with normal windows, normal doors, etc. Didn't seem like a they had been "completed" on a best effort basis (non-matching cheap windows, dodgy doors, etc).