Emerging Property Markets

Hi All,

I have recently come into some spare cash.

I have contacted a few investment companies with a view to investing.

One particular company is trying to steer me to Slovakia where they have developments being built as we speak. The deposit is 35K (euro) and the apartment is 100K (euro). It seems a lot to pay for that neck of the woods?
Has anyone invested there before?
Any advice?

I have tried to do some research on this Irish company to see if anyone has had any good or bad experiences but don’t really know where to start!
Any advice good or bad is very welcome.

A lot of hype about Slovakia of late, but much of it not well founded.

Best bets are in Bratislava, but limited choice and best pickings are gone. Even in the city, many areas are very dodgy with huge social problems. My own view on Slovakia is to give it a wide berth, with the possible exception of commercial units close to where Ballymore development is in the city centre, but these are rare and hard to find.

The city has a quite good retail base, with shoppers coming across the border from Austria for grocery shopping. Tesco bought the old state department store downtown a few years ago and are doing great business there, especially at weekends. A good phone shop near that or near the Ballymore development might be a good punt, or something similar in size and covenant.

If you are looking at residential property in Slovakia, better off elsewhere in my opinion.

Well, Eastern Europe is where a lot of peoples money is now going. I much prefer Poland to Bulgaria. Not as a holiday destination, but in the major cities like Warsaw, Krakow and Wroclaw and even Gdansk, there's a good rental market. And when buying a foreign property, you should always ask, "Will i be able to sell back to locals in years to come." And, as far as Poland is concerned, i can see the economy maintaining it's growth and with an underdeveloped mortgage market, all bodes well.

Now Bulgaria was refused entry to the EU in 06 for a reason. Corrutption. But people seem to be pouring money into "guaranteed rental schemes" and the likes. Bulgaria has embraced Russian style gangsterism and for me it's a no-go zone. But that's my opinion

You could look at Germany. Maybe not the same high returns but a less risky investment.

Hi aura and welcome to AAM,

Have a look a the Savings and Investments section and consider all the options before looking at these highly speculative property investments in exotic locations.

Have a look at [broken link removed] , [broken link removed] and UK House Price Crash for some contrarian views on the property market in general.

aj

Cheers for those links ajapale. Interesting post on them. Thanks

Anytime Aura, best of luck with everything

Aura,

Remember the 3R's: research..research..research! It is vital to get as much information as you can about your target investment location. It is fine to start with secondary material (eg comment and analyses) but do try to verify that material by doing your own due diligence. I echo the comments made by others on this forum: there is absolutely no substitute for seeing. You must visit the location and assess it first-hand. You may find, as I do, that this site is a good place to look for information about the economics of property investment: www.bewarethesharks.com. They have also just launched a jet-to-let magazine.

I invest in the UK and overseas (Budapest).

I am guessing you are looking at Bratislava. A couple of things a friend who was involved there has said to me. There was excellent growth in 04 and then 05 but that 06 was a pretty flat market and you had to buy in particuliar areas to have prospects.

The market there is in many ways fed by the fact Vienna is 70km from there and they have just finished a new connecting motorway. I would check similiar product prices in Vienna as I believe the difference is not massive (not 70km commute difference).

Ballymore properties seem to have a lot of belief in Bratislava and are developing the whole waterfront. They seem pricey to me though as does the old town. I am told there is a strong rental market but I dont know how true that is as you have to go and verify this yourself (as always)

There is a massive Citroen plant going nearby in a place called Trnava (or some name like that!) that may be interesting. There is a uni there too I think.
I would guess it would be a good med/long term investment - But I dont a have a complete knowledge of the place.

personally I am with the earlier poster. Look at Germany - Less risky and the same if not better chance of quality returns. Strong rental yields. There are also investment products that are hands off if you dont want the hassle of sourcing property yourself - I'm sure you can google them. I think these will be all the rage in the next 3 years.

Hi Aura,

Have you considered Warsaw in Poland. The market has seen huge growth over the last couple of years but is yet to mature. Apartments are not cheap but in a nice area like Wilanow or Mokotow will rent and increase in value nicely.

Krakow and Wroclaw are also seeing great growth at present and units there are slightly cheaper than the capital.

Whats the story with the czeck rep. which is a very nice country and its beautiful capital prague.
And lithuania and estonia ,rarely mentioned on this forum.
Is the ukraine not a good place to buy for example in kiev or is it not ready for this type of property investment.

The Czech Rep has previously been very difficult and time consuming to say the least. Foreigners needed to form a Czech company or obtain an EU card in order to buy and the process is depressing!

I am led to believe the process is getting easier but we may have missed the boat with regards finding the bargains!

Is a simple procedure a sine qua non for successful property investment? How simple?

Kosice is a very interesting place for investment with good rentals, industry and tourism.

Ukraine is not yet stable (Kiev is stunning) and the Black Sea coast is a nightmare with ownership (esp the wonderful Crimea - ie Tatar land issues).

Certain parts of Russia, esp on the Volga, are brilliant investments. Low buy ins and very good long term rentals (best value are Samara, Ulyanovsk, Togliatti and Kazan - the latter not quite on the Volga but rich).

Certain parts of Croatia and Bosnia still hold good value but have to be sought out, Serbia is poor value now, while Montenegro is still a little odd.

If you want something safe then sticking your cash into a savings account with EBS might be a btter bet. Although here I'm happily getting 2% every 3 months on €5,000+, rising to 3.5% above €10,000 for 6mths.

sunrock said:

Whats the story with the czeck rep. which is a very nice country and its beautiful capital prague.

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Downtown Prague 1 has been incredibly expensive for as long as I remember. I did some investigation there a while back and found nothing really worth investing in. It seems to be totally out of sync with the rest of the region.

I agree with the previous poster, and would add that the same can now be said for District 2 and the vinorahdy/zizkov area (District 3).

aura said:

Hi All,

I have recently come into some spare cash.

I have contacted a few investment companies with a view to investing.

One particular company is trying to steer me to Slovakia where they have developments being built as we speak. The deposit is 35K (euro) and the apartment is 100K (euro). It seems a lot to pay for that neck of the woods?
Has anyone invested there before?
Any advice?

I have tried to do some research on this Irish company to see if anyone has had any good or bad experiences but don’t really know where to start!
Any advice good or bad is very welcome.

Click to expand...

Where you buy in Slovakia depends on your objectives. I researched the area last year and went against going city centre/residential let and opted for holiday let and purchased offplan in a small development in Ruzbachy, a small ski resort/spa town in the High tatra/national park region. I have menaiotned this before on this forum. I feel the growth in the tourist market over there will incerase greatly, plus i can ski there. Infastructure is in early stages access is good with budget airlines etc. If you want details pm me.