Investing in real estate in Slovakia
The real estate market in Slovakia gives the opportunity not only to save but also significantly increase your capital. Over the past 6 years, the price of square meters in Slovakia is steadily growing at an average of 8%-10% per annum, and 2021 showed an increase of 18.7% (the official source of the National Bank of Slovakia). All figures suggest that this is not the limit, and real estate in Slovakia will continue to steadily rise in price. Now we’ll see what factors influence the rise in prices, how long it will last, who can buy property in Slovakia, how our company can help you choose the best strategy to invest in real estate in Slovakia and earn up to 50% per annum.
Why Slovakia?
The Slovak Republic has been a member of the European Union since 2004. The country is rapidly developing, investors are actively investing in new projects on the territory of Slovakia. The capital of Slovakia, Bratislava is the only city in the world, which simultaneously borders on the two countries of Austria and Hungary.
Thanks to its excellent geographical position and short distance to other European capitals, Bratislava is home to the offices of many international companies. The excellent investment climate and the secure EU jurisdiction contribute to the creation of a multitude of jobs. In recent years it has been more difficult to find an employee than a job in Bratislava. Employers compete with each other, offering better working conditions and social package.
Why are real estate prices rising?
As written just above, Slovakia is an employee hub for many foreign companies, the annual steady increase in average wages, the relatively low unemployment rate, even taking into account the pandemic, as well as affordable financing and a shortage of residential real estate are all influencing the increase in real estate prices. A combination of factors ensures a stable growth of real estate prices in Slovakia. And this trend will continue for a long time to come.
Affordable financing is primarily due to the low interest rate on mortgages at 0.9% per annum. This is due to the fact that the European Central Bank (ECB) lends to the National Banks of the EU at zero interest rates, but they, in turn, through commercial banks, stimulate the economy of their country.
It is also necessary to take into account the fact that in Slovakia there is a normal competitive market environment between the banks. Each of them fights for the client and from time to time enters the market with a special offer for the interest rate, adding to it the compensation to the client of the penalty for early repayment of the existing mortgage in a competing bank during refinancing.
The next factor is that the mortgage itself is not a risky credit product for the bank, as secured by pledged real estate and in the case of a client’s insolvency, by selling the property at auction calmly returns the money issued to the client.
The lack of residential real estate definitely affects the price increase. As much as we all think that there is a lot of residential real estate being built in Bratislava, this is not the case. New housing complexes do appear, there were 81 projects in the active phase at the end of 2021, but they are few compared to what the real demand for residential real estate is. Anyone who bought or was actively looking for housing in 2021 or early 2022 can attest to the fact that good real estate was selling very quickly.
Many Slovaks and not only, look at mortgages not only as a tool to solve the problem of buying your own home, but also as an opportunity to solve the housing problem for their own children. As a result, they take a second/third mortgage that is paid for by their tenant, and in 20-30 years this asset is cleared of liabilities and is likely to increase in value.
Why with us you can earn more in the real estate market in Slovakia?
No one forbids you to find a project or object for investment in Slovakia. However, we are talking about serious amounts of money, which means you need to remove all possible risks or reduce them as much as possible. When analyzing independently investor may face the following issues:
- Language barrier, which prevents understanding all the subtleties of the terms of cooperation or contracts;
- Lack of understanding of local rules and mentality;
- Inability to fully evaluate the attractiveness of the infrastructure near the selected property;
- Additional costs associated with a personal stay in the country for meetings and viewings.
All these factors can significantly reduce the expected return of an investor. So how exactly can our company help you make better investments and earn even more? There are two reasons for this: individual strategy and interest protection.
Individual strategy
In Slovakia there are many opportunities and tools to increase profitability in the real estate market, of which a foreign investor is not even aware or access to such information is very limited. When we start working with a client we first of all ascertain the client’s needs and his investment objectives. Based on this information we form an individual investment strategy for him. Here are a few of such strategies.
Buying an apartment to rent it out (long-term, 5%-8% per annum)
Buying an apartment in basic condition, making repairs and selling (short-term strategy is very popular, 20%-30% per annum)
Purchase of a land plot, construction of several houses and their sale (medium term, 30%-70%)
Finding a partner to purchase a land plot or facility for reconstruction (medium term, 30%-50%)
Buying real estate from a developer at the stage of the foundation and sale before commissioning. In this option at the signing of the contract you need to pay only 20% of the property value, and 1.5-2 years before the commissioning of the object can be sold at 20%-30% of the contract price. Since the investor has made only 20% of the property value, he receives up to 100% of the profit on equity.
Buying the first property with my own money, renting it out. Then a year later buy a second property entirely from mortgage funds, and also rent it out. As a result, we get two properties in the property for the price of one, renting them out, the income from which exceeds the mortgage fee by several times.
These are not all the strategies that we develop for clients. It all depends on his investment plan. If the priority is the preservation of capital and a stable monthly profit – we will select the best option in terms of renting. If the task is to make a quick capital withdrawal and earn maximum profit – we will develop a program and offer options to achieve this goal.
Our company provides the following services
- Developing an individual investment strategy for buying real estate in Slovakia
- Search, analysis and selection of properties
- Remote viewing, photo and video review reports
- Property check for liens or other encumbrances
- Renovation work, designer services, purchasing and installing furniture for the property to be rented
- Management of rental property (finding tenants, signing contracts, monitoring payments, resolving commonplace issues)
- Mortgage expert services for obtaining mortgages from 0.9% per annum to buy property in Slovakia
- Accounting services for submitting reports in the case of purchase of real estate by the company
The price of our company’s real estate search, analysis and selection services is 3%-5% of the value of the property. Taking into account that we will choose the best strategy for you, the cost of our services will be compensated very quickly by its implementation, and will bring much more profit than the independent purchase of real estate.
Our company therefore is a full service for investors who want to make money on the real estate market in Slovakia. All services we can provide remotely. The investor will need to come to Slovakia only once to sign the main agreement of sale. Our main goal is to protect client’s interests. This means that we maintain full confidentiality with the client, defending his interests before the seller, real estate agencies, developers, tax and other organizations. We are always on the client’s side. We very much appreciate sincere recommendations which our clients share with their acquaintances.
Who can buy property in Slovakia?
One of the biggest advantages of SR is the fact that even foreigners can buy real estate and land. You do not even need a residence permit in Slovakia. To buy property in Slovakia it is advisable to open an account at a local bank, transfer the funds to it, confirm their origin, and pay for the selected property from it. We will also accompany and help you to open a bank account in Slovakia. In order to obtain a mortgage, you will need a temporary residence permit, which we will also help you to obtain as part of an individual strategy.
