| Czech
Real Estate buying guide
How to decide on where and what...
... and to start contemplating the 'how'.
Here is a basic outline of how one would
go about deciding if, what and where to acquire property in the
Czech Republic.
This is aimed at both rich investors who
have money to invest solely as a business venture and also at
the small investor buying a retirement home, setting up a bed
and breakfast business or just looking for a second home (holiday)
option.
In both cases you will want to get precise
verifiable information and will want to avoid stupid mistakes.
Rich investors might afford to make mistakes
but usually don't (that's why you are rich) and small investors
can't afford to make mistakes as you don't have money to throw
around.
Planning, recognition, information gathering.
Step 1 ]
There is a lot of objective, very useful,
indepth information on this website.
It's free. Use it.
Step 2 ]
Decide what
you want and where.
Got the finances to buy a residential house
in Prague ?
Then Prague is your area.
Don't have an extravagant budget ?
Then Prague is not your area but 50 to 70 km from Prague might
be and you won't be looking to buy a castle but probably a larger
residential villa or property for renovation.
Need to have fast access to an international
airport for moving around Europe or elsewhere ?
Then Prague and surrounding area is your target.
Will not be dependent on having to move
around Europe etc. and intend on spending months or years at a
time in your Czech property?
Then the whole Czech republic is your area of interest and good
cheap deals will come your way.
Are you a city type ?
Then a major Czech town or it's surrounding area is your target.
This applies also to if your intended investment is aimed at acquiring
real estate with which you intend doing business.
Renting it out as residential apartments, renovating it to resell
it.
Maybe even opening up a business/factory.
Love the countryside and don't care too
much for town life ?
Then most Czech country side will do for you.... but even here
you will wan to find out about the surrounding area, amenities,
character of the local folk, entertainment and cultural prospects
in that area etc.
Step 3 ]
Find out more about the Czech Republic
= visit it.
Even if you have lot's of money to spend
and have decided that the Czech real estate market is a good investment
with high returns (which it is) you would still want to make at
least one visit to the country before really deciding that you
do want to invest.
For the individual, private investor the
more so the need to 'sus' out the location.
Especially if you intend on living in your
property off your pension, or spending your holidays there, and
especially if you are a small investor looking for a residential
property to then rent out.
Prague, and hence the Czech Republic really
are in the center of Europe and you can get to Prague very easily
and cheaply from most European and worldwide destination.
Easy-jet,
the low cost airline just to mention one of many, offer ridiculously
cheap flights to Prague from many destinations and you can get
a very decent pension or small hotel in Prague for around Euro
30 / 40 per day.
This should be your first investment mainly
in time and a little effort.
Come to the Czech Republic - Prague, spend at least 2 days visiting
Prague and it's beautiful cultural and historical attractions,
and then rent a car and drive for a few days around the country
or to your targeted area.
Hey... in the worst case you'll have a great short vacation and
save risking money if you decide that investing in the C.R. is
not for you.
In the best scenario you'll have a great vacation and end up buying
some property.
If Prague is not your choice, how about Brno and Moravia ?
ryanair fly to Brno all year round (from Stansted uk and other EU destinations)
Obviously this depends on where you 'think'
you might be interested in buying real estate.
We will be inserting in due course reports
on Czech towns, and what they offer to the investor or the private
real estate buyer, both for holiday aimed buying and living /retirement
settlement option as for big investing. (for example Kromeriz - Moravia)
But you would still want to see first hand.
A very good place to start 'virtually' would be the following
web site:
http://mesta.obce.cz/
(mesta / obce = towns and villages)
and this site has vast demographic information on Czech towns,
regions, villages, population etc.
Step 4 ]
Start searching seriously for what you
are intending to buy in your area of choice.
And you do this by looking through Real
estate on offer by the various Czech
real estate agencies listed on this website.
This should serve as an initial idea of
what property and real estate is for sale in each region... and
at what price.
Use our real
estate dictionary to help you understand the few technical
Czech terms for sites that are not in english.
Step 5 ]
Make contact.
Contact some Real Estate Agencies by e-mail
or phone and advise them on what you are looking for, where you
want it to be located and what you price range is.
The real estate agencies in turn will start
mailing you viable options with direct links to their online real
estate catalogues and also additional information on the property
of interest.
Let's now presume that:
a) You have basic information on Czech real
estate
b) You know what type of real estate, property
you wish to acquire
c) You have visited the Czech Republic -
or at least documented yourself in a general manner on which location
or area of the Czech Republic you are aiming for
d) You have gathered samples of real estate
for sale, how much they may cost, their location etc.
Having done this you also have direct contact to some real estate
agencies.
The next obvious step might be to go and
see the properties of your choice and start the direct buying
procedure.
This is correct but .. hang
on a minute!
Do you speak Czech ?
Have you got a legal representative on your
side who will cover your interests and help you through the burocratic
part ?
Do you know how to get a residence permit
?
Or how to open a s.r.o company in the Czech
Republic ?
How do you go about vetting the Real Estate
agency for
trustworthiness ?
How do you safeguard any deposit you may
be asked for ?
...and about another few hundred ifs, and
'?'.
As you can see, the first part was easy,
but handing over money, signing contracts in a foreign language
and getting fool-proof guarantees is not.
In the next section you will find plausible
options which may be of help and even if you feel confident enough
to go ahead and approach the above mentioned hows and ifs on your
own, we suggest you read it.
Assistance
in buying Czech Real Estate
Becoming informed costs next
to nothing
Being missinformed can be expensive |
