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05-01-2013, 02:45 PM
I totally agree it could probably be pretty cheap. I saw something on HBO called "Vice." This past episode was about Spain and Greece and the impact of the economy. A little too crazy for me lol. It might get vene cheaper in a few years with the way their economies are going.
Fate whispers to the warrior, "You cannot withstand the storm." And the warrior whispers back, "I am the storm."
Women and children can be careless, but not men - Don Corleone
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05-01-2013, 04:35 PM
Pants, thanks for the link.
A lot of people say it is easy to rent when not there etc. But is it really that easy? Based on my life experiences, nothing is as easy as someone else says it is.
DickDastardly: Think it will get worse in Europe? The HBO show hinted at that.
I get I would need to see a lot of places first to really think it is a good idea to buy something abroad. Need to hit the road.
Fate whispers to the warrior, "You cannot withstand the storm." And the warrior whispers back, "I am the storm."
Women and children can be careless, but not men - Don Corleone
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05-01-2013, 05:11 PM
I do.
And I've gotten all my tenants through Craigslist.
And I've had no vacancies.
And they pay me via bank transfer.
So far, so good.
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05-01-2013, 05:21 PM
I own a 2(3 ROOM)bedroom in Odessa,Ukraine. I bought for 34k in 2003. Before the crash it was worth 120k. Now 50-60K. i would wait to see whats going on in the market.When interest rates move up I see home values dropping again.
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05-01-2013, 05:50 PM
DickDastardly,
What are your monthly expenses on it? In the US if you are in a condo, you pay HOA fees for the common area stuff.
jimukr104,
For a foreigner is it possible to even own the property outright? Or do you need to work with a local to own it? In respect to rates rising, is it even possible for a foreigner to obtain a mortgage?
Thanks for the info everyone!
Fate whispers to the warrior, "You cannot withstand the storm." And the warrior whispers back, "I am the storm."
Women and children can be careless, but not men - Don Corleone
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05-01-2013, 06:10 PM
Cool, yeah I saw better pricing in Torrevieja.
Altea is not cheap on that site. And for some reason there is no Alicate, which are the two places I have been.
How is Torrevieja? Can you bust out a little sheet on that place?
The coasts of Spain has always been one of my favorite places.
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05-01-2013, 06:18 PM
I own 4 houses in Cabarete, Dominican Republic. I built them in 2007. What I didn't realize is there is no real financing in this country. The good thing is the upkeep cost are really low. No property tax. I have a guy that lives on the property and takes care of the pool, etc and he makes $125 month.
I need to focus more on renting it out and generating money. Right now, I usually bring girls there for the weekend.
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05-01-2013, 06:54 PM
i heard a good story in Ukraine about a pretty smart Brit biz guy I trust who explained how his property changed hands in a mistrustful, paranoid, cash-oriented culture.
His hired muscle ( 2 guys) , the attorneys, the sellers, and him showed up at the bank which had been alerted beforehand to insure they'd have the whole sale price in cash on hand for the transaction.
1) The buyer (my friend) had the required money in an account at that bank.
2) They all went to a conference room, the attorneys looked at the contracts.
3) The money was withdrawn from my friend's account into stacks of cash and the deal was done in the room.
4) The cash was handed over in the bank to the sellers.
5) The sellers deposited the money into that same bank so:
a.) the cash never had to be carried anywhere in public
b) the bank was obligated to accept the notes ( banks will sometimes/often refuse worn notes. here they were dealing with notes they themselves had given out so they couldn't easily do that)
6) So the buyer walked in to the bank carrying no cash, left with the key, and was able to do a cash buy without anyone carrying cash in public.
As far as I know, there is no property tax in Ukraine. Some are so poor, they might not be able to pay any appreciable amount; although they inherited apartments when apartments were given away to their holders at the end of the FSU.
There are a LOT of weird catches to property there. Everyone puts off maintenance of roofs and sometimes there is huge hidden damage. I have no idea how title insurance works. I've heard it takes several years to sue someone, so don't count on that.
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05-01-2013, 07:05 PM
Man, maybe renting is better. Would love to hear about Poland. Through the vast knowledge on this board, I am thinking Poland may be the place for me...once again, I should visit it first. lol.
Fate whispers to the warrior, "You cannot withstand the storm." And the warrior whispers back, "I am the storm."
Women and children can be careless, but not men - Don Corleone
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05-01-2013, 07:08 PM
Maybe this thread would be better if people that own property would tell a little story about how they did it.
IE, process, red tape, cost, how it has worked out, pros, cons, taxes, fees etc.
I would be interested in that information.
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05-01-2013, 09:01 PM
Oh yeah avoid buying flat on top floor. If roof has an issue you will be the one stuck paying to get it fixed. Also if the building has many floors and an elevator do not buy above floor 5 or 6. Alot of time elevators stop working. You want to be on a floor you can easily walk up and down from. Also avoid the first floor. You will get broken into more often if on the first floor. They are even known to crash though the outside wall to get to you. 4th and 3rd floor are safest floor. Of city is old like Odessa avoid buying I the center. The buildings are so old that yOu will at one poin have alot of renovation to do. I mean expensive structural stuff. I bought in the summer nightclub area for that reason. It's where the rich live. I saw flats in the center where my foot literally went though the wooden floor as I walked on it. Remember the countries are not America. They don't have building codes etc.