All Forum Posts by: Erwin Groenendijk

@Nathan Williams @Mike Lambert 

Mike is right here. The community of BP members active in Spain and Valencia is not representative for what is actually happening. More so, because people in Spain are more in to buy-to-hold activities. The idea comes across more simple, is more traditional, usually less renovation or moving parts happening, monthly steady income (if you do it right). 

Regarding the auctions, you can talk to several banks and try to get a list of bank owned properties that they sell. As you know, they will give you the address but you can not go inside them. This makes it even more important that you know exactly what you are doing, especially if you are not from here or if you are not familiar with the Spanish language. It is true that these available bank owned properties are normally (not always) the last ones that are still left, meaning that the other (more) influential parties didn't want them. 

Just let us know when you are in Spain so we can meet up and share our experiences and tips/tricks. 

Will keep you updated when we are there the next time.

And go to the regular Meet ups that they are organizing in the Netherlands. They will be your trainings (plus a ton of contacts) for free!

@Verity Macdonald, nice to also see you here! In line with many of your points, why don't you join us to one of our projects just outside of Barcelona, in Terrassa. We are getting ready to finish one of our two apartments in the same building, so we are there quite frequently from now on. You will get a feel for housing in the suburbs of Barcelona, see renovations first hand, and we can discuss the mortgage and house-hacking topic more in detail. 

Hi @Isaac Tabor, it seems like the project is a bit thin to be considered as a top investment. Try to find a way with this apartment or searching for other apartments where you have more space to back up when anything unforeseen happens. You will see that upon buying always sometimes happen that costs extra money. 

@Barry Randall, try joining a meet up regarding real estate in Madrid or meeting other people here on the forum close to you. We are hosting a real estate meet up monthly in Barcelona and meeting a lot of people with the same questions and need of building there contacts. 

About the refinancing topic, it will most likely be hard as normal banks in Spain are currently not providing these loans to individuals. For companies it differs. 

Erwin 

Hi @Barry Randall, being creative by applying room renting will definitely boost your rental income. We are doing the same since some time in Barcelona and the market is responding very well. 

It is all based on the contacts and experience that you have to make your investment a success. Have you done some other projects before?

Erwin 

@Samuel Monter Arreguin, check out the meet up groups they host in the Netherlands. Also there are a lot of Dutch people here on the forums that you can search for by reading their contributions on several topics.

What are you searching for exactly and how for along are you on your investment journey?

Erwin

@Ravi Kulkarni @Shital Thakkar @Africa Estrada @Johann Eriksen 

You're talking with the right people. We have been doing multiple projects in Barcelona and Valencia and figured all these points out. As we ourselves are located in Barcelona, we are teaming up with Africa who is based in Valencia for our latest project in which we are transforming a 300m2 garage space into three residential apartments. Africa will be our hands and feet on the ground, managing our contractor teams on a weekly/daily base. Next that she is a great person, she knows very well what she is doing finding her way in the Spanish market after having started real estate in the US.

Construction teams, agents, architects, lenders, project and city analysis, managing a project in Spain, and many more, feel free to reach out when also your plan is more concrete in terms of locations, type, etc.

@Shital Thakkar @Ravi Kulkarni @Africa Estrada, the only point is that in Spain people are not always that strict to meet at a specific time as in other parts of the world. Best to double-check your appointment especially if you deal with local workers