All Forum Posts by: Erwin Groenendijk

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

@Shital Thakkar This is a very broad topic to discuss, however in general the difference in language and regulations are topics to take into consideration. For buying a property in Spain you have to pay 10% of transfer tax for example. The after per month costs are then again way lower as in the US. Depends on where you invest specifically in the country but on average the prices are lower in Spain than what you are used to in the US. This makes that you can do more with your money here in Spain than in the US.

Also interesting to hear @Africa Estrada's opinion. She is from Valencia originally and lived for a long time in the US, before now deciding to come back to Valencia, Spain again. We are working together on some projects and she is saying that the biggest difference is the amount of opportunities in Spain still available & the mentality of the people towards real estate. The country is not that exploited in terms of real estate yet. It is not a big hype to be flipping houses in creative ways of financing, for example. This can bring advantages and disadvantages of course.  

Hi @Ravi Kulkarni, there are multiple reasons but one of them would be that it would become possible to live in the beautiful country of Spain some time for yourself as well. I am from the Netherlands, but chose to do the same 4 years ago.

Of course it is possible to generate positive cash flow in Spain, however the real question is for what amount of cash flow or yield you are searching for. On average the rental amounts are not that high here in Spain, but if you are creative you can always find something that works (for example, renting out to expats, students, or per room)

Managing a property remotely in Spain has its challenges like managing any property remotely. You are not there, so it is really important to have a trusted person on the ground. Also the language is different and the rules & regulations, but that is something to overcome easily.

Regards,

Erwin