Newbie from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

[Sanzhar Zikirov]

Hi dear BP community. 

i'd like to introduce myself. I am beginner RE investing field in Bishkek city, capital of Kyrgyz Republic, former USSR state, located in the Central Asia.

I am a corporate employee working full time, however started saving money and investing in newly buily developing multi storied condoes since 2012. Except my own SFH with lanf plot, I have one 90sqm condo built, located on city center, it is an apartment with 2bedrooms and open kitchen+LR, but interior works left unfinished, bought it during design stage. Last year i got engaged in another developing project a residential condo, i signded contract during designing stage for 52sqm 1 bedroom apartment, which is to be finished by the end of this year, also interiors and furnishing is up to me. Both projects are financed by our (family) savings. So I cant finish decor of first project because second contract requires monthly installments till jan 2016.

My plan was 1.benefit from property appreciation coz I signed contract for around 850$/sqm the first one, now it might cost somewhere between 1300-1400. The second one was 780$/m2, hope by the end of construction ot will rise up to 1100-1200.

2.i want to rent these properties out. Except from contractual payments, i have to put 15-20 k usd for interior/decor/furniture and i will be able to rent property 1 for around 700-1000 usd/ mon, and latter for 350-400usd/ mon.

Tought thing is that our country is facing cash shortage, property prices going down, local currency (som) ex rate falling, and people are unsure about the future economic situation. For this reason i might adjust my initial plans on rental revenue.

You guys might ask why not gey a loan from a bank. I say shortly rates are horrible here 16-20%/year in USD and 20-25%/year in local currency. What is Hard Money Lender in US is basically regular bank in Kyrgyzstan. And max period is 5 years.

Reading about the achievements of BP fellows i just feel like I did nothing in past 3-4 years. For this reason i decided to learn more about RE investing and determining my niche in this business.

I do not plan investing outside of my country, since i like to succeed in here first.

Hope to listen to your advices and appreciate yout comments

[M Marie M.]

Hello @Sanzhar Zikirov and welcome to BP. It looks like you have a lot of things going on with real estate. Your first point mentioned appreciation, I believe Brandon Turner (BP VIP) said that appreciation, when it comes to rentals, should not be something you're depending on. Your focus with rentals should be cash flow. Don't put more into the place than you can realistically get out in rent. Just run some of the basic numbers accounting for vacancies, taxes and repairs and see if it makes sense.

@Jon Behlke suggested selling the properties off, that's an option if it worth more in the long run, rather than renting. 

I do wish you the best and, again welcome.