BP international in Europe/Spain (Barcelona)?

Question

Hi everybody,

Thank you @Joshua Dorkin and @Brandon Turner for BP. It makes my life as a newbie in real estate a lot easier ;-)

Just as many of you, I have been getting more and more excited about real estate investing from hearing many BP podcasts, reading Brandon's book for a thousand times by now, visiting networking events, etc. Funny enough, that if you do get this excited in real estate, you discover that many interesting people with real estate knowledge are already part of your direct network.

As I am originally from the Netherlands and now living 1,5 years in Barcelona, Spain for work, I am getting ready in doing my first real step in real estate. However, where I am hearing/reading a huge amount of interesting tips for all states in the US, I was wondering if there is an international BP community in Europe/Spain as well.

If so, I would love to meet up, have a talk and exchange knowledge and experiences. Tips/related contacts would also be very much appreciated.

Best, Erwin

David Fernandez · Answer

Hi Erwin,

I am a real estate investor from Barcelona, Spain; however, I live in the US. I also have some investments in Spain, but I don't think there is something like a meetup group or community for RE investors there. I travel frequently between Spain and the US, so maybe we can meet one day. Who knows, maybe there is a niche to start a REIA group there! I know there are plenty of people interested in RE there.

As you probably know from listening to the podcasts, Barcelona/Spain market is very different from the US market. Different real estate/tax/corporate laws, different rules for financing, different rent to purchase ratios, etc. I find it easier to invest in the US for my goals. There are opportunities in Spain as well, but they don't align as well with my goals.

What are your goals? Why do you want to invest in real estate? Knowing what do you want and why do you want it  will help you a lot in finding a way to achieve it.

Let me know if you need any info in either Spain or the US!

David

Adrià Creixell · Answer

Hi Idoia,

Right now in Barcelona, airnbnb is pretty restricted. They're planning to limit their activity in many ways. For example: in Palma de Mallorca, this summer is going to be banned.

In Bcn, on the city center is restricted to the flats that have license from the council. Right now they're not giving more licenses on this area.

In theory, tourism is so strong in this city that even makes sense to have an airbnb flat in a neighborhood far from the center.

From my point of view, I don't like this kind of business, of course there is people that does a lot money with it. But I mean the mind set should be different, that the one for real estate. Is more active and you need to be involved. You need to live on the spot...

I prefer to leave it for the hoteliers...

What I think is that buy-to-let is a long term investment. 20-30 years or more. Probably in that time the tourism bubble is going to burst. You need to focus on families, foreign professionals, public servants or college students.

That are my thoughts on that issue.

I think that airbnb or not, the best is to find a "chollo" (very good deal in spanish). Search for 30% discount on the price per square meter.

Right now, me and my partner we are finding this level of deals. You only need to research intensively.

Regards.

Pauline Hanuise · Answer

Hi Erwin and hi guys ;)

I am totally interested in this discussion too.

I am Belgian, living in Malta. We started to invest in Malta 2 years ago and are actively looking at the Barcelona market. We are actually going to spend 5 weeks there from end of April till end of May this year, so if any of you would like to catch up, I'd be more than happy to!

ATM, I am especially active in the Airbnb market but definitely looking to have both long and short lets investments.

So, if you guys are in Barcelona around May, let me know ;)

Thanks

Pauline

Adrià Creixell · Answer

Hello Erwin,

Fix&Flip investor from Barcelona here. Open for any discussion.

As David said, the market is difficult (specially for bureaucracy) but you could find very good deals.

Most wealthy people in Spain just invest in RE. That's a pretty good opportunity.

Cheers.

Pauline Hanuise · Answer

Hi Idoia,

Thanks :)

Sure. What's great about Malta is that you have different kind of tourists all year round. The peak season is June-Sept/Oct, which is hectic for short term rentals. But you can definitely manage to rent your properties the rest of the year as well. Obviously it also depends on the area you're in. Swieqi is great because you've got many English schools there. People from all over the world come here to study English for short periods of time (from a couple of weeks to a few months).

Msida and Gzira are also 2 great locations because Malta's university and hospital are just there. I know people who rent easily short terms to students and nurses who come to do their internship in English.

We bought our flat in Swieqi cash 2 years ago and to give you an idea, we had a 8% ROI last year, living in the flat 6 months out of 12!

With that said, the prices have increased dramatically over the past years in Malta, so it becomes more and more difficult to find interesting deals. More and more foreigners are investing and it's practically impossible to find a interesting deals that are not "on plans" - delivery planned for mid 2018 (the earliest).

Would love to catch up in Barcelona in May and discuss about that in more details ;-)

Idoia I. · Answer

Hi Pauline,

Welcome to the thread! Great to see some more European investors here :)

Those are some great insights about Malta. If I may ask, do you manage to have your property rented out all year round?

I will also be in Barcelona end of May, so it would be great to organize a meetup :)

Best,

Idoia

Erwin Groenendijk · Answer

Hi Idoia,

More than happy to sit down and share experiences when the opportunity arises. Already met some great people here with a lot of knowledge.

Best,

Erwin

Erwin Groenendijk · Answer

Hi Adria,

You're very much right. For the last months, I have been researching the Barcelona real estate market and talking to a lot of people. Could learn more though, especially the bureaucracy part.

Just sent you a PM.

Best,

Erwin

Dave Visaya · Answer

Hello Erwin, you can start connecting with investors in SPain here in BP. You can create a keyword alert for your location.

Dave Visaya · Answer

Hey @Erwin Groenendijk welcome to BiggerPockets! You can definitely start your own meetup in your area. Learn more about it: http://biggerpockets.com/events

also, https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/11...

BP international in Europe/Spain (Barcelona)?

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