All Forum Posts by: Erwin Groenendijk

Came to Barcelona 2,5 years ago for work and since then... Well, you probably guessed it, it is hard to say goodbye now ;-) We are focusing on 'normal' real estate for the moment, apartments that need a lot of work and can be bought at the right price. We are now slowly moving buying buildings though, as our community of investors is growing. 

True that commercial is a completely different game. Would be very interesting to meet your contacts in Barcelona to share experiences, learn from their commercial experiences and perhaps help each other out when the moment arises.  Would they be open for that, you think?

Also please let us know when you are back in Barcelona to have a coffee and meet in person. For you applies the same story it seems, that after your MBA you never returned. Where did you do your studies?

Erwin 

@Kevin Elguer Correct, together with two companions we are investing in Barcelona and Valencia at the moment. Buying, renovating, and selling, together with a community of investors that we are creating. Really exciting how everything is moving so far!

How did your advisory firm ended up? Is it still there? Would love to hear your story, experience, and how you eventually ended up in the US. 

Glad that you and @David Fernandez are finding each other here via BP. I have also been talking with David a lot and he has been a great help. We even each other met with one of our Meet Up's in Barcelona.  

Hi @Kevin Elguer, cool to hear you story. Good luck with it! Have you been living there for a long time?

Is there a reason why you didn't already start investing in Spain? A lot of opportunities there too.

Regards,

Erwin

@Fredrik Kaarem, @Dougan Milne, @Alexander Svanevik, here is our Meet up link: 

https://www.meetup.com/Real-Estate-Investors-in-Ba...

Looking forward to meet you guys having a beer

A good choice to come to Barcelona, @Fredrik Kaarem, although the weather today is feeling like North Europe ;-)

Good to see that already experienced and knowledgeable people are responding to your post. Like @Dougan Milne, @Alexander Svanevik, and @Adrià Creixell, they are definitely the ones to talk to with the local feeling.  

As there is input given by multiple people, what do you (and the others) say about coming all together after the information has sinked in? Adria and me are organizing a Real Estate meet up the 28th of March in the evening. Interesting to hear several backgrounds at once.

Cheers,

Erwin

Hi @Eli Lisway,

Thanks for mentioning @David Fernandez, appreciate it. We met David in one or our meet ups organized in Barcelona approx. 6 months ago. In the meantime, mainly because of the political instability in Barcelona, we have been focusing our investment journey in Valencia. We have done 4 projects there now, and signed our last one yesterday! 

As you can imagine, we are quite excited about Valencia and agree that it is a good option to focus on. Prices are still relatively low, for example. The situation in Valencia is an up market. The expectation is that the overall buying house prices are going to increase 10% in the upcoming year, and rental prices similarly. 

Open to help you with additional questions if you have them. 

Cheers, 

Thank you for the explanation @Bas LandI think indeed that networking in this is going to be very important to find the better deals and to be able to have the first shot at it. For the upcoming Meet Up organized by @Jen Mendez, I am going to try to be there if I am in the Netherlands around that time. You should come and have a look at it too. 

Jen, is the construction of refinancing also applicable in the Netherlands and on average accepted by banks?

Could you by any chance explain a bit more in detail the averages of rents in comparison to house prices from what you are seeing around you? Perhaps describe some example deals that you have been analyzing.

And did you consider another investment strategy, like Flipping for example?

Count me in as well! Are those around the whole country or do you guys have a specific location?

Hi Bas, thanks for the reply. The crowdfunding space is indeed getting more interest and more initiatives coming up. Would be interested if anyone else knows some creative tips how to handle with creative financing in the Netherlands. Although, the rules and regulations are differing between the countries, there should be ways. This because in Spain a lot of things are regulated (there is relatively quite some bureaucracy), and still constructions like this are proven to be quite successful. 

Good luck with your first real estate investment!