All Forum Posts by: Oliver Kopun

Good morning Baptiste, 

are you already investing here in Europe or waiting until you move to the US? I am super interested in hearing your opinion on what you think are the biggest differences between the two markets :)

Also, where in the US do you plan to settle?

 Pm'd :)

Hola mis Amigos,

I've joined only recently and I must say I am loving it here. I've already got answers for a lot of my beginner questions, but there are still a few left unanswered. 

That's why I am curious if there happen to be any European investors that would be willing to connect with me and clarify a few things about dealing with rentals in Europe. Just general questions, no worries :) If possible, I would also love to meet you in person, but being stuck in central Europe (Slovakia) isn't really of much help.

Looking forward to all your inputs!

Hey Antonio, 

thank you very much for your response. I would definitely love to connect, but I just feel like I don't have anything to contribute. I mean I am 16 and just starting out, trying to learn all the stuff, reading books and so on, right? :) I don't even have any experience yet, but that's why I am so happy to be here. 

Where are you located btw, Antonio? As I said I would love to get in touch

Hey everyone, hope you are having a chilly Monday :)

I was just curious if there are any fellow European investors that have had success with the BRRRR method?

Since the market is pretty different here - people don't rent houses they buy them, renting would be too expensive. In case they rent, it's usually a flat - I was thinking if BRRRR is even possible here. I mean, there don't seem to be flats that would be in desolate state and thus you can't really rehab them in order to raise their value. Also, a vacant flat is something super rare.

I don't know, I am just throwing this out here to see what other people think. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! 

 Yeah exactly, I haven't found a property even remotely close to 1% and I have reviewed plenty of off market deals as well. Just how do people invest here?

Hi,

I'm a new member from Slovakia (tiny county in central Europe).

I've been an enthousiastic subscriber of the BP Podcast for a few months now. I'm absorbing knowledge like a sponge while working towards a first deal, but whenever I do my own calculations I get very disapointed.

For example : I came across examples of people owning units which value $140K with an monthly mortage payment of $600 and are renting these units for $1340/month. Sounds great right ?

In my area the rent/value-ratio is much, much lower...

For example an average flat in my hometown (Spa town with 30 000 inhabitants) is around 700 - 900 sq ft. Average price for such a flat is around $130 000. The rent? Aproximately $600 if you are lucky. 

The houses start at around $200 000 but it's worth noting those don't usually rent. I've noticed it's super uncommon not only in Slovakia but in Europe to rent a house. It just doesn't make sense to pay $1000+ rent if you can get a much cheaper loan. Usually young couples/people rent a flat until they can afford to buy themselves a house.

In our Capital city, Bratislava the % is pretty much the same - around 0,5%.

Is it that hard to get appoved for a loan in the US?

Any comments on my thoughts? 

I would love to invest in rentals but is it even possible to be cash flow positive in such a market?

Thank you very much in advance, 

Oliver

Hey,

don't worry, there are a few other ways to get money for investing.

I think it could help a lot to know why you couldn't get a decent mortgage and some generel info (e.g. Are you from the US?)

First of all, there's "seller financing" and believe me if it works it's totally awesome. Basically in this case the seller acts as the bank meaning instead of paying off your loan you instead pay the seller every month until one day the property is cometely yours. Of course, not every seller is looking for this kind of deal, some of them want the instant cash or might want a huge downpayment first.

The episode #344 is actually dedicated to seller financing!

More common way is to borrow the needed money from your relatives but this only works with smaller properties and a good family. Also if this was an option, you probably wouln't be asking here.

Lastly you can find a lender right here, on BiggerPockets! Look around in the network section. Tho, most of the prefer proven investors. 

I wish you the best of luck and I hope I could help at least a little.

Oliver