Buying an Apartment in Estonia

[wesley]

Hey Guys,
I am thinking of buying an apartment in Eastern Europe for rental purposes but am not sure which country to invest in. I have done some research on Estonia and came across a very useful buyers guide/report on the Estonian property market on Property in Estonia - Holiday Homes, Land, Apartments & Investment Properties in Estonia. Does anyone have any experience of this company, Property in Estonia, or any information about whether Tallinn and Estonia are good locations to buy apartments? I am interested in buying off-plan if possible. Are there any other good locations in Eastern Europe that I should be looking at? Any advice/information greatly appreciated.
Thank you

[mitchell]

Hello Wesley
Have just returned from a quick visit to Estonia where I too had hoped to purchase an apartment.

Tallin is a fairly big, sprawling city and quite a lot busier then I had expected.

I was met at the airport and after a quick drive round the outskirts I was taken to Parnu which was where I had hoped to buy.

Parnu, with a population of some 50,000, is far smaller then Tallin but is very popular as a holiday resort. The property prices are far cheaper, but even in September the holiday season seemed all but over. I looked at one completed apartment which was nice with the standard of workmanship far better then here in the UK, price about ?40,000 for 48mt. Another I looked at was in a totally different location then advertised and was far from being finished, I saw other " off plan" developments but these were all in poor locations and like most off plan sites were using facts like: the road is going to be re-done, they are going to build a pool, they are putting a golf course over there ext ext. to justify the price.

I managed to get away from my rep from the agents ( not easy ) and went off on my own for a day, this was the best thing I could of done. I went to another real estate agent and found out that they were selling the same properties some 10-20% cheaper I also found a local agent renting rooms from 50p a night! which didn't bode to well for rental incomes.

In conclusion I would say be very careful and whatever you do decide on go and look at it, even if it's an off plan plot not even built on and never put a deposit down, they will still be there when you get there.

I am not buying here in Parnu as the rental returns would not be great, Tallin would be the only place to make any money all year in Estonia but their prices are now quite high having gone up over 20% this year and the prime sites on a par with uk prices.

If you do decide to go I have a couple of local guides from the airport which I could pop in the post to you.

Good luck, kind regards,