Buying in Brussels

M

micamaca

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Hi there,

now I have done a quick search here for this but didn't find anything...

Has anyone bought an investment property (apartment) in Brussels or surrounding areas... I read this was a good place to buy...property not liable to go up the way Irish properties do but a good reliable rental market.

I'm not living in Belgium, and will not be for the forseeable future...

So is it a good place to buy? Does anyone know what the tax implications are? Are there rental agencies who will look after the upkeep of apt for a fee and rent it out too...

I have a lump sum I need to invest in something solid.

thanks, micamaca
 
I live here at moment.

The deal is this.

Tax on purchasing is 17% on way into buying a place.
Banks will finance 100% but not the 17%.

Returns have been steady at 10% a year.

8 years ago a guy i know bought a place for 250k its now worth 400k.

If your looking for a place to hedge against the irish market then its worth it as i think 17% entrance fee keeps things tidy. There is an area where you only pay 12% but its in the predominatly French area. Yield is about 7-8% on gentrification stuff costing around 600k-700k.

Its a pretty decent place but people do not earn as much here as over there. There is some good value to be had.

20% of the persons are foreigners (general EU workers) and at the weekend the place goes very quiet.

Lease terms are generally 3 years .
 
Thanks Estatic...how do you find living there yourself? I liked the bit of Brussels I saw but would prefer Gent as a place to live...

I realise people have less money, but it will probably be enough for my purposes... I can't afford nothing here!

I'll have to do my research but have a special interest in Belgium, I really took to that country...it's the reason why I went back to college to learn two languages... they're so good at languages there.
 
its good cheap flights home when needs be paris in an hour and a half grand job. people very friendly and relaxed..

Right opposite shuman (eu headquarters) 2 bed apartments are 180k-220k.

The older generation do not want to live close to there work but me been younger i couldnt care less and id assume the next young ones will think the same as me.

So id reckon there may be a good place or even Madou to buy a place around there.. Opposite new EU building which should regenerate the area..

Just a few pointers..

Oh yeah and www.immoweb.be ...
 
am familiar with immoweb! :) and the flights are great, and of course the train is waiting for you at the station, couldn't be better, Charlie McCreevy himself said you couldn't have better transport! Good man Charlie!

The pointers as to good areas to buy are useful, I'll keep those in mind. cheers! mica
 
micamaca said:
Thanks Estatic...how do you find living there yourself? I liked the bit of Brussels I saw but would prefer Gent as a place to live...
Click to expand...

I have to say I was impressed with Brussels too except the seemingly notorious area around the Nord (North) railway/bus station. Leuven (where stella artois comes from) is a really nice university town and Bruges (well its just heaven on earth) two cities you might look at if you're thinking of Belgium (dont know about rental yields though) for somewhere to reside
 
I absolutely agree Bruges is beautiful, absolutely gorgeous but it is a tourist town...and the streets are like Grafton St at lunchtime during the summer. but Ghent is another gorgeous town, very like Bruges in architecture but much more practical...small cinema, a main street of nice shops and then plenty of small streets with brasseries, cafes, restaurants etc and loads of small shops that sell things like model airplanes, and crafts...stuff you'd never buy but very interesting to look at. If you haven't visited Ghent you should go some time, is' well worth the visit.

I'm glad to hear you say Leuven is nice, I may have to go there for a year for study, or Leuven-la-Neuf...which is a newer town, but I hope to stay in Leuven itself. And if i'm staying in Belgium, I want to stay somewhere pretty.

Anyone know what the rental market is like in Ghent? I would love to buy there, as I could really see myself living there sometime...love it! I've been looking at immoweb but God forgive me, all the properties seem dark and very old fashioned... and while the prices aren't bad, I'd say you need to spend money doing it up after. who decorates these places! Looks like it's the same person with bad taste in each one!

I digress, if anyone knows about buying to rent in Ghent, or more about Brussels, please let me know what the situation is...thanks micamaca
 
Before you all rush off to buy to let in Belgium you should realise that it is a tenant’s paradise (compared to Ireland anyway). There are loads of apartments to rent right across the spectrum. The typical lease is either a 3 year lease with the rent fixed or a 9 year lease with an indexation formula to allow for rent increases. A landlord can try to have the rent increased outside of the index every three years but the tenant can also ask to have it reduced. And it can be referred to court if agreement cannot be reached. Unless specifically cancelled 9 year leases are assumed to be automatically prolonged. All leases must be registered with the Bureau of Registrations. But in certain areas competition is so great that landlords don’t apply the indexation or tenants will always negotiate a lower initial rent if indexation is to be applied. (I lived there for years and never had a rent increase). Also I think there is a taxation difference in the way rental income is treated between rent from a furnished and an unfurnished flat. As far as I can determine the Belgium system is very much set up to facilitate landlords who wish to draw a steady income from apartments rather than capital gains. If you want more info the Belgium federal portal http://www.belgium.be is a good place to start.
 
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