Thomas,
Are you seeking financing for a project of your own, or seeking a way
to invest in real estate in France and Germany via projects planned
and managed by firms that specialize in this activity?
Here in Germany, there are firms that do this. They boomed during the
1990s, when there were tax incentives for real estate investment in
the new German states.
One reputable one is "Spar- und Anlageberatung AG" (Savings and
Investment Corp.). Unfortunately the website is only in German:
http://www.sab-ag.de/
There are also financial brokers, "Finanzberater" and "Anlageberater"
(financial, investment advisors), who market many types of investment,
some less serious than others, and also advertise that they can find
financing for individual's own projects. Knowing a couple of them,
personally, I don't expect that they do much of this, since they like
a two digit commission (just a low two digit one), which would be too
visible in a simple mortgage/loan deal.
To be fair, however, here is the website (again only in German) of an
established financial advisor (a sponsored link on Google):
http://www.drklein.de/baufinanzierung.html
The top tabs are for Financing, Insurance, Investment, Housing Real Estate.
Projects such as SAB manages, are also sold through financial
advisors. The prospects for the projects indicate a marketing cost -
I have seen 10% - but the fine print says that there may be shifts
between the projected expense positions, so I suspect that brokers may
earn more.
The following German site explains that mortgage banks
("Hypothekenbanken") can lend up to 60% of the appraised value of a
property, but that with additional security, banks may go as high as
80%. (A lot of them got their fingers burned in recent years, when
the market value for the mass of new investment in the new states
dropped considerably.)
http://www.finanzen-lexikon.de/lexikon/beleihungsgrenze.htm
As in any other area of lending, a non-resident investor/borrower
presents the lender with an unaccustomed situation, making a credit
analysis more difficult.
Real Estate investment funds are also an alternative, and from the
language more accessible:
http://www.allianz.com/adam/dp/cda/0,,195219-44,00.html
http://www.deka-immobilien.de/en/02/01/index.html
http://www.berlin-partner.de/index.php?id=die-berlin-partner&L=1&partnerId=47&letter=A-Z
http://www.norddeutsche.de/eng/CE1FD8E7691F428CB0B40639E4FCACEC.asp
No recommendations, of course. Another site just reminded me that the
largest German bank - Deutsche Bank - temporarily suspended trading
of a real estate fund that a subsidiary manages, which caused some
consternation in the market.
As elsewhere, there are people who compare performance:
http://www.info-investmentvergleiche.de/offene-geschlossene-fonds/geschlossene-immobilienfonds.html?adword=Google/DE/INV/Fonds/Immobilienfonds/Immobilienfonds
http://www.activest.de/de/home/index.jhtml;jsessionid=2UYMW3SEQW3NDQFILQBRX1WAVBOAEF4K?pageId=3001
Sorry about the long links. As you can see on the second one,
there are a great many open and closed ended funds.
I hope this is of some interest.
Myoarin |
