Thanks Anna

We had a Tirana deal that was promoted on the Spanish Property Secrets website - the problem was that it was essential an 80/ 20 deal.

That means - 80% down and 20% on completion.

This is always the problem of an early emerging market - you are effectively buying for cash - and you have to hand over most of your cash to the developer early on in the development.

If the units sold are just to foreign investors and the infrastructural improvements don't arrive in time, then a better strategy for Albania may be to buy off the speculative investors at the point of completion?

At least with this strategy you are only putting down marginally more money but you are guaranteed title of a property you can walk around.

Hence, this looks like a tough market to make the numbers work for pure off plan at the moment.

Cheers
Neil

Neil,

I agree that Albania represents high risk for investors and it is definitely long-term investment. Consequently, it wouldn’t suit every property investor.

Payments terms are not the most attractive, however I must say that I have never seen payments of 80/20 advertised by overseas company.

Foreign companies selling off-plan to non-residents usually offer deals with payments 30-40% deposit and 60-70% on completion, at least the British and Irish companies.

The huge difference could be a matter of individual negotiations with a developer, I guess. Although, I’ve heard that developers in Albania prefer to sell to cash buyers and stage payments are also common.

Anna