Hi, I'm interested to find out whether any investors in this deal have been advised to sell their units or try to rent them out. The rental market looks very gloomy indeed and the potential re-sale value (allowing for growth over the last 12 months) is unlikely to leave room for any profit - after taking the initial PS finder's fee into account. Bit of a Catch 22 situation. I'd appreciate any views on this. Cheers, Dave.

It's probably worth noting that Lexxus are marketing for sale a 1-bed unit from this development. It is on at SKK 2,750,000. If the unit sells at this price, then the investor probably won't break even after costs. But I guess this may be better than the prospect of facing up to the lifeless rental market. Dave.

If you can, I would hold on. All your upfront costs are now covered by the rise in the market to date so anything over about 2-3% p.a. will be profit from now on. As to getting the flat let, accept that in the short term you have two choices hold out for the rent you were expecting and risk a very extended void period or bite the bullet and drop the rent for the first year to a level that will get you a tennant immediately. A friend with 2 units in Bratislave has recenly had to do this, accepting around 50% of what he had hoped for but the units are now let and he will be in a good position to raise the rent in a years time (NB He waited over three months before droping the rent, with hindsite, he would probably let immediately and at a higher rent if he had dropped his asking price straight away instead of folowing the market down.

Alan, Thanks. All good points. If there's any liklihood of getting a tenant, we'll probably hold on to the unit due the strong potential for capital growth over the next 5 years or so. If you're surfing the forum at all Neil (Lewis), is there any update on the rental market in Bratislava? All the best. Dave.

Re: Rental demand for this development. In the original PS promotional literature for this deal, the following was highlighted: "A new 60,000 square metre business park for IT companies is being built in Vajnory on the edge of Bratislava. It is just 5km or 10 minutes by car from The Crossroads (there is no other new residential development closer to this park, so the Crossroads will be highly attractive to an influx of new workers)." Does anyone know if this business part has been completed and how many people are employed locally? Thanks. David.

I hope you don't mean Cepit. That was just a concept/plan by an optimistic austrian investor... it's been on paper for over 2 years but no progress from then on. It may or may not happen, and not even sure it will be in Vajnory, as the city part (council) doesnt agree for the park to be on the site as originally planned. I do think if it goes ahead it will be somewhere in/around Vajnory, however, it is a very long term project. There don't seem to be any tenants or investors to take up space in it yet either. Still, sooner or later something like this will probably (hopefully) be built in Bratislava.