Interesting article but very selective use of stats! The figures you have quoted are from the two best performing Brno deals. What about the two deals in Brno a few months earlier. Using the data from the the Investments page only last month (April) Kouzelne Medlánky and Nove Medlanky capital growth has been only 6% and 4% per annum. Hardly a 'balanced' article!!

Are PS planning to offer a deal in Brno in the near future? If so - can you give an idea of unit prices?

Pete, I don't see how its not a balanced article. I never made any claims about the capital growth over the last couple of years in Brno, apart from to say it has been quite slow (or words to that effect). But what i did say was that the market has started to pick up recently i think you should see higher annualised growth that previously. But what i also said was that the rental yields are high there (see the data) - but the Medlanky developments are not yet on the market so i couldn't give a figure for them. I think that was the point you got a market with great yields and previously low growth but is now showing signs of higher growth - so now is a perfect time to catch the best of both worlds. If you want to sell your units then let me know as i think the market is great and might be interested in buying them if you are dissappointed. Minsk - we have been trying to get a deal for the last couple of months in Brno, but as you know we don't just take anything so it has taken some time, but yes we should have one next week all being well. Prices are around 31,000 czk/sqm - which you can't find much for less than this in Brno these days.

Sounds good. What is the latest on the VAT situation? Is it still looking like it is going to increase in the near future?

Simon all very interesting stuff and has certainly got my attention. The crucial question for me (that may have been answered in other articles) is does the Czech market have true buy to let products yet? Until that is the case there is a ceiling on how many properties you can buy, obviously. I know this was mooted to be on the way in Poland in January. Alex

The question is - do we have genuine buy to let products (assessed on rental income)here for the Czech republic yet?

Alex, Funny you should ask ... i'm in Prague right now ... and i just found out that Ceska bank released its first "grey" mortgage ie you don't need to proove income. http: / /launch .praguemonitor .com /en /95 /czech _business /7276/ We will have more details to follow, like i say it was just announced today. Overall the cz finance market is moving in the right direction, we have a report out on the subject very soon, so you can read more about it there (in the next week - 10 days). cheers simon.

Thanks Simon that's very interesting. I assume it's similar concept to a self-certified mortgage and, accordingly, will be a percentage point or two above the normal interest rate. Can I just say thank you for providing this information? You don't have access to this sort of information and debate with other companies which really places PS apart. We all know about the problems and there is still plenty of room for improvement but, on some fronts, PS seems head and shoulders above other companies. Alex

I thought the article was very insightful and interesting. The logic in the article was far more clear to me than the logic of the criticism! It gives me a lot of confidence in PS that they run an open forum. When criticisms are made that don't make a lot of sense I actually feel more supportive of PS than anything else so I hope this forum is never removed.

Hi Simon Sorry but your article clearly says:- Quote Rental yields of between 5% - 8% are possible, yet capital growth is currently at around 15% per annum, and is in a classic second wave of its growth phase. Unquote My point is that your own figures of just a month ago showed that capital growth over the last 2 years to be 4% and 6% on the two Brno deals I mentioned. I bought for the long term and despite the hype and exagerations do still consider them a good long term investment so will hang on to them thanks. Kind regards Pete

Hi Alex I was in Prague last week completing on Kosik and used Star Capital Finance to arrange my mortgage (they are partners of PS so no problem mentioning them). I dealt with Josef Malir who has a great relationship with Raffaisen Bank (both Josef and the Bank Manager speak perfect English.) I am sure Josef would happily explain what is and is not available Kind regards Pete