3 January 2024

Investment and business: Austria, Germany

Investing in commercial real estate and business: Austria, Germany. Buy an income-generating house, shopping or office center, hotel (guesthouse) in Frankfurt, Vienna, or the Austrian and German mountains? Answers to these questions will be described in this publication.

To view some of the properties we are selling, follow this link! We can also find other options for you.

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Is it time for stability? Are you tired of the business rhythm in CIS countries and want to invest in a prestigious jurisdiction, have a stable income, immigrate, and obtain residency in Germany or Austria? Are you interested in investments or how to get citizenship (Germany, Austria) through them? Simply not sure where to invest your money? In this article, we will discuss which properties to consider when foreigners buy commercial and residential (income-generating real estate) in Germany and Austria, we will talk about financing and show, through real examples, the profitability of different properties, and mention the sale of land plots. This article will be particularly useful for residents of (e.g., Ukrainians, Russians – foreigners) Russian-speaking countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Armenia, Uzbekistan, etc., who are interested in buying and selling income-generating houses (Western Germany or other parts) and other types of real estate.

Priority Investment Properties in Germany and Austria: Commercial Real Estate

The main types of properties for investment in Germany and Austria are:

Office centers typically have several tenants, usually 2-3, with long-term leases.

Shopping centers in Austria or Germany may have more small tenants and one major tenant, known as an “anchor.” This anchor tenant could be a large supermarket chain with a lease for 20-30 years.

Income-generating houses have physical persons as tenants. These are families renting residential spaces, typically with leases that automatically renew annually or every few years.

Hotels often have restaurants, especially if they are located in the mountains. An important consideration when buying a hotel with a restaurant is that in Austria, there is a quota requiring owners to employ a certain percentage of local residents, which in the Austrian mountains may be less developed than in major cities.

Office-residential complexes are buildings where the first floor is typically leased to a company or bank, and the upper floors are residential, housing families.

Purchasing property in Germany by foreigners is almost the same as for local residents, except for financing (which will be discussed later in the article). Which property to buy is up to you!

Other Properties in Austria and Germany: Foreign Investments in Real Estate (Commercial) of Interest to Residents of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Armenia, Uzbekistan, etc.

It’s also important to remember that there are many other investment and business immigration opportunities. For example, if you are not interested in Vienna or investing and doing business in Austria in general, we can offer investments in Germany, such as in Berlin, Hamburg, or Munich.

In Germany, we offer to buy or invest in the following types of business or commercial real estate:

In Austria (including Vienna and Salzburg), the offerings differ slightly. We offer to buy or invest in:

  • Hotels, income-generating houses (not listed on the website),
  • Investment packages of apartments (not listed on the website),
  • Shopping centers (buildings, not chains) and their packages (e.g., sale of only two), supermarkets (buildings, not chains),
  • Office centers, ophthalmological centers,
  • Business centers.

How to Buy Commercial Real Estate in Germany or Austria?

We disagree with the notion that good properties are only available upon request, though this is often the case. For example, we currently have several good properties listed on our website that do not require special searching. However, some properties are not listed on our site for various reasons: one main reason being the owner’s desire to keep the sale private. If you wish to purchase a hotel somewhere in Germany, Vienna, or the Austrian mountains, we will be happy to find what interests our clients.

Business Profitability in Germany and Austria: Examples

Biogas Project 1 (Innovative Investment) General contractor – a major German international company Project Details:

  • Biomethane production plant,
  • 11,000,000 m³ of methane/year, equivalent to about 6.25 MWh of electricity,
  • Project cost €10.5 million (€2.3 million of equity already available),
  • EBIT: approximately €2.5 million/year,
  • Permits obtained,
  • Environmental review completed,
  • Construction permit obtained,
  • Connection permit for up to 13,000,000 m³ (allowing for expansion),
  • Fixed tariff permission obtained (approx. €0.82/m³) for 20 years,
  • Land allocation completed: land for construction is ready,

Preliminary agreements for raw material procurement are in place. The technical aspects of the project are ready and suppliers of components are agreed upon. The project owner is an experienced operator of biogas plants. This company provides EUR 2.3 million of its own equity and will manage the biogas plant technically and economically. The planned completion of the project is November 30, 2020, provided financing is resolved by December 20, 2019. For bank financing, shareholders’ equity must constitute at least 50% of the project cost. This means that additional required equity must be at least €2.95 million. Profitability is approximately 23.80%, fixed for 20 years.

Biogas Project 2 (Innovative Investment) Biogas production plant with 2 cogenerators with a total capacity of 500 kW and 851 kW. Land: 32,000 m² is included in the property price and will be the buyer’s ownership. Project:

  • Project implemented as GmbH,
  • Biogas production plant currently under construction. Planned commissioning in Q1 2020.

Equipment:

  • The biogas production plant includes:
  • Fermenters (preliminary and main), silage bunker, secondary fermenter (for further fermentation), sludge and leftover mass storage, artificial pond, gas reservoir, gas compressor, automatic control panel, transformer,
  • Cogenerator 1 – 500 kW. Cogenerator 2 – 851 kW Flex – flexible operating schedule (depending on demand).

Raw materials: Corn and grass silage, dry and liquid chicken manure, cattle manure, and pig manure are used as raw materials. Long-term agreements with suppliers for the full volume of raw materials are in place. Annual Income (approximately):

  • €3,685,770 from gas sales,
  • €815,000 from electricity sales,
  • €110,630 from electricity sales by Flex Cogenerator at a fixed rate.

Annual total income: €4,611,400 before operating expenses. Annual expenses (approx.):

  • €1,920,250 including raw materials, disposal costs, and own electricity,
  • €182,500 for staff costs,
  • €462,000 for maintenance, technical upkeep, and scheduled repairs,
  • €142,000 for insurance,
  • €177,000 for biological maintenance and miscellaneous expenses,
  • €100,000 for technical and commercial management (optional).

Total annual expenses: €2,983,750 Net income (approx.): €1,627,650 Full cost: €14,500,000 turnkey Profitability: 11.23% before taxes and depreciation Depreciation: Depreciation of the installation through taxes over the next 10 years will be approximately €976,667 per year.

Income-Generating House Year of construction: 1910 Major renovation: 2010 4 apartments and 2 commercial spaces Total living area: 309 m² 2 commercial spaces: 78 m² and 24 m² 100% of the spaces are rented out Annual rent: €31,524.21 Price: €420,000

Shopping Center Consists of two parts with useful areas of about 6000 and 4000 m² respectively. Total useful area: about 9700 m². Currently, over 60% of the space is rented out. Opening of the first part in Q4 2019, opening of the second part in Q2 2020. Anchor tenants: large and very large chains. Sufficient number of parking spaces. Rental income: about €1,250,000/year when fully rented. Yield: about 5.6% per year. Price: upon request (€22.5 million)

Office Center Area: 1,072.11 m² Parking spaces: 8 Total price: €3,550,000 net Total rental income/year: €165,616.80 (excluding VAT) Lease term: 10.5 years (until 2029) Annual yield: 4.67%

Supermarket Price: €4,850,000 Annual rent: €262,200 Yield: 5.4% Lease term: 15 years + options for 5 x 3 years The supermarket is located in the suburbs of a large city in western Germany. The store is situated on a plot of land about 7,000 m². Due to the need for expansion, works were carried out to increase the trading area and modernize the existing building. After expansion and modernization, the supermarket’s rental area is 1,900 m². The supermarket has more than 80 parking spaces. From January 2020, a new lease agreement with a well-known German chain company comes into effect for 15 years + options for extension 5 x 3 years. The rental payment is €11.5/m² x 1,900 m² = €21,850/month. Annual rental income = €262,200.

As you can see, alternative energy facilities, specifically biogas installations, dominate in terms of profitability, but the increase in land prices under them is not as significant as in major cities. The decision is always up to the buyer.

Business Financing in Austria and Germany

It is also worth noting that EU banks offer very favorable financing conditions. For example, you can buy a shopping center in Austria for thirty million euros, having only ten million of your own, and receive a loan from the bank for the remaining twenty million for 10-20 years at 2%-3% annual interest. In Germany, this may be 3%-4%. The financing process usually takes several months, provided that both the buyer and seller have their documents and financial arrangements in order.
Regarding property management

Usually, for an operational property, contracts for cleaning, garbage collection, and minor repairs are already in place and do not cause problems. These services are also paid for by the tenants themselves. The situation is different if you plan to invest in a property that is not yet built, not yet operational, and therefore no contracts have been signed yet.

We are ready to handle all these routine tasks.

Buying Land: Germany, Austria. A Good Investment or Not?

We offer a service for selling land in Austria and Germany. Is it worth buying land as an investment? It’s probably worth considering, as investing in land, which is continually increasing in value, capitalizes your savings. However, this is very rare. Typically, clients want to buy land for the construction of an investment project, such as a multi-story building or business center.

Main Areas of Our Activity in Austria and Germany:

  • Selection and sale of businesses,
  • Commercial and income-generating real estate,
  • Land for development,
  • Investment projects.

Related Services in Austria and Germany:

  • Transaction support for buying and selling businesses,
  • Obtaining financing (usually 60%-70%, with a maximum of 70%-75%),
  • Company registration for the business and opening an account for it,
  • Assistance with business immigration upon purchasing a business (residence and permanent residency),
  • Commercial property management,
  • Selection of management staff and management companies,
  • Development of business plans, projects, and economic analysis of their effectiveness,
  • Obtaining all necessary construction and operational permits,
  • Commissioning of completed projects.

We would be happy to become your business partners, find a successful investment property for you, and support your real estate transaction.

INVESTMAKLER

expertise quality reliability

United Kingdom: E14 5NR, England, Canary Wharf, London, Level 18, Bank str. 40
Germany: 50 Mainzer Landstrasse, Frankfurt am Main
Hong Kong: Wan Chai, Gloucester Road 160, Overseas Trust Bank Building, 6th floor, office A13
Russia: 127055, Moscow, Novoslobodskaya st. 20, 3th floor, office 33
+38 095 555 1257 (Whatsapp, Telegram, Viber)
https://t.me/invest_makler (Telegram Channel)
info@investmakler.com
https://investmakler.com

 

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