Buying Real Estate Property in the Czech Republic
Buying property in the Czech Republic
No matter if you want to buy a flat in Prague for holidays/ vacations, a house in the bohemian countryside to life there or retire to or a huge industrial estate to develop your business, the Czech Republic Real Estate market offers everybody an attractive solution. Some points that make the Czech Republic especially attractive for property buyers and investors are:
Stable political situation, member of the European Union. In fact, at the moment, the Czech republic even holds the presidency of The EU! And
Attractive, low prices, especially outside Prague. The Moravian town of Brno is an insider tip for budding expats. Property prices outside the capital are around 10-15% of what you would pay in inner city Prague!
How easy it is for you to buy/ own property here in the Czech Republic depends of several things:
Do you plan to live here, permanently or temporarily? Do you want to buy business or private property? Are you an EU citizen or not? Lets look at the different scenarios:
1. EU Citizen that wants to buy property and live/ work in the Czech Republic.
As an EU citizen you have the right to live and work wherever you want inside the European Union. But you still have to register with the foreign police, i.e. getting a permanent residence permit. After that you are free to purchase property in the Czech Republic the same way a Czech would and could. If you want to buy forest and/or farmland additional conditions may apply.
2. If you are not resident in the Czech Republic, you still can purchase property in the Czech Republic if you fulfill one of the following conditions: You hold a permanent residence permit of one of the other EU member states, you buy the property legally from a family member or you own a business that does legally operate here in the Czech Republic, i.e. has its headquarter or branches here and you buy for this business.
3. You inherit property in the Czech Republic.
4. Citizens of the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the USA are normally, under international treaties, treated equal to EU citizens, i. e. can purchase property legally.
5. If none of the conditions in 1.-4. applies to you, you can still go the way of establishing a business company, normally a 'sole ownership' one and purchase property via this company.
How to purchase property in the Czech Republic?
The best way is to look if your bank has a branch in the Czech Republic and contact it asking for advice how to proceed. Most of the main banks have a department dealing with such questions. In all cases you should get all legal documents that you have to sign translated into your own language to avoid surprises. Unless you speak fluently Czech obviously ;-)
