Land Investment

At the moment, January 2009, the city of Riga is a great place to buy with lots of BMV properties available.

The only drawback being it is nearly impossible for foreign investors to get a mortgage on any type of property in Latvia. We recently contacted a selection of banks to discuss this issue and were given a very negative response from most and only one saying they would consider lending to a foreign investor if some very stringent (mostly unrealistic) conditions were met.

The fact is most property (and land) is still relatively cheap in Latvia by EC standards and in the medium to long term only has one way to go - and that is up in value.

Inflation is high in Latvia at the moment (13%), the property market is in the doldrums, new car sales have plumetted. But all is not doom and gloom. One sector of the economy is doing well - countryside 'tourism'.

Country guesthouse facilities, usually small developments standing alone in the countryside comprising of a group of buildings. Often 'log cabins' offering restaurant/cafe/bar, sauna, outdoor activities, water sports, barbecue etc. Often a meeting hall with bed and breakfast accomodation for between ten and fifty people in various forms, from one and multiple bedroom 'cottages' to dormitory style sleeping facilities.

These small developments are used by Latvians for family celebrations, weddings, birthdays, retirements etc etc and by foreign tourists from Scandinavia, Finland, Germany and Russia.

Who knows maybe one day the British tourist will appreciate what's on offer too!

Those near lakes or rivers often specialise in watersports activities and of course fishing which is probably the major national passtime in Latvia. Latvians like to spend time near the water, be it lake river or sea.

Land can be bought quite cheaply even with permission to build dwelling houses or operate tourism related businesses.

As an example we recently concluded a deal for a client on a 4 hectare site with permission to build four houses not far from a small town (140 km from Riga) for 2,500 Lats per hectare.