For almost seven years now, BuyerSide has been assisting numerous investor clients every year. Our aim is to help you find the ideal property that meets your criteria. But rather than simply suggesting properties for you to buy, our experts offer total support. Thus, in addition to finding a property to invest in, you can also rest assured that any problem which may arise during the acquisition will be avoided or resolved. As was the case for this client in search of a building suitable for letting in Brussels.
A building belonging to a regulated property company
In search of an attractive investment, this French client called on BuyerSide to help him find a building suitable for letting. He had a budget of between € 2 and € 3 million. After several visits, we found an off-market property that seems perfect for this client. It is a building suitable for letting that belongs to a Belgian regulated property company. Located in Saint-Gilles, it comprises 12 units, including nine apartments, two offices and a commercial space on the ground floor. Thanks to our special contacts with this property company, we were easily able to start the initial discussions about the possible sale of this building.
Long negotiations
Very early on, during our analysis, we realised that the property was encumbered by two town-planning violations. We therefore entered into negotiations with the seller to have this problem sorted out at their expense. After discussions lasting several months, the matter was largely settled before the official deed was signed. The remaining issues will be dealt with after the deed has been finalised, still by the seller. In order to protect our client and guarantee that the seller’s obligations are fulfilled, we arranged for the selling price to be deposited with the notary until the town-planning situation has been settled and for a favourable opinion to be obtained from the SIAMU (Brussels fire department) within a given deadline.
Additional risks
In this singular period marked by the health crisis and given the difficulties facing retailers, we felt that it was vitally important to protect our client as much as possible from the risk of non-payment of the rent on the commercial premises for the coming months. Thanks to our expertise and our efforts at persuasion, we succeeded in reaching an agreement with the seller to provide a guarantee for the purchaser equal to six months’ rent. Finally, the official deed was signed and the deadlines were met so that our client was within the period of validity of his bank financing. All the parties are delighted with the conclusion of this transaction, as can be seen in particular from the reaction of our client, who wrote to us: “I would like to thank you very much indeed for your assistance, which I found truly pragmatic and proactive, as well as reassuring on many points for a non-specialist like myself.”
Numerous difficulties overcome
For this acquisition, we identified each potential risk and had to hold many discussions between parties to resolve or reduce them. Our experts never gave up and did not hesitate to talk directly with the municipal authorities to obtain clear answers regarding the dossier. In fact, the important thing for us, as a property adviser for the buyer, is to analyse whether or not the financial parameters of the transaction are worth the risk taken.