Overvalued real estate, mortgages and loans in the Czech Republic are driving more and more Czechs to buy property abroad. The reasons are obvious – it is cheaper, more attractive and the owner can also have a beautiful villa or apartment, for example, a short walk from the beach. Czech startup Rezidente has decided to offer a simple way, bringing co-ownership of premium properties in Spain, which are always shared by up to four co-owners. For a quarter of the price of an average apartment in Prague, this allows you to buy a fully furnished home in an attractive Costa del Sol location that will hold its value over the long term and will also be actively used all year round. The Czech startup, which makes it possible to acquire lucrative housing in seaside destinations with a minimum of work, aims to sell stakes in properties worth more than 150 million crowns in Spain this year. Rezidente is currently completing a pre-seed investment for the Czech market and plans to expand its offering to Portugal, Croatia and Italy in 2024.
As a result of rising property prices in the country, those interested in new housing are looking for alternatives abroad, mostly in southern countries where prices are lower and destinations are much more attractive – especially in Spain, Italy, Croatia and Greece. According to a survey by Deloitte, almost 30% of Czechs are interested in buying property abroad, with over 300 properties purchased in Spain in the third quarter of 2022 alone, according to the Spanish Cadastral Office. Poles have even tripled the number and the year-on-year sales of local properties to Central Europeans has tripled. “Today there are ten flights a week to Malaga, which greatly benefits this ‘seaside cottage industry’. Instead of Friday traffic jams in the metropolises and subsequent traffic jams on the motorways, you can be in your second home by the sea in less than three hours,” says Václav Urbánek, co-founder and CEO of Rezidente.
Urbánek sees the future in co-ownership of second homes. Currently, over 11 million holiday homes in European destinations are empty. “We offer the opportunity to buy a premium home, currently on Spain’s Costa del Sol. This is in the form of co-ownership of a specially established Czech limited liability company, which has adjusted conditions and tax regime for the co-ownership model and whose only activity is the management of one specific property. We vet all potential clients because the credibility and transparency of the entire model is absolutely key here, which in the case of Rezidente is also reflected in the completely transparent ownership structure of the company,” adds the CEO of the startup.
Own living like in a five-star hotel
Václav Urbánek founded the startup together with his former colleagues from Twista, attorney Pavel Martiník and product manager Ivo Apetauer, with whom he once worked on the purchase of a new property. “I wanted to live and work by the sea for part of the year, but buying a whole property that I would only use for part of the year didn’t make sense. However, my friends liked the idea of buying a house in multiple people, so we bought our first property together,” Urbánek says of the start-up. And the interest in co-ownership is still growing, just a month after the launch, the startup has already signed up over 150 users, including founders of technology companies, CEOs or owners of marketing agencies, as well as young families.
In addition, Rezidente is the only platform of its kind in the Czech Republic that offers a transparent and clear ownership structure – each property can currently be bought with one to two quarters in a separate LLC. The owner can use the period of stay for themselves, give it as a gift to family or use it for short-term rentals.
While the co-owners share both acquisition and equipment costs and operating expenses, the Resident acts as administrator and auditor for the property. He or she takes care of all the bills, taxes, repairs, maintenance and any rentals if one of the owners decides to monetize his or her share in this way. At the same time, it also provides follow-up services as in a five-star hotel. “The biggest demand is for a car to be delivered to the airport or a fridge to be stocked. In addition, we have a proven local winemaker. But we’ve also organized excursions, bought football tickets, arranged picnics on the beach or requested a private jet. In short, we combine the world of real estate with the world of tourism,” Urbánek adds.
For 2024, Rezidente plans to expand to other lucrative destinations. “The first location for us was the Costa del Sol in Spain, our beautiful European California, where we were also looking for properties ourselves. However, we are also seeing interest in other countries – Croatia, Italy and Portugal. In addition to the attractiveness of the destination itself, we always monitor and analyse a number of other aspects, from the economic and legislative environment to the current prices on the property market or, for example, the availability of infrastructure and other services for our clients,” adds Urbánek.
