Apologies if this has been covered previously. Since I have received my initial ARI Card (with my GV investment intact), I wanted to seek advice on long-term real estate investment options, on a limited budget (between 150K to 300K EUR), something with long-term capital growth options (and minimum maintenance costs / property taxes). In short, I want something that will appreciate in value over the next 10-15 years and provide reasonable returns to me.
When I bought my apartment for the Golden Visa, I realized it was overpriced, and it was something I was willing to accept as it was a necessary cost to obtain ARI Card swiftly (that didnt however happen for other reasons as everyone knows).
Now I wish to make smaller investments over the years. Is it a good idea to buy a small office / commercial space / shop within Lisbon (or other areas of Portugal) for this purpose? any leads would be appreciated.
I am looking to invest in real estate, as under my current circumstances, it is the only tenable long-term investment i forsee. Anywhere else within EU you recommend ?
Buying single commercial real estate assets is high risk. Unless you can afford to build a diversified portfolio across buildings, sectors and markets, I wouldn’t do it. The type of low value commercial asset that a small investor could afford to buy, is likely to be particularly high risk.
If you want investment exposure to commercial real estate why don’t you look at investing in a fund or REIT? That will ensure you are properly diversified.
(not giving investment advice, but I work in commercial real estate).
I disagree with this. There is plenty of institutional interest in investing in real estate in Portugal. For example in student accommodation (our sector), there’s a huge undersupply of student beds so a great opportunity for investors. Institutional investors in this sector are looking for professionally managed purpose built accommodation - say a 10m investment for a building with a couple of hundred beds let to students. This is a new sector in Portugal, it’s very well established in the UK and the US.
My point isn’t anti-investing in Portugal, more that investing in commercial property is inherently high risk, particularly if you’re not able to diversify. And if your investment amount is low - let’s say you spend 300k buying a retail unit - then what you’ll be buying will be tertiary and therefore higher risk - prime, lower risk commercial property is much more expensive. If you could afford to invest 50m in prime commercial property across Portugal and elsewhere in Europe, you’d be getting much higher quality assets and would be diversified. That’s why for smaller investors investing in a REIT or fund makes more sense, as you will get diversification whatever your investment size.
I would still point out that investing in a fund / shares in just one sector is still high risk. Best approach is to fully diversify across multiple asset classes and geographies.