Liepāja is the largest city in the Kurzeme region and is the third-largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils. Liepāja is located on the Baltic sea where the city owns an important ice-free port. In 2020 the population of Liepāja was ~ 68,000 people.
When talking about real estate investments in Liepāja, here at BalticInvestors.com we like to call Liepāja a second-tier city - Second-tier cities encompass the group of largest cities in a country excluding the capital. Their economic and social performance is sufficiently important to affect the performance of the national economy.
Evidence has shown that a greater distribution of investments within countries is associated with the stronger economic performance of their second-tier cities.
Liepāja encourages tourism. The main attraction is the pristine Blue Flag beach with white sand and rolling dunes, but the city also offers a number of historical sites, including Protestant and Orthodox churches and the ruins of military fortifications from the times of the Russian Empire.
Recently our attention has been focused on the neighborhoods of Karosta and Tosmāre in Liepāja and we have started three online auctions looking to buy at least one apartment to do a remodeling on, so later we can rent it out for a long term or do AirBnB / Booking.com.
Online auction prices for the less developed areas of Liepāja city can start as low as EUR 1, 600 but still the place has about 30m2, electricity, and water. The rest is a matter of good renovation works.
Now, this is fun. For many years I've been against flip/flop investments (invest in REIT instead), but seeing such great prices for a prop in second-tier cities, I couldn't resist the temptation - Tosmāre and Karosta here I come. A good plumber and IKEA can make wonders.
Once bought, renovated, and refurbished - the flat could be rented out to students or young families. Our guess is the time frame 5+ years we could get back our initial investment from rent + take a good additional value from the market appreciation.
If you are interested to purchase an apartment in Liepāja, Karosta, Tosmāre, or any other part of the Baltics, click here to contact us and see how we can help.