Buying in BerlinLuxury apartments in a development of refurbished listed buildings in Potsdam, southwest Berlin, are for sale from €153,000. They are being sold through the German Property Centre, which is based in Blackrock, Co Dublin.
There are 140 units in the development, Parc du Bois. The one to three-bedroom homes range from 79.4 to 98.7sq m (85 to 1,062sq ft) and cost up to €241,000. Many of the units cost around €180,000-€189,000.
All apartments have parquet flooring and balconies and use energy efficient technology. Underground car-parking spaces cost €16,273 and surface spaces, €8,438.
The development will be completed in two phases, with the first apartments due for completion by next month.
The redbrick listed buildings date from the 1890s. They originally housed the Prussian royal calvary regiment.
Investors will receive a 10-year rental guarantee and the property will be managed by a German property management company for an annual fee of €492.
The rental guarantee provides for an initial minimum gross rental yield of 4.3 per cent, according to the agent. Finance and legal services are organized for investors by the German Property Centre, which says it has reserved a selection of penthouse apartments in the development for Irish investors.
Potsdam is famous for the post-war Potsdam Agreement of 1945 and is described as Berlin's equivalent of Versailles in Paris, with many palaces and parks.
Volkswagen's design centre is in Potsdam, and software giant Oracle moved its internet sales division in 2002 from Dublin to Potsdam. The suburb is 20 minutes by train from central Berlin.
www.GermanPropertyCentre.com
