BuyerSide assisted a new client with the acquisition of a building in Etterbeek intended for letting. The client already had experience in the real-estate sector but wanted to call in the BuyerSide teams above all to ‘unearth’ a good investment product for him. The mission was successfully carried out!
Very precise search criteria
For this investment, the client was looking for a building in Brussels suitable for letting, with the potential for renovation and value creation. In search of a more ‘off-market’ opportunity which he could not find at the traditional real-estate agencies, he decided to call upon BuyerSide so as to benefit from efficient and total assistance. He wanted to embark upon a ‘development’ project whereby he could buy a block to be modernised or renovated, either to keep it or then sell it on unit by unit.
Several visits and a first offer
Thanks to our network of business finders, we were able to identify several properties and present them to our client before they appeared on the market. Right from the second property he visited, the client wanted to make an offer quickly for a building that he was very interested in. Unfortunately, this was not accepted, as the sellers received a slightly higher offer.
A building comprising eight apartments with potential
A few visits later, our client fell for another property and wanted to submit an offer again. This building was in Etterbeek and contained eight one-bedroom apartments with two units on each floor (ground floor plus three upper storeys). The top floor included loft areas so that the two third-floor units could be converted into duplex apartments with lovely terraces overlooking the rooftops of Brussels.
Firm negotiations
Consulting with the client, we decided to make an offer in line with our valuation, which was 15% lower than the price expected by the owner. He refused, indicating that he had received a better offer. Sensing that he was bluffing, we advised our client not to increase his offer but to maintain the price, simply removing the suspensive condition of obtaining a loan. Our client had in fact already consulted his bank and was fully aware of his borrowing capacity, which was sufficient for this property. Once more, the owner refused, again on the pretext that he had another offer. We advised waiting another few days before submitting a final, unchanged offer. The owner eventually decided to accept it.
The particular features of this purchase
This purchase was marked in particular by the valuation, the business plan, the urban planning violations revealed and the completion deadline. In fact, the seller wanted the deed to be signed at the latest two months after the submission of the offer, as he himself had another acquisition to complete. For this purchase, our business plan showed that the project was profitable and would meet the client’s high value creation expectations. We also assisted him, together with his architect, to value the work, deal with the urban planning violations and analyse the likelihood of implementing the modifications to create value (the possibility of converting the upper apartments into duplexes by incorporating the loft areas and laying out terraces).