Purchasing Real Estate, any advice ?

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Hi there!

It is going OK - Definitely takes longer than I hoped for. It took almost 18 months from the point I closed on the property purchase to the point where we finally got the visa itself. Then they say that it's 5 years from that point before you can apply for Perm residency or citizenship, but that's not true - Each time you need to "renew" (after the first year and then again after the 3rd year) there is a several month's gap, so it's at least 5.5 years, more like 6 years. Then I've heard it's at least another year to apply for perm res / citizenship (which is not guaranteed). So all tolled it's over 8 years between when you start the process and when you'd receive perm res / citizenship - if you are even approved.

On the bright side, nowadays there are easier ways to do your investment, ie. other than real estate. I think you can put €350k into an approved investment fund, for example. Much easier to manage and get started than having to search for a property, pay a *ridiculous* tax to purchase a property (like 9%!), deal with brokers (and there's no MLS or comps), all in a foreign market that you don't understand how it functions.

Be warned though - Plan on *at least* 8 years between your start and the time you get perm res/citizenship, and that it's not even guaranteed that you will get it.