Castles in the Czech Republic. Soul touching investments

The Czech Republic takes the first place in the amount of castles per sq.km of its total area. There is more than 2500 castles in the country. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, many of the castles were returned to descendants of the previous owners.

Which means that castles are in the private property now and can be sold, rented out or rebuilt for the needs of investment project.

Now, it is the most suitable time for purchasing such property. The reason lies in the situation of 90-s, when many owners pledged their property, money were spent and the castles were transferred to the banks under the bankruptcy procedure. All legal procedures are either finished or will be finished soon, so there is an opportunity to buy a castle for 1/4 of the market price.

It is difficult to determine an “average” price for such property. One can become the owner of the castle even by paying a symbolic price of 1 crone, but accepting an obligation to restore the property. Of course, for one crone you can get just ruins, though these ruins will be magnificent. No castle can be called “new”. Most of them were built between XIII and XV centuries and look more like fortresses. Later on, most of them were carefully rebuilt with use of renaissance and baroque details and made more comfortable for living

Few words about the prices though. Budget castle properties for restoration can be bought for 15 000 – 200 000 euros, depending on the location, amount of restoration works needed and size. There are castles, which are carefully restored even fully furnished in styles of the epoch they were built.  Those will cost about 1 -20 million euros. For now, the most expensive property for sale in this segment is a Klecany Castle (40 million euros approx.).

This real gem of the historical property is located in the middle the Czech Republic, is fully restored and refurbished and surrounded by a beautiful garden. On the territory there  are stales, a guest house, security and garages.

We should say that investments in castle restoration are very profitable.  Investment of approx. 1 million euro will rise up the price of the property up to 3 – 11 million Euros. Though the opportunities for the investors are much wider than just buy – restore – resell way. Castle can be rebuilt into a boarding house for elderly. Taking in consideration the proximity of Germany (the majority of guests come from Germany) it can be a very beneficial kind of business. Another business activity might be luxury class hotels, where each guest will be treated as an aristocrat in the medieval atmosphere. Short-term rentals for weddings and corporate events are also an interesting opportunity. This kind of business requires a different approach, though is very attractive anyway, as the day price for such rental starts from several thousands of euros.  Breweries, spa-centres, restaurants… all these can be arranged inside the castle walls.

The advantages of purchasing a castle are major. One of them are tax credits (zero income tax during first 8 years under a condition of restoration), availability of European Grants, which can co-finance 40 – 80% of the restoration costs, as those objects are within “historical heritage” category. In our opinion, the absolute and the greatest advantage of such a purchase is the very limited offer. There are no (and never will be) new castles. That’s why each of them is unique and one of a kind, so the value of such an object will grow instantly through the years.

We believe, it is incorrect to speak about historical heritage only from the money perspective. Such a purchase is very special, contains a layer of a history and puts a certain obligations on the new owner. You will definitely leave a trace in the book of history and, who knows, maybe write a new chapter in it.