Having got the jitters about their own subprime crisis-hit property market, a growing number of American investors are arriving in this country looking for alternative opportunities.

And it is the emerging Czech buy-to-let market segment that has caught the eye of many of these new arrivals, according to Stefan Cordiner, managing director of Myall Consulting (Europe), an international investment and consultancy company and majority shareholder in Ceres Group, a real-estate venture in the Czech Republic.

Until now, it has been British and Irish investors who have been most noticeable among foreign investors helping to drive the development of the Czech buy-to-let segment, regarded as around five years old. But Cordiner noted that Ceres Group—a company that operates with a team of around 80—and fellow market players are seeing a growing number of Americans on the scene.

The fallout from the subprime crisis has also influenced the strategies of banks to the point where it is harder for retail investors to obtain 100 percent financing for their projects, he added.

Ceres Group was formed in May 2004, following the accession of the Central European countries to the European Union as a response to what itdescribed as the growing need for a centralized organization that exists solely to clarify, streamline and assist foreigners with processes that are required for nonresident parties wishing to purchase property within the CEE region. Cordiner suggested that now that foreign buy-to-lease investors have grown comfortable with what is available in Prague, they are increasingly examining potential further afield and considering moves in countries more to the east. Their widening focus can also be attributed to the lessening potential of capital growth and yields within Prague as market options are exploited, he said, adding that the same process means that those offering buy-to-let products increasingly have to find a unique aspect that makes their proposal stand out from the rest.

Q: What is a typical profile of an investor who comes to the Czech Republic?

A: The most typical investor that we deal with is what is known as a ‘buy-to-let’ investor, someone who is searching for properties that provide a rental income. The basic principle of this type of investment is to obtain the highest possible return on equity, meaning that investors are seeking plans where they can obtain high leverage, good capital growth—with the most assured method being to purchase off-plan, even prior to building permits being issued—and an income that covers the mortgage repayment expenditure or as close to it as possible.