Published on 25 January 2006 at 07:40 pm
Filed under: Middle East:- Lebanon Property Guides » Lebanon Buying Investment Real Estate
Foreign direct investment into the real estate market in Lebanon dried up post 9/11 but after several years of sufficient stability in the region and the Lebanese government creating more investment incentives for the property investor, the investment real estate market in Lebanon has been boosted.
There is little direct information given by real estate agents about how to buy investment real estate in Lebanon because the process tends to differ from buyer to buyer, property to property; this guide provides the core facts fundamental to the property buying process in Lebanon for overseas property investors.
In April 2001 the Lebanese government amended the laws relating to the foreign acquisition of property in Lebanon and subsequently such acquisitions are governed by Law number 296 which is seen as an amendment of the 1969 laws that placed many restrictions on overseas investors.
Nowadays the market in Lebanon, particularly in and around Beirut, is proving of immense appeal to many Arab and European property investors. The appeal of the country is great because land and real estate are in limited supply as a result of the Lebanon’s geographic restrictions. Furthermore there are a great many wealthy Lebanese living locally and abroad who require properties to rent and buy in the country and these people are currently underpinning the market in terms of constant demand.
Today the laws in Lebanon that govern real estate do not differentiate so much between local and overseas investors. As a result foreign direct investment into the Lebanon is seen as being driven by the real estate and construction industries - such is the general overall appeal of the market for overseas investors. Property taxes and registration fees have been reduced for overseas real estate buyers - where once a property registration fee equivalent to 16% of the property’s underlying price was payable by an overseas investor nowadays all property buyers in the Lebanon regardless of their country of origin pay a fixed 5%.
In terms of any restrictions still in place on the foreign freehold ownership of Lebanese property, individual purchasers may not procure more than 3,000 sq meters of real estate unless they have special permission to do so.
Mortgages are freely available in Lebanon to local and overseas property investors although most banks prefer to lend to those with whom they already have an established relationship. Anyone who requires finance to purchase should therefore ensure they have secured at least an offer of finance before asking an estate agent to assist them with their property search.
Once an agent has been employed by the property investor, real estate can be viewed and once a property has been selected and an offer to purchase accepted a local lawyer should be instructed to search the Commercial Register and the Real Estate Register to ensure there are no outstanding mortgages against the property and that all is in order with its title deed registration.
Contracts to purchase will be signed conditional to the satisfactory completion of searches and any surveys the buyer might like to have done on his Lebanese investment property, and finally the sale contract will be completed and all fees, charges, taxes, commissions and of course the outstanding money for the property will be due within a period of between 30 and 90 days of the preliminary contract being signed.
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