Managing a Property Abroad Remotely – A True Story from Prague

When Eithan Mizrahi (a pseudonym) from Haifa bought a three-bedroom apartment in Prague 2, he was thrilled. Sure, Eithan was missing a few things: the ability to speak, write, or read Czech, familiarity with the local banking system and regulations, and the time needed to thoroughly evaluate his options.

For example, he didn’t know he could split his apartment into smaller rental units. He also mistakenly believed that, since he wasn’t from an EU country, he wouldn’t qualify for a mortgage—so he paid for the entire property out of pocket.

But he remained optimistic. The Czech friend who found him the apartment assured him it was a real bargain. At first, that really did seem to be the case.

Sure, the apartment sat empty for two months before he found a tenant, but the friend who helped him with the purchase told him everything was fine. The tenant seemed responsible and had a steady job, so Eithan could relax.

But then things got complicated. The friend got a job outside Prague and could no longer handle ongoing matters related to the apartment.

Still, Eithan was impressed by the tenant and assumed he’d be able to handle any problems that might arise. He was also sure that his friend would step in if a real crisis occurred.

The Tale of the Burst Pipe

That assumption was put to the test shortly after, when a pipe burst, forcing the tenant to temporarily vacate the flooded apartment. To make matters worse, the downstairs neighbor demanded Eithan pay for the damage to his apartment—damage that Eithan only learned about two weeks later.

Weeks later, when the angry neighbor knocked on the tenant’s door, a frustrated Eithan received via WhatsApp a bloated damage report from the neighbor’s plumber.

He chalked it up to a “lesson learned.” But two weeks later, it happened again. Eithan couldn’t get in touch with the original plumber, so he called his friend, who referred him to a different one.

The second plumber claimed the entire piping system was faulty and needed to be replaced—naturally, at a substantial cost. Additionally, the apartment would have to be vacated for the duration of the repairs.

Eithan briefly considered using the crisis as an opportunity to do a full renovation, but the idea of managing everything remotely gave him pause. He barely had time to fly to Prague in the first place.

He paid and promised the tenant he could move back in once the repairs were completed. He even offered compensation for the time the tenant couldn’t live there during the work.

The repairs were completed and the apartment was reoccupied, allowing Eithan to return to his regular life. But due to the time difference between Israel and Prague, managing things wasn’t easy.

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, Eithan’s free time vanished. That might explain why it took him three months to notice he hadn’t received rent payments. When he contacted the tenant, it turned out they had misunderstood the compensation arrangement. On top of that, the tenant had lost his job due to the pandemic and assumed the deposit he had paid would cover most of the missed rent—and simply refused to pay.

Deposit? Eithan couldn’t find any documentation for one. And the friend who had promised to help stopped answering his calls. And of course, due to the pandemic, he couldn’t fly to Prague to handle the situation in person—which left him confused about his legal standing.

By the time Eithan contacted us, the tenant had already vacated the apartment (without paying full rent). After conducting a thorough inspection, we immediately began re-marketing the unit. At the same time, we took care of critical repairs that came up in our review. Within two weeks, we had a list of potential tenants, vetted them, and sent Eithan a signed lease agreement that included all deposit details.

Is This the End of the Story?

Nope. For us, it was just the beginning. We continue to manage Eithan’s apartment in Prague—month after month, day by day, hour by hour.

Since then, Eithan has purchased another apartment and a multi-unit building—both with low-interest mortgages we helped him secure from local banks.

Today, Eithan can truly relax. He has a steady, reliable passive investment that he and his children can benefit from, and a property management company that handles everything on his behalf—so he can finally rest easy.

Need help? Don’t start off like Eithan — talk to us.