real-estate property investment azerbaijan
Who owns the land when buying a house as a foreigner in Azerbaijan?
<p>I have searched a lot about buying properties in Azerbaijan and all sources say the following :</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Any foreigner has equal rights regarding buying a personal property in
Azerbaijan as local citizens. A foreigner can buy real estate
(immovable property) in Azerbaijan, with the exception of land. In
other words, if you a foreign citizen or stateless person, you can buy
a house, villa, apartment, commercial property and other property, but
not land. Therefore, if you are not planning to buy land as a
foreigner, you enjoy similar rights as local citizens.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What I don't understand is if foreigner is not allowed to buy land, who owns the land when he buys villa or house ?</p>
<p>If he does not own the land after buying the land, would he pay same price to buy and when he sell he would sell only house too ?</p>

<p>Someone else would own the land and lease it to the building owner (usually on a very long lease comparable to the useful life of the building).</p>
<p>This is common in the United States for tax reasons for high rise commercial buildings. In these arrangements, it is often a non-profit looking for a favorable investment (businesses in the U.S. don't want to own land because the purchase price can't be deducted as a depreciable expense).</p>
<p>Parts of Mexico has the same law for the same reasons as Azerbaijan does, to prevent foreigners from having permanent ownership of land in the country.</p>
<p>Anecdote: the house I grew up in, in Ohio, was owned in this fashion, with a long lease to a local university since the university couldn't sell the land because it was a land grant, until curative legislation came along when I was in high school that allowed long term leases to be converted to ownership for a nominal fee.</p>
