photo credit: egarc2

The UK Government is planning to provide free legal advice for those at risk of repossession and foreclosure, and specialist training for debt agencies.

Here fishy fishy

Is this a joke? Can you imagine – you’re at your wits end with worry about losing your home and possessions because you can’t keep up with your mortgage, and the government has come up with some free advice. Specialist training for debt agencies is like teaching sharks to smile before they bite you.

Foreclosure is big business

Property repossession and foreclosure is big business, you wouldn’t think so, but it is. There is loads of money to be made repossessing homes. The guys who operate it will dispose of your possessions for less than they are worth, pay themselves a healthy commission then p*ss off.

It’s just like mugging old ladies in the street, except this is legal. If your down on your luck and struggling to make ends meet, be especially careful who you talk to and what you agree to. Ask yourself a question: Why do these people want to help? Who pays for their services? The answer is – you do!

Investment Opportunities

If you are a property investor on the look out for great investment opportunities, you could make a fortune from somebody else’s bad luck, don’t waste your time browsing round the local estate agents. Go straight to the scene of the accident and make friends with your local insolvency practitioner. Look – that’s him there in Accident and Emergency.

Technorati Tags: repossession, foreclosure, real estate, realestate, investment opportunities, property investment, mortgage, finance

photo credit: -Marlith-

There is a new trend within the UK which is gathering momentum. Property investors, who previously invested in buy-to-let, typically investing in city based apartments, are turning towards an investment opportunity learnt from our friend in the States.

In the US and other locations across the world it is quite common to invest in condominium apartments which are fully managed, maintained and promoted under a brand name that the public recognize. They cater for short to medium term stays of between a day to a week or more and so achieve high occupancy levels compared to that of an apartment let on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement (AST).

Availability, Accessability, Convenience

Aparthotels provide a level of availability, accessibility and convenience that regular rentals simply cannot match. Typically big cities attract a large transient work force who arrive on a Monday and leave on Friday to return to homes and families. Many employees work on a temporary contract basis or secondment that may be of an indeterminate length. This makes it difficult for them to commit to a six month rental contract as their situation can change with a few days notice.

Step forward the aparthotel which offers benefits to both the investor and the occupier as the space offered is more generous than just a hotel room, and the services are more in tune with clients needs.

Property investment within an aparthotel has many benefits for the investor, as the management, maintenance and marketing aspects are taken care of.

Does Your Property Investment Stand Alone?

Negative aspects of this type of investment need to be considered before you go ahead and invest, such as – if the hotel management company goes bust, what happened to your investment? Also: Does your investment stand on its own as a discreet unit in the same way that a regular apartment does?

More Info…

If you are interested in this type of property investment here are a couple of sources of further information:

Guest Invest – Hotel Investment Opportunities
Telegraph - Room Service Offers More Tahn Just a Smile

Technorati Tags: real estate, realestate, property investment, investment opportunities, business, finance

photo credit: smellykneeA real estate development moments away from Disney World in Orlando of luxury apartments, is particularly tempting to British property investors because of the continuing strength of the Pound against the Dollar.

Rental Yield of Almost 7%

Currency fluctuations aside the yield on these new homes for sale is almost 7% which is definitely not to be sneezed at. The developer sites an example of a two bedroom condo with a price tag of $360,000 with an anticipated rental return of $25,000 and a three bedroom condo priced at $390,000 with a rental return of $27,000 per annum.

A Property Investment You Can Use

If you’re looking for a property investment that you can use yourself for family holidays, this might be just the ticket as the scheme offers two weeks per year in low season. For further details visit the Feltrim Developments website.

Do Your Research

If you are interested give them a call and get all the information, then do your research to see what else is on offer in the area. If you like what you see – make them an offer – a good piece of negotiation now could save you a fortune. Remeber the US economy hasn’t been too clever recently so there may be bargains to be had. It’s got to be worth a punt.

Technorati Tags: florida, real estate, new homes for sale, property investment, investment opportunities

photo credit: eNil

If you’re hoping for a major drop in the price of property abroad, you could be in for a long wait. That’s the claim made by one overseas property expert, who believes that UK buyers have high expectations that property prices in foreign climes will fall, but are going to be disappointed when they don’t.

“The current credit crunch is giving the UK buying public expectations of dramatic price reductions, but this is a misconception with the overseas high end market,” said Serge Cowan, managing director of Unique Living.

“The world is a big place, the UK market - although important - is not essential, so buyers holding back or expecting major price falls in overseas property hot spots (marketing at £500,000 or above) are going to be disappointed.”

Instead of pinning your hopes on unrealistic aims, Serge suggests that buyers would be wise to look to regions where growth is still strong. “Even though they may lose on the conversion, they gain on the capital growth,” he explains.

One region he highlights as being a good example of an area where there are prices for all budgets, plus steady capital growth and good possibilities for renting is the French Riviera. The Cannes Film Festival and the Monte Carlo Grand Prix alone bring a multitude of wealthy people desperate for accommodation.”

Technorati Tags: real estate, real-estate, real estate news, off plan property, off plan, property investment, real estate investment, overseas property

photo credit: ceonyc

Today the BBC is running a story about a mortgage broker called Isah Attayi who has been banned by the Financial Service Authority (FSA) for trying to fraudulently obtain mortgages for both himself and his clients by exaggerating his income.

In February, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) warned of the scope for fraud by unscrupulous professionals in the property industry who tried to cash in on the demand for newly built city-centre flats.

As a property investor this is something that you at the very least need to be aware of. You will probably be in contact with a number or mortgage brokers that you use on a regular basis. Mortgage brokers tend to be like the sea, which comes in and goes out with the tide. This means that they all are good on their day – then their not so good, then they are good again.

Mortgage rates and deals change all the time. Suddenly one broker has a product from a lender that can’t be got elsewhere – because it’s exclusive. That’s why serious property investors use a bunch of brokers.

So why do you need to be careful? Many brokers fill out the forms for the applicant. If you’re a big investor this is a service you will insist on, otherwise you might as well apply for the mortgage yourself, after all – who wants to spend their life filling out forms? So you need to be absolutely sure that the information they fill out about you is exactly right and consistent. People make mistakes, they forget, they don’t understand.

Imagine for a second that you send the office junior out to get sandwiches and your only instruction is ‘get me anything but nothing that contains nuts’. The chances are you’ll be the one with the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Technorati Tags: mortgage, mortgage finance, mortgage fraud, business, real estate

photo credit: Chrispitality

I read this article today in the Telegraph about how the top end of the new homes for sale property market is alive and kicking. Apparently its revival is only paralleled by the top end ‘Super House’ buying that last occurred in the 60’s.

So why is this? When the man in the street is feeling the pinch, the super wealthy are out spending money like it’s going out of fashion. I suppose the keyword is credit. Most of us use credit in some form or other for everything from buying the groceries to holidays.

This means that the moment interest rates change, 99% of us are affected, and if the interest rate moves north – we all have to tighten our belts. This doesn’t apply to the super wealthy – because they don’t live on credit – which is probably a lesson to us all.

It’s a lesson that it’s taken me a long while to learn, but I think I’ve got it now. The ease with which we obtain credit makes us by things that we would never buy if we had to pay with cash that we saved.

As property investors we need to be much more thrifty and careful with our money. It’s a valuable lesson that we can learn from the Asian Community who don’t generally waste money the way the rest of us do.

When I look back at the money I’ve wasted over the years on credit and credit cards, I could retire. My advice – a) stop wasting money on things you can’t afford, b) use the credit crunch as a massive lesson that will make us all change our behavior and c) save your money – then buy a big house for cash. Then you’ll be credit crunch proof.

Quite how that all fits in with OPM – Other Peoples Money – I’m not sure as when it comes to a credit crunch it appears that it’s best to use your own.

Technorati Tags: UK property, UK real estate, real estate, real-estate, homes, new homes for sale

Imagine the luxury and style of a villa, combined with the convenience and proximity of an apartment! This is what Gera Developments are promising with the launch of GreensVille Sky Villas during early 2007. With around 400 of these properties already sold and some 250 remaining, you still have a chance to invest in one of these luxury apartment-villas in Pune.

The idea of combining a villa with an apartment emerged from the feedback Gera Developments received from their customers of what differentiates a villa from an apartment. Comments like ‘villas have sloping roofs and backyards’ and ‘a white picket fence’ were put into place in their new apartment’s design.

Sky Villa’s unique features for luxury living

Each villa has a backyard with a picket fence and an entrance with a slopping roof. A double height ceiling was one of the features the customers liked in a villa for a palatial look and this too was added. So, was a servant room outside, one bedroom downstairs and more.

GreensVille Sky Villas project will offer a total of about 650 Sky Villas in nine towers spread over a total residential space of 1.7 million sq. ft. Each apartment-villa will have an area of 2300 - 3600 sq. ft. space and 3-4 bedrooms. The cost per sq.ft is priced at INR 3,250 ($81). Hence, the total cost of these villa-apartments ranges between INR 75,00,000 ($1,87,500) and INR 1,17,00,000 ($292,500).

The Sky Villas project includes amenities including a lounge, party area, table-tennis tables and pool tables. It also offers a children’s playground, security control room with intercom, separate parking space for visitors, generator back-up for common areas, a walking track, landscaped pathways, entrance lobbies and motion sensor lights in the passageways.

Basement parking, elevators and floor-rise are added advantages to suit the apartment feel of the project. Over-sized windows, the builders, highlight as a unique give-away.

This Greensville Sky Villas project is also environment friendly, incorporating features such as a water treatment plant, drip irrigation system, solar water heating system for kitchens and use of compact fluorescent lamps in common areas to reduce power consumption.

5-year-warranty giving villa-apartment project

Gera is giving a 5 year-warranty on all of their projects, including GreensVille Sky Villas.Notably - the Indian real estate developer to do so.

The total value of this project, which will also incorporate a country club and a hotel is estimated at US$ 125 Million and it is being undertaken in collaboration with Citigroup Property Investors.

Easy access to GreensVille Sky Villas

Located at Kharadi, the plot is easily accessible from Koregaon Park, Pune-Nagar Road and Hadapsar-Mundhwa bypass road, with easy access to shopping locales, educational institutions, hospitals, Pune Airport and the railway station.

Most definitely an original concept, Gera’s Sky Villas could be the right project if you are looking for a balanced combination of convenience and luxury.

Technorati Tags: India property, India real estate, real estate, real-estate, off plan property, off plan, property investment, real estate investment, overseas property

In case you didn’t know it – Inside Track, a giant of buy-to-let in the UK has gone bust. To be precise: Inside Track’s administrators, have said that only Inside Track Seminars Ltd are in administration and no other companies within the Inside Access Properties structure were affected.

Inside Track made the statement that: ‘Due to the continuing sustained difficulties arising from the credit crunch Inside Track has been placed into administration.’ The firm announced it was cancelling its forthcoming property seminars in March.

Inside Track lured wannabe property investors to them by giving away free seminars and then using hard sell techniques to flog weekend courses for £2,500 plus, where the secrets of property investment were revealed. Ho bloody ho!

The sad truth is that Inside Track played on the minds of those gullible enough to believe their hype. An acquaintance of mine fell for their sales pitch when they buttered him up by flattering his intellect, then relieving him of serious Wonga, because he was a Doctor. I don’t want to appear clever after the fact here; as the truth is that we are all capable of buying a dream with hopes of a better life and untold wealth. Give me a show of hands – who here doesn’t want to be a millionaire?

I know that a lot of property investors have been badly burnt by Inside Track, and most will be new to property investment. Hopefully they will learn from their mistakes, because, to put it frankly, it was their fault that they were taken in.

The real secret of property investment is – there is no secret of property investment. It’s simple, do your research, then make a purchase based on what you know. Nobody can see into the future, so you have to act on what you know. It’s vital that you take a good look before you leap. And while you’re at it, do some thinking too!

Off Plan Property Exchange lists new homes, houses and property investment for sale worldwide so that buyers and sellers can contact each other directly. Do your research and find your own investment opportunities.

Technorati Tags: Inside Track, UK property, UK real estate, buy-to-let, real estate, real-estate, real estate news, off plan property, off plan, property investment, real estate investment

photo credit: p e e p e r

The Nakheel Waterfront project is billed as the largest waterfront development in the world. This ambitious plan to transform 1.4 billion square feet of desert into a home for 1.5 million people is a centerpiece of the Dubai property development phenomenon.

Veneto - upscale real estate investment opportunity

This month Nakheel launched a high-end residential development called Veneto, a community which the developer has billed as one of the most prestigious addresses in Dubai, supposedly rivalling elite residential enclaves throughout the world. Veneto is a master-planned community of villas and low-rise townhouses outside of the urban center of the development, Waterfront City. It is comprised of 1400 villas and townhouses and 1200 low rise apartments. The new development is expected to attract a population of 14,000 people.

A selling point of the Veneto development is that it is a true “waterfront” community with no residence being located more than two kilometers from the coastline. It is touted as an “ultra-chic” development with large open spaces complementing the luxurious homes. Another unique quality of the project will be the development of villas in close proximity to the Waterfront City urban center.

The project boasts of the amenities being created around the development, including “mosques, community centres, nurseries, schools, community pools and health care facilities” as well as “landscaped parks and waterways”. 92 of the properties will have their own private canal-side marina berths.

Nakheel floods Palm Grove Canal - can this really be that environmentally friendly?

In a related story, Nakheel has commenced the flooding of the Palm Grove Canal, one of four waterways which will be created at Waterfront. The waterway will form an island resembling Manhattan in shape, and will be linked to the Gulf at two points. The canal will run along the new Veneto development and will provide the marina berths mentioned above. A detailed map of the waterfront is available on the Nakheel website.

The public relations accompanying the development of the waterfront takes great care to emphasize the pains that are being taken to assure that this development will be performed in an environmentally friendly manner. There is a natural off-shore reef system that could be impacted by this level of waterfront development. Still, it is not clear to me how green a footprint a project with this level of dredging and filling can have even under the best of circumstances. There is an odd lack of real discussion of this issue in the media accounts of the waterfront project, with most articles simply praising in unison the efforts the developers are making to reduce the project’s environmental impact. A more objective evaluation of this issue seems warranted but it is not likely to come from the Dubai news media. Nakheel is essentially a government-owned developer in a nation where the press, while improving, clearly isn’t entirely free from government interference.

Dubai real estate investment- reduced risk, potential high rewards

Dubai seems awash with property investment opportunities, and the new legal protections for investors commented upon in this blog should positively impact the downside of investing in Dubai real estate-investment safety. This week the Wall Street Journal ran an article regarding the “scandals” in Dubai real estate development, including the Damac Palm Springs case. Even a cautionary article such as this one can be read as containing words of encouragement for real estate investors. Take note of this: according to the Journal, Damac investors paid $225 per square foot in 2003 for real estate that may now be worth as much as $893 per square foot. That’s a fabulous return on investment, if the Palm Springs story has a happy ending, as it yet may.

Technorati Tags: Dubai property, Dubai real estate, Nakheel, Nakheel Waterfront, real estate, real-estate, real estate news, off plan property, off plan, property investment, real estate investment, overseas property

New York City relatively unaffected by the US housing meltdown

photo credit: WTL photos

The sub prime issue and the looming recession are continuing to ravage the real estate market all over the US. This fact has been indicated yet again in a new report released by the US government in April which states that new home sales fell in March 2008 to their lowest level in more than 16 years. The report states that the median price of a new home sold in March was $227,600 which reflects a drop of 13.3% from the same period for 2007. The last time that the median new home price fell this sharply was in July 1970 when it fell 14.6%.

However, New York City seems to be bucking this trend. According to another report released by The Real Estate Board of New York this week, the real estate market in New York City is still going great guns and the average sale price of a New York City home has in fact jumped 28% to $853000 in the first quarter of this year as compared to $669,000 in the first quarter of 2007. This increase has been attributed to the rising sales in Manhattan apartments, both condos and cooperatives, where the average price has climbed 41% to a record $1.6 million compared with $1.1.million in the first quarter of the previous year.

Stephen Spinola, the President of the Real Estate Board of New York went on to add that the sales in the several new luxury condo developments was adding to this price increase as well as it was feeding the pent up demand for housing in a city which has limited space and which has just recently witnessed the construction of many new condos. Moreover many of these condo developments are high end developments which target the wealthy, who are relatively unaffected by the slowing economy. He also stated that the real estate market in New York City was also being further buoyed by foreign investors who currently find the market extremely appealing due to the favorable exchange rate caused by the rapidly weakening American dollar.

Number of foreign real estate investors in New York City growing in leaps and bounds

Pam Liebman, CEO and Vice President, of the real estate firm, the Corcoran Group confirms that Europeans currently make up 30% of all buyers in certain areas of New York City like Midtown West and the financial district where many of the new condo developments are currently being built. She adds that these European buyers are a welcome addition to the city’s legendary diversity and glamour.

While native New Yorkers worry about the slowing economy and their dwindling 2008 bonuses, Europeans who are coming to New York City in droves on week-end shopping sprees, are now adding a new apartment to their shopping lists, which previously included more mundane products like premium jeans and Apple ipods.

Radar Logic, the data and analytics business that analyzes residential real estate in major US metropolitan areas like New York City, states that the number of foreign investors participating in the New York real estate market has doubled in the last two years.

A large number of these foreign buyers are from France, Italy and Britain and they are eager to invest their Pounds and Euros in Manhattan’s real estate market. This investment has been further facilitated by the spate of new condo construction taking place in New York City currently.

New condo construction has facilitated this buying spree as well

Brokers from New York City’s leading real estate firms like Halstead property, Coldwell Banker Hunt and, Brown Harris Stevens say that without these foreign buyers it would be difficult to sell these new condo developments which are now regularly coming up for sale on the market. Condo sales have risen dramatically in Manhattan and have shown an increase of 22% from 2005 to 2006 and 66% from 2006 to 2007 according to a report on Radar Logic.

Five years ago the scenario was very different as foreign buyers were unable to buy into New York City’s real estate market which was until then largely dominated by cooperatives whose boards have been traditionally averse to foreign buyers. These European buyers who seem to be snapping up these new condo developments are thus protecting the real estate market in New York City from the housing slowdown currently being witnessed in other parts of the US.

Foreign buyers prefer new condo developments

In addition, foreign buyers seem to favor new condo developments for their many amenities and their flexible rules which allow these units in these developments to be easily rented out so that they give returns immediately (unlike cooperatives that don’t allow their units to be rented out). The foreign buyers have until now have tended to concentrate on the new condo developments located in Manhattan only even if they were not located in traditional ‘residential’ areas. However, now these buyers are even venturing out to the outer boroughs of New York City like Brooklyn and Queens.

Foreign buyers close the deal fast

New York City’s Realtors welcome these foreign buyers, who tend not to spend too much time on making up their minds and are likely to close the deal fast, as they seem to treat an investment in a New York City property akin to an investment in a stock or a bond.

The weak dollar has thus created a win-win situation for all concerned, for the European buyer, it presents an opportunity to pick up an investment property in the greatest city of the world at a discounted price, and for the developers and realtors in New York City, it has given them a ready market for their constantly increasing stock of new condo developments.

Technorati Tags: New York property, New York real estate, US property, US real estate, real estate, real-estate, real estate news, off plan property, off plan, property investment, real estate investment, overseas property