Flexible Property Investment?

If the idea of owning a luxury asset to use occasionally appeals or if your budget does not stretch the whole way, fractional ownership may be for you. For a fraction of the price of the whole, you can own part of the asset. For many, this investment vehicle offers the gateway to investment in luxury (including property investment), allowing those without seven-figure bank balances to enjoy high-end assets.

Flexible freehold ownership, also known as fractional or collective ownership, has been a popular concept in the US for many years because it offers an innovative alternative to investors. Not surprisingly, the idea is fast catching on in the rest of world.

Flexible or fractional ownership involves buying part of an asset (usually luxury) – for example, property, private jets and cruisers, racehorses or even a vineyard – for a small part of the cost of the whole asset. Investors purchase a part and can sell, donate or bequest this at any time. Since investors are direct owners of the asset, they also benefit from increases in the value of the asset should they decide to sell it.

Although fractional ownership is sometimes confused with timeshare, it is radically different. Investors in flexible ownership directly own a part of the asset. Participants in a timeshare scheme do not own any part of the asset – just the right to use it at an allocated time – nor do they benefit from any increase in the asset’s value. Timeshare is a cost, not an asset.

Another fundamental difference between timeshare and fractional ownership is that no financing options are available for timeshare. On the other hand, many banks and financial entities will provide loans for purchases of fractional ownership. Since fractional ownership is an asset owned for perpetuity and is ‘sellable, giveable and willable’, it is no different from outright ownership.NUBRICKS

Top Tips For Overseas Property Investment

Its All Been Said Before But Its Worth Reiterating

1.Do as much research as possible. If you Google 'Bulgaria property as an emerging market' you will find many positives sites - if you google 'collapse of Bulgarian property market' you will find just the same number.The truth will be different for different areas of Bulgaria and for different types of property. Read ALL of the bumph for the full view.
2. Do your own searches before you contact anyone, so that you know and agree what you want. There is no need to get involved in the inspection flight and hard sell route if you can spend a few free hours on the internet, and then in correspondance with the broker.
3.Off plan can provide a good investment but ensure you know what you are buying, the sq footage and style.
4. Buy a property you like, where you will want to visit often and that you wont mind funding in the leaner letting periods.
5. Try to search just beyond the already popular and top tourist areas. If you are looking at this as an investment property you need to get in at the start of an up and coming area, where you have an expectation of price increase in the future.
6. Buy a property in a place that is popular with locals as well as tourists, to ensure the widest audience for resale.
7. What are the local amenities? If you are going to let the property other holiday makers may not appreciate the solitary house at the top of the mountain you fell in love with.
8. Where is the nearest airport. Do the budget airlines fly there? Weigh it up.If it costs £1000 to plus jabs and malria tablets, you will have fewer enquiries but you may be charging more rent on a cheaper purchase.
9.View the property and surrounding areas out of season. Have you been to Barmouth in January? DO you know what the rainy season looks like?
10.Check planning laws before looking and especially before putting in an offer. It is pointless having the vision if you will not be able to make alterations.
11. Check the inheritance laws of the country where you are buying eg in France your property will pass straight to your children not your spouse.Invest in that extra will.
12. Always take independent advice.
13. Try to learn some of the language of the country you are moving to. It can make acceptance and all areas of life much simpler.

Property Investment Forums

Forums are a brilliant tool to assess the mood on any subject. They answer questions, offer advice and inform. However, recently in the property forum world some contributers are finding empathy difficult to source, with all the bile being thrown.

House and the economy forums are full of 'I told you so' posts, all topped off with glee at the predicament of anyone who has 'lost' on the value of their house or home. And God help you if you are a property developer,or TV location personality with particular venom being reserved for the celebrity property developer.They are only one down from Estate Agents.

There is a sense that the wages they are paid were not really 'earned' in the first place, and then "How dare they try to get a return on their investments through dabbling in property development/charging others for sticking an advert in a paper or putting a board up outside our house "

While Anthea Turner and Simon Cowell would never be my choice of friend or business partner I will defend their right to invest and lose their cash wherever they want. I will even defend their right to invest in numbers of off plan resort developments. Where else would you have them invest? Property is easy to understand. You can buy, sell, live in or let, and not so long ago, one could expect that the actual sale value of the property would go up year on year: there has been little indication from Government, mortgage and financial advisors or the banks that things would change dramatically, and the scale the crisis is still surprising some commentators- Not so for the property forum know all of course.

Such contributors to forums take delight in the misfortune of others . They combine their boasts of insider knowledge and foretelling of the economic crisis with gloating about how much they will save or make through the downfall of others. They manage to overlook the fact that they are simply trying to beat the market, just as everyone else is. And you dont have to be a celebrity to have most of your assets wrapped up in property.For most of us, the bricks and mortar we own after 25 years is actually our home.

They offer no solutions either.They scoff and sneer at anyone trying to offer any upbeat view. Those of us who are caught up in redundancy, negative equity and debt do not need a smug telling off. Confidence is the only solution and if we need a bright side to look on here it is for the majority of us; if you have not lost your job, are not planning to sell your home, your buy to let, your golf resort apartment in Dubai or even your Barbados villa, you have not really lost anything yet. If you have a buy to let the chances are the mortgage interest is so low you can cope with the longer vacancies and lower rents caused by the glut of rental property. Its all happened before and there will never be an end to boom and bust. But it would be good if we could get through it without the glee at other peoples misfortune.

Investment Property For Sale

Tunisia – Dubai of the Mediterranean?

Tunisia does not trip off the tongue for overseas property investment and is currently mightily overshadowed by near neighbours Morocco and Egypt in the property press, however with the presence of major Middle East property investors, mainly from Dubai and other UAE nations, the country is set to make a big impact. Property prices are low, even as low as Morocco was five years ago, and the country feels exotic yet European, affordable yet upper-class and will appeal to a broad spectrum of end users. The bonus is that unlike some far-flung destinations, a property in Tunisia is both a future income generator as well as being close enough to actually hop on a plane and enjoy the wonderful beaches and culture,

North Africa’s smallest nation, Tunisia, has a Mediterranean-facing coastline and lies directly south of Italy’s Sardinia tucked between Algeria on the west and Libya to the east. Thanks to a sharp right-angle turn on its shoreline, Tunisia has 1,400km of coastline and it is this asset, together with its strategic location, which has propelled the nation on to the global stage and attracted considerable foreign investment, particularly from the Middle East.

A colourful hotchpotch of architecture from Roman ruins to nineteenth century French colonial boulevards and a patchwork of landscapes from cork oak forests through to olive groves, vineyards and mile-upon-mile of undulating Sahara desert, Tunisia more than makes up for its size in terms of diversity. The sandy beaches front an impressive infrastructure of luxurious hotels, modern international airports, chic boutiques and jet-set marinas whilst the barren south has long-been the chosen setting for blockbusting films including Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Monty Python’s Life of Brian and Minghella’s The English Patient.

Life in Tunisia is very relaxed, tolerant and open. Women’s rights are better catered to than anywhere else in the Arabic world allowing western-style clothing, participation in sport and no barriers to taking part in business or Government at a senior level. Alcohol is freely available and widely drunk by locals and tourists alike.

As tourism becomes more important, leisure facilities are springing up at a significant rate, particularly around the honeypot resorts of Hammamet and Monastir, and Tunisia now boasts six golf courses, two of which have 27-holes, international diving centres and plenty of yachting clubs. Two significant projects currently underway, Mediterranean Gate ‘Century’ City and Tunis Sports City, both funded by Dubai investment at 25 billion USD and 5 billion USD respectively, will bring further golf courses and marinas, world-class sporting academies, Olympic grade facilities, business and leisure hubs as well as thousands of residential units and hotel beds.

While buying a property in Tunisia may not be the obvious choice, expect nothing short of positive global headlines and economic fortune from Tunisia over the coming years, and your investment will be rewarded in spades.

Slovakia Property

The Slovakian Property Market is just beginning to take off again as it follows the pattern of the Czech Republic and enters its second phase of rapid growth.

This new growth is taking place against a back drop of huge economic growth built on a sustainable basis with strong exports.

As the Slovakia Property market matures this strong export base will ensure it can balance the economy as consumer spending takes off and drives property prices further ahead.
Of the Eastern block European Union countries, only Slovakia is due to join in the near future (January 2009) and with its economy generally in good shape, there is little risk of it not joining.

Along with their economic expansion, the Slovakian property market has also seen substantial growth. Slovakia is a good opportunity for overseas property investors, with low rental income tax and no capitals gain tax on long-term property holdings. Slovakia is one of Europe’s most attractive real estate investment propositions.

1 Bed apartment,Karpatska, Bratislava, Slovakia, Price: € 256,550 Bratislava District I, Old Town
Slovakia EXTRAS Bratislava district I, Old Town Windows, duplex anti – noise windows - external plastic windows frames Doors, safety antifire entrance doors - wooden inside doors with cap board Walls
Floors, there are floating wooden floors,tiled floors in hall, bathroom, toilet and kitchen Kitchen,complete kitchen unit with built-in white goods: ceramic hob and oven, fridge with freezer, dishwasher, washing machine and microwave oven
Bathroom, bath, wash-basin - mirror, box
Heating,digitally operated air-conditioning Electrical installation,TV and internet connection,switches, plugs,connector for telephone,video door-keeper.

Current Financial News for Investors in Polish Property

The polish bank BZWBK (part owned by AIB) produce a monthly news letter on the polish econmy and financial markets. This is interesting reading for Polish Property investors. It is a free service. Log on to the BZWBK website,
http: / /english .bzwbk .pl , click on Economic service on Left hand side and download monthly MACROscope

Chose the right time to purchase, but dont leave it too long!

Demand for flats still remains subdued as potential clients are
postponing purchases, hoping for a deeper price correction.
However, it is likely that delayed demand is likely to show up
eventually, and thus a scope for price drop is limited. Especially
that rents in big cities have been growing, which implies that
delaying house purchase is getting increasingly costly.

Miasteczko Wilanów Warsaw

A residential development of over 8.000 units,
A commercial zone of approx. 80.000 sqm, including:
supermarket (9.900 sqm)
do-it-yourself facility (9.000 sqm)
200 retail stores
restaurants (3.700 sqm)
leisure (8.250 sqm)
Offices and others zone:
A 50.000 sqm technology park
Other business developments are being negotiated.

Public areas and parks will constitute 50% of the project.
Wilanów is one of the 18 districts that compose the administrative distribution of the city of Warsaw.
Wilanów is located in the south-east corner of Warsaw.
Warsaw is perceived as a garden-city, with wide variety of open green spaces (Natoliñski Park, Kabacki Forest and large areas next to Vistula River).
Warsaw is famous for the Palace of the King Jan III Sobieski.
Favoured area for embassies and diplomatic institutions.
Excellent communications withWarsaw city centre, the City airport, the subway and other districts such as Ursynów and Mokotów.

Over 1900 flats;

Buildings maximum height: ground floor plus 4 storeys;

Medium-high standard build quality;

Garages, commercial space and parking areas on ground;

Anticipated completion date for the Warsaw Project is 2010.

3 Bedroom Apartments,110sqm Ostoja Wilanow Poland, Warsaw.Price: € 221,000

Profitable Overseas Property Investments

How do you make real money? Most investors answer that if you put your money into brilliant companies, brilliant sectors and brilliant countries, then hang on, you’ll end up rich। We disagree. When something is that good, most people know about it already and your purchasing price is going to reflect that, which will limit your returns even if things go as well as the market expects. The key to wealth is to make investments “where outcome exceeds consensus expectations”. If the consensus is that something is a basketcase and it turns out instead to be merely mildly mad, or even a recovery candidate, “it’s a sure-fire way to garner riches”. The more widespread the pessimism about an asset class, the more the odds are stacked in favour of “the early and the brave”.Britons looking to expand their portfolios in emerging overseas property markets have been advised that they could face lower returns if they wait and follow the crowd.Off Plan International has said that individual investors face being crowded out of the market if they wait just one or two years after a market has become more well-known.However, the firm acknowledged that it was usually better to look at the capital city of a country, adding that press coverage and word of mouth encouraged investors to move to particular places."My advice for people if they are looking to invest in small value, one or two properties, is to look at capital cities within a country. They are more expensive than other parts of the country but you are not going to lose," noted an Off Plan International spokesperson."If you are a smaller investor, in a place that's been a hot spot for a year or two, you need to be careful where you invest.

Emerging Markets; get in at the beginning

Investment Property Sales in Emerging Markets

As an investment asset, overseas property is as popular as ever. If you are looking to invest in property for the future contact us for up-to-date market information. Finding suitable 'buy to let' property, holiday or retirement home or development opportunities in emerging property markets requires a service that recognises the need for attention to detail. Planning with your tax and investment advisers is a service which we will add value to your property decisions.

How do you make real money? Most investors answer that if you put your money into brilliant companies, brilliant sectors and brilliant countries, then hang on, you’ll end up rich. We disagree. When something is that good, most people know about it already and your purchasing price is going to reflect that, which will limit your returns even if things go as well as the market expects.

The key to wealth is to make investments “where outcome exceeds consensus expectations”. If the consensus is that something is a basketcase and it turns out instead to be merely mildly mad, or even a recovery candidate, “it’s a sure-fire way to garner riches”. The more widespread the pessimism about an asset class, the more the odds are stacked in favour of “the early and the brave”.

Britons looking to expand their portfolios in emerging overseas property markets have been advised that they could face lower returns if they wait and follow the crowd.

Off Plan International has said that individual investors face being crowded out of the market if they wait just one or two years after a market has become more well-known.

However, the firm acknowledged that it was usually better to look at the capital city of a country, adding that press coverage and word of mouth encouraged investors to move to particular places.

"My advice for people if they are looking to invest in small value, one or two properties, is to look at capital cities within a country. They are more expensive than other parts of the country but you are not going to lose," noted an Off Plan International spokesperson.

"If you are a smaller investor, in a place that's been a hot spot for a year or two, you need to be careful where you invest.

"In areas where there is a lot of investment going off, where there is a great choice of properties, it may not be the best place for an individual," the spokesperson concluded.

For foreign property investors or those resident outside the UK, we also provide special guidance on tax and management of property investments in the UK.

Time for investment is now whilst these markets are still not on the lips of every investor.
These emerging markets offer a one off opportunity to benefit from low prices that are set to rise as the interest and demand increases.

Investment Property Sales: Emerging, Overseas & Foreign Property Investments

Why Invest in Overseas Property?

Property investors are still choosing to invest their money in property abroad over the stock market for a number of reasons:

A property abroad provides investors with a tangible asset
Property investments provide better capital growth returns on both long term and short term investments
Historically, the property markets are less volatile than the stock market
Investors in property have more control over their investments than they would investing in the stock market
Properly structured rental returns usually cover the day-to-day property costs and can provide pension incomes

The best strategies for maximum returns on investment.

Identify high quality overseas property investments within criteria
Purchase the best investment properties abroad at minimum cost
Add value to create immediate capital growth through refurbishments or comprehensive modernisation of foreign property investments
Maximise investment property rental cash flow
Chose the optimum time to sell to achieve maximum return on the foreign property investment
Build a well balanced portfolio of international property investments
Provide first class presentation to the local property rental market via websites, through press advertising, magazine and property brochures and direct contact with international relocation and corporate accommodation agencies.

Overseas Property Developers

Property Marketing & Sales

At any given time, three general factors affect the sale of an overseas property:

The economic market conditions
The location of the property
The market competition - other property like yours competing for the same buyers

These three factors are in a constant state of flux. Interest rates rise and fall, neighbourhoods gain or lose desirability, and as properties are placed on the market, the pool of active buyers changes. No-one can control these factors and wait until all the conditions are perfect. However, they can be maximised to a seller's advantage.

When selling your properties we can offer you an advantage:
A targeted viewer
A captive audience
An opportunity to make multiple impressions
Preparation for market

Sellers' information packs: By ensuring that the legal issues are dealt with at the earliest stages we can help you avoid delay and expense later in the transaction.Our service ensures that all relevant due dilligence documentation is gathered in readiness for the eventual sale so as to meet the latest relevant legal requirements.
Valuations: In order to avoid the risks of undervaluing or overvaluing the property it is vital to have the views and expertise of property experts who can advise on local and national economic conditions and trends, as well as take account of special factors.
Property Marketing: We prepare a detailed set of particulars with measurements and select the best buyers for your property. Our expertise will ensure that the property is shown to the market in a way that attracts the right buyer prepared to agree to the terms you want
Property viewings & Negotiations: The assessment of suitable buyers for your property is the service of most value to those not used to selling property. We make the enquiries and checks that are vital to making a deal happen. By establishing relationships with potential buyers we are able to recommend those who may be able to meet your needs and to save time and cost which can be lost through abortive and fruitless negotiations.
Contracts & Exchange: Through the provision of the information pack much of the initial delay can be avoided and our ProgressTracker service means you can keep up to date on the progress of all related matters such as finance and chain related transact

Get the Right Advice

Who should own the property?

Getting this question of ownership wrong is probably both the most common and the most expensive mistake people make when buying property overseas. There are many people who could be made the legal owner of the property or, as the case may be, the shareholders in the company that owns the property. The best choice is, often, not obvious.

Getting this wrong can cost you tens of thousands of pounds/euro/dollars of totally unnecessary taxes, during your lifetime and on your death.Most local lawyers will be unable to help you make this decision as it involves an understanding of both the local AND your own legal, tax and inheritance systems.Investmment Property Sales can help with all of these issues.

What are the options?

There are many ways to purchase a foreign property as an investment. These include:

in your own name alone
in your name and in the name of your co-purchaser(s)
wholly or partly in your children's
names or in the name of somebody
whom you would like (eventually!) to inherit the property from you
in the name of a limited company,
whether English, 'local' or "off-shore"
via your SIPP/SSAS pension fund
via an investment fund (REIT, PUT etc)
via an investment club
via a trust