Mortgage booms and Cyprus flys - great news for investors
Welcome to this edition of your PRO newsletter. A mixed bag this week, with great news for European investors and some proposed changes for UK investors to bear in mind, if not worry about! We've also got the latest forum updates, your Property Matters column, a new Question of Tax from our tax expert Colin Davison and the latest website, investment and events updates.
To jump to a section you want to read, click a link below:
This Week's Articles | On The Forums
Investment News | Website News | Event News
Property MattersA landlord's personal view on the market
Exclusive Property Secrets PRO members
Stealth Strategy"Shock! Horror! Shame! If anyone asked me if I had a recipe for success I'd say "stealth". But it's nothing to do with those sneaky taxes that gobble up our hard-earned profits or a sinister plot to destroy the state."
Click here to read more...
The mortgage market in Poland is, according to our research, roaring ahead and that is a sign of continued price growth. How will it affect the Polish property market in detail though? Read on - but a 70% growth in the mortgage market in one year!
Tony Booth, meanwhile, examines the Government's proposed plans for a new council tax scheme - and discovers some nasties of which we ALL need to be aware! Fancy your costs doubling? Read on to find out if they will...
David Lawrenson talks letting agents - and how they can be an invaluable ally in the battle against void periods! The key to this is letting agents. And what is it they will tell you? You can find out by reading the full article here.
Further afield, we have news of the first budget airline route to Cyprus! This should add a boost to the Cypriot property market and though it is early days, could lead to more budget airlines moving in. Read the full article here.
Finally, our Investment Broker Simon Blakebrough serves up another Blog, this time discussing 'Investment Dreamers'. I'll let Simon explain further:
"I opened a newspaper the other day and found it contained a pullout: 'Property Investment Overseas Special.' And, obviously, I had a glance through it.
"Actually, a glance was enough.
"That was all I needed to tell me that this was the usual rubbish that's not about hard-headed property investment at all. I call it dreaming about investment.
"It was a confused mess of 'dream holiday homes', in-fashion sun destinations and markets that are 'cheap', plus some vaguely argued idea that such and such a place is going to 'take off'.
"Now, I'm a property investment broker. I search out and negotiate property investment deals, and I can tell you this kind of stuff in the media - presenting property investment in a confused and misleading way really makes me quite wound up.
"Why? For two reasons, actually."
Want to know what those reasons are? Find out here...
A Question of TaxBy property tax expert Colin Davison
Exclusive Property Secrets PRO members
Limited company = Limited liability?"What's the simplest and most effective way of saving tax on your property investments - at least for most people?"
Click here to read more...
Property Secrets PRO members can read reaction from industry experts and experienced investors to many of our articles on the Property Secrets Discussion Forums.
Exclusive to PRO members, the Property Secrets Discussion Forums are a great place to chat with like-minded investors and get advice and opinion on property issues, including where to buy, what to buy, taxation, finance and property management.
Quite a few of our articles have stimulated interesting debate this week. Here's a selection:
Our first deal of the year, Residenz Constanta in Romania, has now closed and we're happy to say that we had a fantastic take up from investors. It proved a very popular development in a market at exactly the right point in which to invest. We will be looking at Constanta again over the next few months, I'm sure.
Our next opportunity, due to be launched shortly, is in Krakow, Poland. Krakow has already seen phenomenal growth and you now have to be very careful when choosing the location AND the development. We think we've found just the right opportunity - more information to come soon!
Quite a few changes to the website recently. First of all, due to popular demand, we have fully researched Albania, producing a Property Market Profile - which you, as a PRO member can download FREE - detailing all our findings and giving you all you need to know about the country as an investment opportunity and in broader terms.
You can download the Albania Property Market Profile from the Downloads page or from our newly created Albania Country page.
We've also added a clickable map to all the country pages, giving you much easier navigation and a way of clearly viewing where in Europe you are looking!
Finally, our unique, exclusive Market Sentimentometer now has pride of place on the homepage. We are currently showing the most active UK markets alongside Warsaw and Bucharest. Remember, these ROI v Risk assessments are created by all our members, so if you disagree with any, rate them yourself. All ratings are taken into account and the graph changes accordingly.
A quick reminder that we have further Investor Evenings planned for February 15th in Birmingham and March 2nd in London, the latter based around the Homebuyer's Show at ExCeL, which we will be attending.
We also have Evenings planned beyond this in various locations - more on this when we have concrete details.
Happy investing!
Cheers
Chief Executive Officer
Property Secrets
ES