Poland's first third tier city emerges...and Simon Says...
Welcome to this edition of your PRO newsletter. We have a much greater focus on the UK after last week's more European-centric newsletter, but that's not to say we're ignoring the CEE. David Lawrenson, Tony Booth and Chris Browne discuss UK matters - including knowing when to sell your property, whether to buy an already tenanted property and how to manage your portfolio.
Covering Europe this week, our Investment Director Richard Davies is back with another Davies Report, this time on the Czech Republic. It's BACK, apparently! We have a new column too; Simon Says - Property Secrets' Chief Analyst Simon Tweddle separates the facts from the froth.
Finally, on the publication front at least, we take a look at the first of Poland's third tier property markets - Gliwice. It's an interesting city and one we are definitely keeping an eye on.
This week I'll also focus on a number of upcoming events you may be interested in, we have a fantastic opportunity to invest in the proven Warsaw market and of course, our usual round up of the Forums.
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This Week's Articles | On The Forums
Investment News | Event News
The Davies ReportBy Richard Davies
Exclusive to Property Secrets PRO members
Bouncing Czech - The Czech Republic is BACK!
"And it's now the got the best (and cheapest) finance in all of Europe!"
Gliwice then - pronounced 'Gla-veet-sa', the town is the first true third tier market in Poland to appear on our radar. Our Investment Broker Simon Blakebrough has been out to take a look around, prompted by the announcement of the first new build residential development to be built there.
Our Research & Analysis has also examined Gliwice in detail. Here's an extract from our article:
"News reached us recently that the city of Gliwice, close to Katowice, is about to receive its first new residential development, piquing our interest in it. So what does Gliwice have to offer?"
"Gliwice is an industrial city in southern Poland, which began to develop into a major city through industrialization during the 19th century. The town's ironworks fostered the growth of other industrial fields in the area."
"Gliwice and the surrounding region is a wealthy area of Poland with relatively low house prices and high wages."
"Of course, as investors it's the housing market we're really interested in and Gliwice has many areas of social housing, with developers yet to make an impact. Until now, that is."
"Local estate agents have been reporting a 2% increase in house prices per month over the last few months on the secondary market, indicating that new builds will enjoy a much higher rate of growth."
"What we are seeing with Gliwice - and the first new residential development of its kind in the city - is probably the first of Poland's third tier markets opening up."
You can read a lot more on this promising city in this article.
Simon Says...Property Secrets' Chief Analyst Simon Tweddle separates the facts from the froth
Exclusive to Property Secrets PRO members
Investing in central and Eastern Europe - have you missed the boat?
"This is the question that really caught my eye on the Property Secrets forum recently. It really is THE question for anyone looking at investing in this region in essence, are they too late for it to be worthwhile?"
David Lawrenson, in the meantime, stays in the UK and asks whether buying a property that is already let is a good idea. In principle it sounds great - no void period, a settled tenant - but there some serious issues you should address. Here's a little of what David has to say:
"The first thing to ask is why is the current landlord selling. It could be that having made a lot of money he just wants to cash in. Or he might be moving abroad or perhaps simply can't be bothered any more."
"There could be many reasons and the selling landlord may not be too forthcoming with the real answer so you may have to do a bit of digging around."
"You can get some idea by looking at the property carefully and the area it is in. Does it need lots of maintenance work doing? Does the d?r look very tired and worn out? Does the kitchen and bathroom need modernising? Is the boiler coming to the end of its useful life? What kind of condition are the electrics in and will they need to be renewed? Does the roof need to be repaired or completely replaced?"
That's just one thing you need to ask...what about the rest? Find out here...
Tony Booth has some great advice on spotting when an area is about to go downhill and it's time to sell up. In his article De-Gentrification - how to spot when it's time to sell!, he discusses the signs of 'de-gentrification'. As Tony says, the most successful property investors are those that not only take a keen interest in their own property, but also closely observe what is happening to the neighbourhood and their neighbours too.
Finally, and rather topically following the recent gales and current 'snow storms', we look at global warming and what it could mean for property investors. It's on the insurance front you need to be most concerned. The companies themselves expect massive claims for flooding and subsidence damage caused by global climate change. And they are warning property owners to prepare for the worst...
Property MattersA landlord's personal view on the market
Exclusive Property Secrets PRO members
Portfolio management - all common sense and a little out of the box thinking!
"Are you a manager and if so what sort of a manager are you?"
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.
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A lot to tell you about regarding events this week. First of all, we're holding our second Investor Evening of the year next Thursday (15th February) in Birmingham at Villa Park, home of Premiership football club Aston Villa. You should have received an invitation in your inbox in the last couple of days with full details. However, if you missed it here's what you need to know:
We're also getting ever closer to this year's Homebuyers Show at the NEC, at which we will be exhibiting and holding some Seminars. I'll go into greater detail over the next couple of weeks, but if you want pop along to see us, we're on Stand 545B in the Overseas Property section near Seminar Theatre 3.
You can find out more about the show itself by clicking the banner below.
Finally, I shall be attending the South Eastern Europe Real Estate Awards (SEEREA) at the end of March in Bucharest. The awards, put basically, honour those who have achieved the most in property in the CEE and SEE over the last year. Property Secrets is an official Media Partner of the event and I am happy to say I will be speaking at the event and sitting on a couple of panels. Again, I'll go into more detail nearer the time.
That's all for this week. Happy investing!
Cheers
Chief Executive Officer
Property Secrets
ES
