A Buyer’s Guide To Off Plan Property Investment 7 Top Tips

Writen by Andrew Beale

Over the years, we’ve seen literally hundreds of Overseas Investment property transactions, so If you’re buying abroad here’s our check list of tips and advice to make sure your property purchase goes as smoothly as possible:

Take time to think about what you want from your property. Is it purely for investment? or will you be using it yourself? when do you want to resell it? Do you see it as a long term or short term option? Very soon you will get a much clearer idea of the style and type of property purchase that is right for you.

Make sure you can afford it. Make an appointment to speak to your financial advisor before house hunting. Knowing your limits will prevent impulse buys that will blow your budget.

No matter what the Developer says, use an independant bilingual Lawyer. Good legal advice is worth every penny and avoids costly mistakes. If you dont plan to visit your property, make sure the solicitor offers a power of attorney service to sign necessary legal documents on your behalf, with your prior approval.

Know the closing costs. Every country imposes different taxes to the process of buying and selling property. Make sure you are fully aware of these. In some countries these can add up to 10 12 % of the property value.

Check the documentation yourself. Your lawyer probably wasn’t there when you negotiated your property purchase. If you managed to get some extras thrown in with the deal, make sure they’re in the contract or management agreement and let your solicitor know what they are.

If possible, look at other developments by the same developer. Were they completed on time? What was the build quality like? If the property is investment orientated, is there a track history of good rental performance with this developers properties?

Finally, use your common sense. If a deal looks too good to be true, or is heavily weighed in your favour, theres a reason for that, and its not always your shrewd bargaining skills. Take extra care, take extra advice, and don’t just look at the price.

Andrew Beale is Director of FSI, a leading ski and Investment Property Broker

His Website is http://www.fsiproperty.com

How to Decide on Upgrades to Make Before You Sell Your Home

Writen by Andrew Webber

Making decisions about improvements to your home is pretty simple if those improvements are meant to improve the quality of life for yourself and your family. You simply invest your money in those things that will mean the most to you. However, deciding which home improvements will be most appealing to potential buyers is another matters altogether.

Making the most of the money you put into fixing up your home is very important. Choosing your upgrades wisely, based on market research of which improvements pay for themselves, will help you get the most out of your home when you sell.

Determining which upgrades and improvements will enhance the value of your home and pay for themselves is often difficult. For one thing, it requires you to place yourself in a buyer’s shoes, and see the home the way an outsider would. This is often difficult, particularly if you are emotionally invested in the home. It is tough to look on your own home as an outsider.

Therefore, it is a good idea to seek the advice of someone who can be impartial and provide that all important outsider perspective of home improvements and upgrades. A good place to start is with your real estate agent. Ask your agent which improvements or upgrades he or she feels would add the greatest value. It is important to focus on those improvements that will more than pay for themselves through enhanced home value.

You may also want to look at similar homes in your area. Pay careful attention to the amenities offered in similarly priced homes, and make your upgrade list accordingly. Naturally, it is important to take cost into consideration when making those upgrade plans, and make sure you can recover the cost when you sell your home.

While it is important to study your own area to determine the best improvements to increase value, there are a number of home improvements that are known to pay handsome dividends when it comes to increasing home values. These tried and true repairs include:

• Adding an additional bathroom is also a great way to improve the value of a home. This is particularly true if the existing home has only one bathroom. Many potential buyers will not consider a home with only a single bathroom.
• Remodeling the kitchen and/or bathroom has been shown in many surveys to increase the value of a home and provide an excellent return on investment
• A new floor can also be a good, cost effective upgrade to a home. This is particularly true if you are able to install the flooring yourself, since a large portion of the cost of installing a hardwood or parquet floor is the labor needed to install it. Those who are able to install a new floor on their own can often capture more than the cost of the flooring in increased home value.
• Basic home repairs like fixing old gutters certainly add some curb appeal, but they generally do little to truly enhance the resale value of the home.
• Painting is one exception to this rule. A fresh coat of paint in the areas that need is an excellent, low cost way to improve the appeal of the home. A fresh paint job costs only a little bit of money, but it can greatly improve the appeal of any home.
• A swimming pool is generally a lousy home improvement in terms of adding value. Homeowners rarely recover the installation costs of a pool when they sell their home, and in some cases a pool can actually turn buyers away.

When making upgrades or improvements to your home, it is crucial to keep good records which detail all money being spent. This will be a big help when computing the capital gain on the sale of the home, and when calculating the return on investment of each upgrade or improvement.

Being able to do your own home repairs, improvements and upgrades obviously will increase the return on investment of any project. The less you have to pay carpenters, carpet installers and other professionals, the greater your return will be. Some home improvement projects, however, require the use of a qualified professional. Unless you are an expert, improvements or upgrades involving plumbing, electrical wiring, heating or air conditioning systems should be left to the professionals.

Other home improvement projects, such as laying down a new hardwood or laminate floor, may well be within the skills of the average homeowner. Many home improvement warehouses hold seminars where homeowners can learn how to do these projects. If you can find such a free seminar, by all means take advantage of it. It will save you money on home upgrades and give you valuable skills for the future.

Andrew is the web owner of Home Selling Tips: How to sell a house on the Internet, a website that provides informational guide on home selling and buying, mortgage loan, foreclosure, real estate investment and more. You can visit his website at: http://www.buy and sell house fast.com/

Real Estate Make Home Buying Pleasant

Writen by Jay Bauder

Fun and purchasing a home are probably two concepts that cannot be further apart. Instead of being fun, purchasing a home might prove to be nerve wracking and stressful. This is understandably so since this is an investment that spans a lifetime ? a whole set of generations even.

We can make it less stressful!

Buyers are intimidated by the various dimensions that make purchasing a home troublesome ? the legal aspects, the financial aspects, dealing with brokers, agents, insurance, and others purchase concerns.

But dissecting these roadblocks and adding some spice to you choice of property could make this life changing decision an enjoyable one.

Step 1: Assess your finances

The question here is can the buyer actually afford payments for a home. The buyer may want to consult a financial adviser as to the strategy he or she may employ in paying for a home. This is imperative especially if the buyer has a troublesome credit history and other financial obligations. The buyer must also reach a compromise between payment capability and desired property.

Get yourself that “pre approved” certificate from a lender. This certificate gives the seller the assurance that you have enough money to buy their property. Securing a Pre Approved certificate would range from a few days to a few weeks depending on the status if the request. But it’s worth the trouble of waiting. It increases the chances of you getting the best deal in the market.

Step 2: Survey the Market

With the explosion of information in today’s age, it becomes more exciting to search for possible properties. Newspapers, advertisements, referrals, brochures, and even the internet all give the buyer more choices and better options. Buyers should take full advantage of this information glut to facilitate his or her decision regarding a house.

Consider the Multiple Listing Service. The MLS is a database an extremely convenient way to know what properties are for sale at any given moment. This makes it very useful to real estate agents and brokers.

Basically, the MLS is like a huge property warehouse. When a property is available for sale, it enters the warehouse. When it is sold, it leaves the warehouse.

The MLS only contains information since real estate cannot actually be stored in a warehouse. This information comes from the various brokers that exist in the scope of an MLS.

Why the MLS works for home buyers

First of all MLS is very convenient. Buyers can browse through the available properties listed on an MLS.

Using the MLS also does not cost anything. It is a free service that is sponsored by the Realtors advertising their available properties.

Step 3: Learn from Others

If the buyer is a first timer, he or she does not have to make the common mistakes newbies commit. He or she should contact people who have been in the same circumstance and learn from their experience. This will save the buyer from a great deal of grief later.

Even grizzled veterans of such purchases would do well to seek advice from trusted colleagues on the matter.

Step 4: Find an Suitable Agent

This is one of the most underestimated, yet important aspects of home buying. Most buyers end up with an agent by sheer accident. It would do well for the buyer to do research and contact an agent whose strategy and skills fit the buyer’s needs. Buying or selling a house is a thrilling experience. But connected to this is a stressing and overwhelming job. This calls for a good real estate agent. But what do we need to know about hiring an effective real estate agent.

Verifying the real estate agent’s license is very helpful. It pays to be very cautious because this involves the property! This includes his state license in selling a property. Added to this is a doing a short background check on the agent. Ask for the previous estates he sold or acquired for a client. Knowing the trainings and seminars he’d attended would also give the client a grasp on the abilities of the agent he would be hiring.

Develop a good chemistry with your agent. With the agent knowing what the buyer or seller wants he knows where to start and what to consider. The agent should be able to tell his client the true worth of his property because it is really what is worth and not because he just wanted to lure the client in doing business with him. Meeting up with the agent once in a while so they could keep their clients updated about the property.

In selling a house, the agent acts as the adviser. He gives the owner advices like the asking price of the property and acts as mediator between the buyer and the owner. And in buying a house, the agent acts as the researcher. He also does the legwork and sorting through which properties best suits the need of his client.

A skillful agent can save the buyer a great deal of trouble and is instrumental in a successful sale.

Step 5: Close the deal

A great deal of discussion and paperwork in involved in closing a deal. However, if the preceding steps were accomplished well, this step will most probably be exciting instead of worrying. Here, the buyer and the seller come to terms with the financial details, paperwork, and other details vital to the sale. If this comes up right, the buyer can now come home to an exciting new home.

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About The Author
Jay Bauder is the web owner of http://www.homes in massachusetts.com Massachusetts Homes: Buying or Selling, a website that provides information on Massachusetts real estate buying, negotiating, financing, and more. You can visit his website at: Massachusetts Real Estate.

Should A Condo Hotel Be Your Next Vacation Home?

Writen by Maria Lopez

You’ve heard all the chatter about condo hotels, but you’re not sure if they’re the ideal vacation home or just timeshares in disguise. Here’s what you should know.

Condo hotels are not your parents’ timeshare. They’re whole ownership of a vacation home, not the purchase of a specific week or two of annual usage. So how do they differ from other types of home ownership?

Well they’ve got all the bells and whistles of a luxury hotel. We’re talking designer furnished rooms, a resort style pool, a full service spa, a variety of on site restaurants, a fully equipped fitness center and more. Plus, you’ll have a full complement of services at your disposala concierge, 24 hour room service, valet parking and daily housekeeping.

Now here’s the interesting part. You can use your condo hotel home as much as you’d like. But when you’re not there, instead of closing up your vacation house in the off season, you can place it in the hotel’s rental program.

If the condo hotel has a well known hotel franchise like Starwood, Trump, St. Regis, Ritz Carlton, Hilton, Four Seasons, Sonesta or Hyatt, they’ll put their marketing program and international reservation system to work keeping your room filled.

You’ll get a share of the revenue your condo hotel unit generates. That income may offset the costs of owning your vacation home and could possibly net you a small annual return.

A professional on site management company takes care of handling the hotel guests, maintaining the property and ensuring the smooth operation of its amenities. All of the traditional responsibilities of owning a second home are non existent with a condo hotel.

Most condo hotel properties are located on prime real estate in popular vacation destinations like Miami, Orlando, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach and the Caribbean. Some big cities are also getting condo hotels like Chicago, New York, San Diego and Toronto.

Like ownership of a traditional house or condo, you can choose to resell your condo hotel unit whenever you want. And like most types or real estate, there’s a good chance your property will have appreciated in value. Most condo hotel owners will tell you that appreciation is one of the major differences between condo hotels and timeshares, which often lose value and can be difficult to resell.

Is a condo hotel right for you? If you appreciate luxury accommodations when you vacation, if you want hassle free ownership of a second home, and if you like the idea of investing in a property with appreciation potential, a condo hotel could be the perfect answer.

Maria Lopez is a sales agent with Condo Hotel Center, a real estate brokerage that specializes in condo hotels throughout the U.S. and the world. Visit her informative website at http://www.CondoHotelCenter.com to view condo hotel property listings and photos. Be sure to sign up for the Condo Hotel Property Alert newsletter to be notified when new condo hotels come on the market.

Why Are Inaccessible Crawl Spaces Are a Big Deal

Writen by Michael Del Greco

If inaccessible areas exist under the structure of the home, these areas were not traversed or inspected during your home inspection. Problems and hazards should be expected to exist that I could not see or report on today. Wood rot, insect damages and structural defects are some of the more common problems found in crawl spaces.

Many times inaccessible crawl spaces are an indication the required municipal permits, inspections, approvals and real estate tax updates were not obtained. Make sure you obtain them prior to expiration of your inspection contingency.

The usual concern is that damages have been occurring for years to the structure that can not be seen without causing extensive damages. While the owner may not be happy the lack of access was found out and reported to you, you will be even more unhappy if someone falls through your living room floor or provides you with an estimate of tens of thousands of dollars to cure the problem.

For instance New Jersey N.J.A.C.13:40 15.16 does not require inspectors to enter any area which does not have at least 24″ of unobstructed vertical clearance. All areas under the structure of the home must be made accessible so they can be traversed and professionally inspected prior to the expiration of your inspection contingency or you must agree to accept open ended risks!

Areas under dwellings that are not ventilated present special risks. Installation of adequate and proper ventilation is recommended in order to help avoid further problems and hazards.

Michael Del Greco is President of Accurate Inspections, Inc. A New Jersey home inspection firm. He has performed thousands of home inspections in New Jersey since 1993. He has taught the New Jersey Home Inspector Licensing classes and New Jersey Home Inspector CEU classes as well as participated in developing questions for the National Home Inspector Exam. Michael’s home inspector resume may be viewed at http://www.accurateinspections.com/michael2.htm.

Visit http://home inspector.NewJerseyHomeInspection.com for a list of home inspectors in New Jersey.

This article may be freely reproduced if it is not altered and the above two lines are reproduced with active hot links.

Fractional Ownership Vacation Homes A Smart Investment

Writen by Mark Goldberg

Fractional Ownership is something that has been around for years but has just now hit the investment real estate market ( i.e. vacation homes, townhouses, condos, etc). For years business men and women have been using the fractional ownership technique to purchase everything from private jets to expensive jewelry. Fractional ownership broken down basically means that you and a group of people (often times friends and family) pool your resources together to purchase an otherwise expensive product. This product is then split up evenly among the investors and each investor owns an equal fraction of the investment. With vacation homes that means that each investor has either one or two months to use the vacation home (the number of months depends on the number of the investors). Fractional ownership works very well for the family that wants a nice vacation home to call their own but doesn’t want to spend $400,000 dollars on a place they will only use a few weeks out of the year. If you are only planning on using the vacation home one month out of the year do you really want to pay the mortgage and upkeep costs the other 11 months of the year? Now if your anything like me a big alarm is going off in your head and your thinking that fractional ownership is nothing more then a fancy way of saying timeshare. Well it’s true that fractional ownership vacation homes do share some similarities don’t confuse the two as the same.

Here are some of the major differences between buying a fractional ownership vacation home vs. a timeshare:

1. Luxury Fractional Timeshares are much bigger and usually a lot nicer. Timeshares tend to be small cheap cookie cutter housing pawned off to unsuspecting tourists by pushy salespeople that don’t take no for an answer. Fractional ownership properties are very classy and are actually worth the combined total of the investment from each investor. This may sound a little confusing so I’ll break it down for you:

Timeshare:

25 investors (each investor buys 2 weeks) x $47,000 = $1,175,000 house

Usually these timeshares are valued well below $150,000

Fractional Ownership:

12 investors (each investor buys 1 month) x $50,000 = $600,000 house

Fractional ownership houses are valued around $550,000 600,000. In fact if you compare timeshare to fractionals you’ll notice that per week timeshares are more expensive for less room and lower class furnishings.

2. Global Exchange Global exchange gives you the option to exchange unused weeks at your fractional to vacation in multiple vacation spots around the world. Many timeshares offer this as well but the houses and amenities in times are typically much much lower then a fractional. If you’re going to a vacation in Greece do you really want to spend it in a cramped 500 sq ft studio apartment in the bad part of town?

3. Easier Financing Banks and lenders consider fractional ownership homes to be similar to a second home, so it’s usually easier to finance a fractional over a timeshare. Also, the rates are often time lower on a fractionals.

4. An Actual Investment Fractional ownership is an actual investment unlike a time share that plummets in price as soon as you sign the paper. If you go on Ebay right now you’ll see hundreds of people trying to sell their timeshares for a tiny fraction of what they paid for it just a few months prior. With fractional ownership the property value increases and so does your investment (especially if you invest in preconstruction fractional ownerships)

On average a family uses it’s vacation or second home about 28 days a year. This is why fractional ownership has started, it was created because their truly is a market for it. Fractional ownership opens a door for the thousands of investors that want a luxury vacation home but don’t want to pay hundreds of thousands for it.

For more information on Fractional Ownership vacation homes and housing visit our website: http://www.investrealestate101.com

Goldberg Executive Realty Group Mark Goldberg Phone: 1 866 247 2259 E mail: GoldbergRealtyGroup@cfl.rr.com http://www.investrealestate101.com

Home Selling Tips How To Make Your House Look Its Best To Get The Quick Sale

Writen by Steadman Issenburg

If you are selling your home, you need to spend sometime beforehand to make sure that it looks its best if you want to get a quick sale and make more money. Experts agree that homeowners can have a major impact on the selling process primarily by how well they prepare and present their home to prospective buyers.

So your job as a homeowner who wants to sell is to become an inspector of your own home. And the first place that you want to inspect is the outside of your home. The appearance of your house from the road is what is called in the industry “curb appeal”. You only have one chance at a good first impression, and that will be made by the outside appearance of your house. In fact, in many cases prospective home buyers will formulate an opinion about your home, either positively or negatively, based on their first impression from the outside.

So as you can see, the exterior of your home is a very important. So take a notepad with you and go outside and look at your home from several different angles. You may be so used to seeing the outside of your home that you don’t notice it much anymore. But try to look at your home’s exterior from the perspective of a person who has never been to your house before. What are the positive points that you see? What are some things that seem to need a little attention?

This kind of fresh look at the outset of your home can often reveal some necessary improvements that you hadn’t even noticed before. And now if you have a good list of these repair items, you can go about taking care of them in an organized fashion.

To keep your home looking its best, be sure to keep your yard mowed often and well trimmed. Get rid of any leaves or debris that can adversely affect the appearance of your yard, and make sure that your hedges and bushes are clipped and trimmed as well. Most home exteriors could also benefit by having a good pressure washing to remove accumulated dirt, grime, and some stains. Now would also be a good time to get your windows and screens cleaned up and sparkling. A few flowers placed in the right places can also do wonders for the outside appearance of a home, just don’t go too overboard in this area. Having a nice set of low voltage outdoor lighting can also create a pleasant appearance and mood for those who visit in the evening too.

After getting the outside of your home looking its best, it’s time to move to the interior. Once again, it’s a good idea to go through your home with a notepad and carefully list all of the problem areas that you see as you look at your home through the eyes of a prospective buyer.

If you see areas that appear to be cluttered or disorganized, pick them up and enlist the help of your family to keep them that way. Give particular attention to both the kitchen and bathroom areas, as these are known to be very important in the mind of many home buyers. Make sure that these areas are as clean and spotless as possible. Also give attention to all ceiling fans, lights, and mirrors in each room of the home to make sure that they are clean and dust free. If you have children, be sure that their toys are picked up and put out of sight as well. Finally, give close attention to your floors. These can often make or break the appearance of a room, so clean all carpet stains and maintain your tile and wood floors in sparkling condition.

One other area that must receive attention is how your home smells. You may want to ask a friend to come in and walk around your home and identify any areas where objectionable odors exist, and then eradicate them as soon as possible before you allow visitors in.

It will be important not only to initially get your home in tip top shape, but also to keep it there throughout the home selling process. But if you in your family work together as a team and follow the tips given above, you stand the best chance of being able to sell your home quickly and for more money.

Steadman Issenburg writes on many consumer related topics including real estate. You can find houses for sale in florida and las vegas houses for sale and more by visiting our Real Estate website.

Real Estate Ensure The Home Is Insurable

Writen by Will Daly

All the problems that the insurance industry has experienced recently are now adversely affecting home owners. And I don’t just mean in the way of higher insurance premiums. Because insurance companies have been hammered with claims they are now forced to look extra hard at which properties they will insure and they are denying coverage on more and more homes sometimes AFTER the homeowner has closed on the purchase of the home. When a soon to be new home owner applies for hazard insurance many companies are reviewing the home’s history to learn what claims if any had been filed or paid in the past. These companies then base their decision as to whether or not they will insure that home on that history.

If you are in the market to buy a home, here is a quick list of things you should do to protect your interests:

1. Require the Seller to provide you with a written five year premises claims history from their insurance company OR a Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) report (with any reference to date of birth or social security number obscured) as a condition to your purchasing the home. Require that this be provided during the home inspection period which is USUALLY the first ten days following acceptance of the sales contract between Buyer and Seller. Share the report with your insurance provider and discuss any findings.

2. Submit your insurance application as soon as possible, ask questions and obtain written confirmation of the availability and cost of homeowner’s insurance for the premises.

3. Laws in some states allows an insurer to CANCEL a new insurance policy based upon the condition of the property after an inspection of that property. For this reason, confirm that the insurer conducts any inspections BEFORE the expiration of the home inspection period mentioned above. If you discover EARLY in the home purchase process that the insurer found conditions which warrant unusually high premiums or denial of coverage altogether then your Realtor will still have time to either get you out of the deal or negotiate that the Seller correct the conditions at his or her expense vs. yours.

4. Make sure that your Realtor negotiates that you may cancel the contract without penalty in the event that the claims history contains any adverse information that would prevent you from obtaining insurance.

By now you probably recognize that insurance issues alone can truly complicate a real estate transaction and potentially hurt you financially. Do yourself a favor and hire a seasoned and experienced Realtor.

Will Daly, a Realtor with RE/MAX Excalibur in Phoenix and owner of the marketing labels http://WeKnowUrban.com/, http://CondosPhx.com/, and http://WillDaly.com/, combines years of experience, a thorough understanding of current real estate markets, and cutting edge technology to provide his clients the best advice for proven results. He specializes in Loft and High Rise Development/Sales and Condo Conversions. You may reach him directly at (480) 510 8755 or by visiting one of his web sites.

Fantasy Gap [fast money in real estate]

Writen by Dennis Siluk

I was in the rental business for seven years, made 1.3 million dollars the first five years, got ill, and had to get out of it slowly, but had the money to do it. I could have made five million had I stayed in another five years. But my point in is this: I watch TV, on all these quick ways to make money, and people really belief this crap. I mean, I owned seven buildings, but I worked 24/7. Ended up in court a dozen times; fought with the State over this and that. I mean, you don’t get it for nothing like these TV fantasy folks would have you belief. Just buy this and that and don’t invest, and you’ll make it. First of all you need credit. Second, if you don’t have $20,000 in the bank, if a furnace goes out, or your gas pipes go out, or whatever, who is going to pay for it? What can happen, will happen; the fantasy people forget to add that little equation into the formula.

But why do people fall into this group? I thought about it, and being a licensed counselor, I met a lot of people who fell into this gap. I call it the fantasy gap. Everyone herds to them like wild geese. These TV folks tap into your fantasies. Easy to do, even Hitler said: “It is easier to fool the masses than the few.” He also was tapping into human nature. That is where the fantasy festers. Make a romance for them, and quick to the fantasy, and find the needy, shake it up, and you got your clan.

What some people do is create a reputation, and then live on the momentum it has. For instance, I could go around saying: look at me, what I made from rental property. I can show you how to do it. Buy my book, and so forth and so on. And when you review my background you will say: yup, he has what he says he has. Now I got you buying my book, and I look good from my reputation, and I did make the money. But the fantasy is: you can have the gold for simple minerals, like an alchemist would have you believe. Not much work involved, just sign your name, and claim the goods. It is not like that.

A confirmed reputation, and now I got your money to show you I got wealth. Many of us fall stupidly into money needs, and think a miracle will happen. That is not the way it works. You cannot cajole the devil and expect to come out on top. If you fell into bankruptcy, it is because of your mismanagement of your money, it is as simple as that.

These phony goofballs on TV, do not demand the truth, as I am doing, reality is not prepared to pay the handsome price they want, truth is not part of the fantasy, lies are the fantasy, nor will it draw you to them to buy what they are selling. But gold that is made from sand will catch your attention. Like the man says on TV, jus sign your name here, and you’ll make $30,000 in 30 days. If that was the case, what’s he selling books for.

Author/writer Dennis Siluk, has written in counseling magazines during the l990’s, as a licensed counselor, and looks now at how people fall into the fantasy gap in real estate. He lives in St. Paul, MN, and Lima, Peru http://dennissiluk.tripod.com