Florida: paradise lost… or found?
Anybody else see this show? On ITV last night a TV program about British families that have moved to the USA in search of a better quality of life and standard of living, with beautiful weather and what they thought were endless opportunities all looked rosy! The program highlighted a couple of contrasting scenarios one, a family that had moved there and taken on a home cinema business and another, a property developer (with the most annoying wife in the world I might add) who had gone there to take advantage of how far his money could stretch.
The home cinema business did not work in the slightest and profits were on a consistent downward spiral and the property developer had actually done really well… which may contradict what I’m going to say later on in this article.
All of the increased demand from overseas and the ease of credit in the US had increased house prices substantially, which wasn’t a problem as long as inflation was present, banks were still lending and credit was still flowing. However once the flow of credit stopped the US began to see some problems. House prices dropped and businesses began to struggle. One of the problems with this in the eyes of the UK family living in the US is to do with the visa they need to live there. A couple of the stipulations are that they need to own a business in the US which is employing US citizens and that business needs to be profitable. Now that second one can be a bit of a problem in a recession and if they cannot reach it, then the family will be told they have to go back to the UK.
So now you have UK citizens being forced back home leaving their houses and businesses, businesses failing, credit drying up and house prices falling, of course this lead to many defaults on home loans and not only from the UK citizens also the US citizens and inevitably the bailout from the taxpayer to save the banks and get them lending again.
After all of this, US citizens were obviously struggling to get a mortgage and those that did have a mortgage may well have lost their jobs anyway. Property prices tumbled and many have seen it as a better bet to rent as opposed to try and fail to get another mortgage.
Now we come to our US properties. You can now purchase properties in Florida that are priced far below the building cost, which have a steady professional tenant in place and are yielding around 15%. The majority of these properties were built by developers and then given to the bank when the developer went into liquidation. The properties we are offering have been purchased from the bank and modernised (they were built recently but never lived in so needed a little tlc) then tenants have been heavily vetted and placed in the properties.
Click here for details of our properties for sale in Florida
Barbados Bound – Why Celebrities flock here year on year!
Michael Winner, Simon Cowell, Philip Green, Trevor Eve, Richard E. Grant, Amanda Burton, David and Victoria Beckham, David Frost, Lulu, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Wayne Rooney, Jemima Khan, Hugh Grant and not forgetting Cliff Richard and Cilla Black!
What do all these people have in common?
They all either holiday or have property in Barbados.
So why is this Caribbean island the second home location of choice for all of these celebrities?
I think firstly it is the idea of security, you are in the Caribbean but as long as you stay on the west coast you are never far from a cocktail bar, mulit million pound house or exclusive golf club.
Over the last 15 years the West Coast of Barbados or the Parish of St James has risen from relative obscurity to command the name ” the platinum coast”. It is now widely known as one of the most exclusive and expensive areas to live in the world.
With the cost to stay at the exclusive Sandy Lane Resort coming in at around £40,000 for a week over Christmas this location is certainly not cheap!
Expect to pay roughly the same in Barbados as you would in central london for dinner at a top restaurant.
So after all of this, why does tourism in Barbados continue to grow year on year?
Well actually its kind of because of this, the average joe would rather pay more to be near these kind of celebrities, they will probably never meet Michael Winner strolling down Sandy Lane beach but its the prospect of this happening that keeps people enthused.
And for the celebrities, its like a home away from home, at Christmas around Sandy Lane the same celebs come back year on year, they all know each other, they know the restaurants they can go to unhounded, they know the areas they can sunbathe without being papped!
Why would this change, the celebs can afford to holiday here, prices can increase as much as you like, your not going to price any of the above out of the market!
So what about the average person?
Well there are still some areas where you can pick up property at reasonable prices.
Just 5 minutes from Sandly lane and 2 minutes from The Royal Westmoreland golf course is Weston Resort, prices here start from just £180,000 for a ground floor 2 bedroom apartment. Fully furnished and ready to rent you are probably looking at £200,000. With mortgage available at 65% loan to value and only needing a 35% deposit you can buy one of these with just £63,000!
With possible rental yields of over 10%, not only could you afford to buy it but it would actually make you money year on year. Compound this with the fact you could safely holiday in this every year and remain fairly exclusive (under 50 apartments on this development) and you begin to imagine why this scheme is nearly sold out with around a year till completion.
For more information on how you can invest alongside the celebrities of barbados call 0800 043 6956 or email info@freshinvest.co.uk.
