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Overseas Property Investment

More strong news for Cape Verde Property Investment

Cape Verde BeachThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) have conducted their eighth and final review of the Cape Verde Islands and yet again it is fantastic news for anyone invested or interested in investing in Cape Verde Property.

The IMF have stated that they believe Cape Verde’s growth will continue through 2010 with inflation remaining low. This is good news for the islands that are already showing very strong growth indicators and are becoming a real investment hotspot.

The IMF have shown that they believe that “Real GDP” will be increasing at a rate of around 6-7% pa over the next 5 years (“Real GDP” is the size of an economy with allowances for inflation) meaning that the value of all goods and services produced or passing through the country will be increasing by 6-7% and therefore the size of the economy will be growing and people, on average, will be able to benefit from a better standard of living and companies can begin to grow, allowing more money to go back into the development of infrastructure.

Lots of the growth for these islands comes from increased Tourism and an increased level of investment in property and then infrastructure. Property prices on the island have been rising on average by around 15% per year.  The islands have remained a relatively undiscovered gem in comparison to the Caribbean and its northern counterpart, the Canary Islands, where property prices can be as much as 40% higher. They are only a 5 hour flight from the UK, have a time difference of only GMT – 2hours and benefit from 360 days of sunshine per year. Tourism figures have been increasing year on year and the island of Sal has seen increases of around 27.5% per year, as the only island with a truly international airport.

All of this information leads to a great location for investment in property serving the tourist industry. The investment we are presenting at Fresh Invest takes full advantage of the increasing tourism figures and can realistically provide investors with a net rental income of £12,133 per year for an investment as low as £32,294. All of this in a beachfront, 5* resort that gives purchasers 5 weeks free use per year.

To find out more about our investment in Cape Verde click here.

For the report by the IMF click here.


My top 5 places to invest for 2010 – Part 1

The property market in many countries has taken a real hit over the last few years, however this sometimes is not a bad thing.

If your looking at property investment as an alternative to stocks and shares then the time may be ripe to invest.

Below are my top 5 places to invest.

1. Cape Verde:


When looking for an overseas investment opportunity the first thing you should always ask yourself is “would i go there”. If the answer is no, the chances are your not in the minority.

The next question is, if you would go there, why?

For me Cape Verde offers a unique proposition, 360 days worth of sun that you can access via a 5 hour flight.
Combine these 2 points and it narrows the field down considerably; quite honestly the competitors i’ve either been to or i’d never want to.

The reason for this is as follows, not only does Cape Verde have a Caribbean climate but also a laid back lifestyle unlike many of its competitors.

The Prices are still relatively low compared to the likes of Tenerife and some Caribbean islands, this is mainly due to the infancy of the islands that make up Cape Verde.

This will not be the case for long, already some major 5 star hotel operators are building on the islands of Sal and Boavista, this will increase tourism and put more pressure on Airline operators to increase their flights.

One such 5* hotel operator is Sol Melia – the worlds largest hotel resort operator, they are taking over the running of our Dunas Beach Resort investment opportunity.

Conclusion:


Risk = Medium

Returns = High

Yields = High

Minimum cost to invest = £33,640.

2. Barbados:


If you have deeper pockets abd want slightly less risk then Barbados may be for you, offering the true 5* lifestyle with prices to boot.

The reason i think this is a good investment is that even though prices are high, you can still achieve yields in excess of 10%, as witnessed in our opportunity on the West Coast Barbados.

Yields this good along with the knowledge that you are investing in the holiday makers favourite Caribbean island means that occupancy rates should remain strong. Most other Caribbean islands are so far behind that no threat to this crown seems anywhere near appearing.

Demand is Barbados is so high it has become the place for celebrities to have second homes, as proved by a host of premier league footballers, golfers and tv personalities.

Conclusion:


Risk = Low

Returns = Medium

Yields = High

Minimum cost to invest = £64,990.

3. Spain – Barcelona:


I love Barcelona, its my favourite city by a long ways.

Sea, Sun, Football, Great Beaches, Great Nightlife andf now a grand prix! I don’t know another city that offers so much.

I also think its a bit of a hidden gem, 1 bed apartments on the outskirts of Barcelona can be picked up for around €160,000 and if you can rent them for 40 weeks of the year you should be on for close to a 8% yield. Not bad for one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.

Demand will always be strong because of the sheer size and climate of Barca.

Combine this with the fact that house prices in Barcelona have hardly been effected by the global financial crisis and you know that values will remain robust in all but the most dire of circumstances.

Conclusion:


Risk = Low

Returns = Medium

Yields = Medium

Minimum cost to invest = £27,111

Too see what numbers 4 and 5 are, click here!


The new era of overseas property investment

In the past investing in property overseas was an arduous process, finding a suitable property was not the problem, it has always been the due diligence involved in an overseas purchase. Are you buying in the right location for Capital Growth? Will you be able to let your apartment or villa for long enough to cover your repayments on any finance used? What is happening to the local property market at present? Is there a long and complicated buying process? Will your apartment or villa be up to the standard promised by the developer? The questions can continue forever.

Investors are of course and rightly so, more tentative about investing overseas because of the reputation that some overseas developers have given the market when they, ran out of money or built a development that was subpar and then scarpered before the investor could so much as ask for their money back. But the thing that attracted investors to the overseas market in the first place is that chance of finding the property in a location that will provide you with capital growth and a large positive cash flow to line your pockets every month, with the added benefit of a free holiday.

Now we carry out a full due diligence test on all of our developments and our due diligence test on overseas property is second to none. However without any request from ourselves or our investors, we have just received one of the best partners for our due diligence tests that money could buy. The hotel operator!

When you purchase an investment property in an overseas development that is due to be run by a hotel operator, as soon as the agreement is made the developer is not now building to the standard of the investor, they are now building to the very high standard of a hotel operator and if they don’t, they risk losing the operator. Not only will the standard of your property be of the upmost quality but you now have somebody with a large web presence to promote your apartment for you, meaning that your apartment or villa is tenanted as often as possible and you are therefore provided with a handsome return. The hotel operators will of course also carry out very strict due diligence on the location to make sure that it is in a location where occupancy can be maximised and therefore your return can be maximised which will, in turn, add value to your investment.

We have 2 overseas developments that fit this bill exactly at present:

Dunas Beach Resort

The developer of Dunas Beach Resort has recruited “Sol Melia” to run the resort upon completion. Sol Melia are the largest resort operator in the world and are constantly winning awards for their dominance in the market and the quality of their resorts. The build cost of this resort in relation to any others on island is double and they have already completed one resort on the island and the results speak for themselves.

West Coast Property, Barbados

The developer of our properties on the West Coast of Barbados has recruited Mango Bay Resorts to carry out the hotel operations on site. Mango Bay constantly receive fantastic reviews for their operations on Barbados and their average occupancy is 80% which, in our resort, would give investors a return of up to 23% per year! The developer also offers purchasers the chance to help with the design of their apartment on line throughout the construction period.

Ladies and Gentlemen this is the future of overseas property investment!


Prices still rising in Cape Verde and we see no reason for it to stop.

Cape Verde property prices have been rising on average by 30% pa over the past 10 years and the occupancy of the only 5* hotel on Sal is currently around 95%.

If these trends were to continue you could put as little as £27,986 into a property on the fantastic Dunas Beach Resort now and on completion you would be able to recoup your £27,986 deposit + £19,579 on top as Cashback! Then to top it off a Net Profit of £8,117 pa from rentals!

Obviously this is the best case scenario but the figures speak for themselves.

Why would these trends continue?

Cape Verde is an archipelago of islands off of the North West coast of Africa it has:

  • Year Round Sun (yes 360 days!)
  • 107% rise in tourism over the past 5 years.
  • No hurricanes.
  • Temperatures of 22-30 degrees.
  • 1 hour time difference from GMT.
  • 5 hour flight from the UK.
  • “EU special status” – granted $1.5 billion for infrastructure and tourism upgrades.
  • A mostly Christian society.

Why Sal?

  • Sal accounts for 69% of Cape Verde’s total rental market.
  • It is the home of the new international airport with fantastic connections to the UK flights from Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham.
  • 2 “Ernie Els” golf courses are currently being developed on the island.
  • Pristine white beaches.
  • Beautiful clear sea.

Why Dunas Beach Resort?

  • Dunas Beach Resort is a development of 1135 properties ranging from studios up to 5 bed villas.
  • This is a European quality 5* resort with an astronomical build cost of €1,400 psqm (double that of the comparables used in our figures.)
  • All properties are eligible for entry into a “self invested personal pension.”
  • The resort operator is the fantastic Sol Melia group. Sol Melia are the biggest resort operators in the world and have a turnover of €100 million per month! With 150,000 hits on their reservation systems per day.
  • The constructors of the resort are the San Jose constructors; they are the largest construction group in Europe with a turnover of €1.35 billion pa.
  • Savills red book valuation on “bare land value” of €46 million.
  • Being located on the South West coast of Sal, Dunas Beach Resort is in the best position to capitalize on this islands emergence.
  • Completion mortgages readily available from many large banks.
  • A cash flow positive developer (most developers handle a €60,000,000 negative cash flow throughout construction.) Phenomenally good performance through pre-sales has put them in this position of strength.
  • The developer has an unused facility of €9,000,000 with Banif bank.

As you may well know we try our hardest to offer investments, where the risks are minimized as much as possible.  Of course you could lower your risks even further by investing in a country that is already fully developed but at the same time you better also stretch your budget because this will not come cheap!

The best way to invest will be to choose the country that is yet to emerge, whilst ensuring that all risks have been covered and the country is infact emerging… This is exactly what we have done for you.

For more information on Dunas Beach Resort Request the latest brochure here


Dunas Beach Resort, What our investors say…

For months we have been talking about how great an opportunity Dunas Beach Resort is, it has obviously worked as we were overwhelmed by the amount of interest we have had in this overseas investment opportunity.

We thought prospective investors may like to hear what previous buyers had to say about this investment.

Mrs Carole Winters – Shrewsbury.

“In 2009 we approached Fresh Invest initially looking for a holiday home, we had a budget in mind but were aware that we were stretching ourselves, however we knew that if we did not buy now then we may never have!

Over the next month or so i had various conversations with Dan regarding various properties in various locations. In the end we settled on Cape Verde and Dunas Beach Resort. We loved the idea that we could invest in a good size 1 bed apartment with just £32,000. We were also very interested in the equity release scheme which mean’t that we used £30,000 worth of equity in our home and topped up the £2,000 ourselves!

Seeing as we had set aside money to buy the flat, to know that we could use equity in our house was a massive relief to us.

Dan gave us a financial breakdown on the apartment based on comparables in other developments showing that we should look to make at least £6,000 per year after all costs including mortgage payments. He also showed us what we could mortgage the property for on completion, at the moment it looks as if we should actually be able to pull out all of our deposit on completion!

We have decided to enter into the hotel agreement meaning that Sol Melia will take care of all rentals ensuring we get the best rates for our apartment. We also get 5 weeks use of the apartment for free.

Since then we have found out that Dunas Beach has been upgraded to a 5* resort which was great news.

I have to admit the investment was a little daunting in the first instance but once we got our heads around it the process started to make sense.

Now we are looking forward to a lovely apartment that has cost us £32,000 that  we didn’t even know we had and receiving 5 weeks use and £6,000 per year! thanks Fresh Invest!”

….Just one investor that took advantage of the various money saving options on Dunas Beach Resort!


Cape Verde Looks to the Future

Known by many as “The European Caribbean”, Cape Verde is showing signs that it could be Europe’s saviour when it comes to affordable holidays with year round sun or overseas property investment.

With the credit crisis hitting most, holidaymakers are looking closer to home. Spain and the Canary Islands have both seen increases in tourism as well as many locations in the UK. However, if you really want year round sun in a secure location Cape Verde has to be at the top of the list!

Now Cape Verde is looking to boost tourism by implementing a Tourism Strategy Plan which will aim to increase tourism by 500,000 visitors by 2013.

Between the year 2000 and 2008 the total holidaymakers visiting Cape Verde rose by 11.4%!

This plan has been given the green light by ministers and looks set to boost tourism sector employment by as much as 60%!

This will obviously have a knock on effect for holiday apartments and villas, many average builders have fallen by the way side leaving some select developers to take up the baton. None more so than The Resort Group and it’s Dunas Beach Resort, the first developer in Cape Verde to sign up with a 5* developer. Sol Melia is the largest resort hotel group on the planet and their 5* hotels are widely recognised as some of the best in the world.

The best part is that you can purchase an apartment on this select development from just £72,326.

Deposits needed are just 35% so just £27,986 gets you an apartment in a 5* resort in Cape Verde; due to be the best hotel resort on the island! Check out Dunas Beach Resort Now!


Brazil property… positioned for growth?

SugarLoaf CopacabanaWhen you are looking for an overseas property investment, what are the key points that need addressing before you commit to a viewing, reservation or a purchase?

Capital growth, secure economy, stunning scenery, fantastic prices, rising tourism figures, beautiful climate… How about oil reserves and major sporting events? …Ok those last two may not be as appealing, but trust me they are going to drastically effect the value of your investment property.

An example of a major sporting event’s implications on local property values would be South Africa which is due to host the 2010 World Cup. In 2005 property values in South Africa rose by a staggering 35%, with news of the country’s successful bid from 2004. It isn’t only South Africa seeing their property prices increasing either. Cape Verde just off the coast is seeing similar price increases; this would probably be pinned down to it being a great stop off for anyone travelling to world cup games from western countries. Click for our Cape Verde property.

Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, São Paulo. These are all “host cities” therefore these are going to be the cities that see the most direct benefit that this prestigious event will bring with it. But it will definitely not stop there, I am sure that all of Brazil is going to see the benefits of the 9.8 billion reias the government has set aside for tourism development of which 63.3% is allocated to infrastructure upgrades.

Brazil’s huge newly discovered oil reserves are sure to act as a magnet for Foreign Direct Investments. With oil reserves around the world dwindling and demand not letting up we are seeing another rise in prices at present. Brazil has positioned itself in a position where it is not overly reliable on oil; therefore it is now in a fantastic position to exploit its reserves.

So you can see where the growth of your investment property is going to come from. Other points I think you have to take into consideration though are: The fact that Brazil is only a 7 hour flight from Europe, it has increasing employment and a massive shortage of first-time homes somewhere between 8-10 million!

Oh Wait! Don’t forget that Brazil is also due to host the Olympic Games in 2016!

Check out our Brazil property


Where is Cape Verde anyway?

Dunas_Beach-Sunset1As someone selling investment property in Cape Verde (Dunas Beach Resort) I welcome this question. This is because it proves to me how undiscovered the country is, and how far it has to come before it reaches the prices of its comparables. As any investor will appreciate buying in a market that has all the right ingredients for growth, but just hasn’t grown yet will be a great investment.

The main reason this is a good question for us to hear and how it relates to our investment is that, our opportunity is to purchase the freehold of an apartment which is run by the top resort operator in the world. Your rental yields will be governed by the occupancy that your resort operator can achieve and in Cape Verde this should lead to some outstanding rental yields.

The yields we have worked out on our investment come in somewhere around 10%, now this is working on a 68% occupancy. However the current on island occupancy is 80% and the only other 5* resort on the island is seeing occupancy levels of 98%. This could mean rental yields of around 20%+ for our investors.

Rental yields are not the only attractive part of this investment. For the last 10 years Cape Verde has seen an average capital growth year on year of 30%. Now if we were to assume only 15% growth pa, we have worked out that upon completion you could have equity in your property whilst still retaining up to a massive £100k cash-back!

Why would this continue? Well here are some points you may or may not know about Cape Verde and the developer of Dunas Beach Resort:

  • Cape Verde has EU special status ($1.2 billion investment from the EU for tourist development)
  • “It has been weathering the global economic crisis from a position of strength.” IMF
  • The number of direct flights is increasing everyday.
  • Tourism figures rose 27.5% last year and are still rising with more flights from new countries everyday.
  • The resort has double the build cost of any other “on island” development at €1400 psqm.
  • Land is fully unencumbered.
  • Developers can only build 4 floors high. This means that land available for building on will deplete quickly and therefore it is likely that prices will rise quickly, as supply and demand tips in favour of demand.
  • 1 hour time difference to the UK.
  • 5 and a half hour flight time from the UK.
  • Phenomenal white sand beaches

See our Cape Verde Investment

Want to hear more? e-mail or freephone Fresh Invest on 0800 043 69 56


Hotel Managed Resorts – The key to overseas property investment.

Dunas_beach-to-villas for blogWe all have heard the horror stories that some overseas property investors have experienced.

Developers going bust, part finished developments, shoddy workmanship, differing specifications…the list goes on.

So how do you negate these risks?

In my opinion the answer is by buying on a hotel managed development.

We offer a number of overseas property investments that will be managed by successful hoteliers on completion and have been overwhelmed by the stringent regulations that these hotel companies put in place prior to completion.

For most overseas developers, the pinnacle of success is being able to sign up a world renowned hotel operator to take over the day to day running of your development.
Many developers try and fail, taken back by the sheer level of attention to detail the hotel operators need developers to adhere to.

On average a hotel operated development would need:

  • Higher specification
  • Much more amenities i.e. public space, leisure facilities
  • Higher standard of customer service
  • Bigger room sizes
  • Larger patio’s or balconies
  • Better site locations
  • Regimented time scales regards completion

Many investors are put off investing overseas by the unknown, lacking the know how to conduct the desired level of due diligence on their chosen development.
If a developer signs up with a 5* hotel operator the finishing must be exactly that….5*!

If investors have any reluctance in investing in an opportunity where a hotel operator is included, take a look at their other hotels, this is the standard that they must maintain.
For instance, the hotel operator in talks with The Resort Group on Dunas Beach Resort is called Sol Melia. Sol Melia is the largest hotel resort operator in the world with over 120,000 hits on their reservation systems per day!

Dunas Beach will be part of their Melia package meaning 5* plus, so for an understanding of the finish needed take a look at their other hotels in the Melia package.

It may be in the best interest of a developer to cut corners and save money but I can assure you that there is no way that a 5* hotel operator would accept this.

Also bear in mind that all of the developers we use retain an interest in the commercial elements of each site they build, so making the very best development possible is the only way to drive people to the development there by making money on the commercial sales.

Many investors may know all of these points but I think they are worth focusing on to alleviate some scepticism that goes with a lot of overseas developments.


Could you live on £500 a month?

pension pic for blogIs your pension working for you?

With the recent drop in shares values, do you know the real value of your pension?

A combined state and private pension amounts to an average monthly income of just £500, so if you don’t want to live your retirement in poverty it’s time to do something about it!

The situation is down to many factors. Few people know exactly how much they need in their pension to achieve a comfortable standard of living.

Pension values have dropped by as much as 40% over the last 2 years, the result of the recession is that many people have not increased their contributions in order to offset this drop. In many cases they have actually scaled back in order to pay for important every day goods.

In order to draw the most basic of incomes we need to accumulate a fund of at least £184,704 which would provide a monthly income of roughly £1,000 gross.

Want to know what the average private pension size is at the moment….just £25,000! That will pay roughly £125 per month. Add state benefit of £90 per week and you have a monthly total of less than £500 gross to live on.

To give you an idea of how little this is, most individuals need a retirement income of two thirds of their pre retirement income after they retire. To calculate what you need take your current monthly income and times it by 0.75. More than £500 isn’t it!

If we take a basic income of £1,000 per month, so £12,000 per year, times this by 25 (the average amount of years we are currently living after retirement) that’s £300,000!

If you aren’t already investing in a pension or you have sat back and ignored this problem, perhaps now is the time to take note and do something about it?

To make up the deficit pension providers normally ask you to divide your age in half and invest that amount of your salary into your pension, so a 40 year old will be expected to invest 20% of his salary into a pension.

So what are your options?

We have already discounted stocks and shares, only the most high risk share dealing we enable you to obtain the funds you need by retirement.

The answer in my opinion is property.

By purchasing a property and putting it in your Sipp you will gain all the advantages of high capital growth and rental income and be able to do so without dipping into your existing savings or re-mortgaging any properties you own.

Our properties on Dunas Beach Resort start at just £82,000, you would need a pension value of about £55,000 to purchase it outright or alternatively you can use part of your pension and top up the rest via cash or a loan.

We have calculated that it would take just 10 years for the value of an £82,000 property at Dunas Beach to increase to over £300,000!

That’s on an initial investment of just £55,000.

This is based on very pessimistic figures including:

  • A 10% increase in prices per annum (15% for the last 3 years)
  • A room cost of €110 per day (currently €150)
  • An occupancy rate of 68% (currently 95% in 5* hotels)

As you can see Dunas Beach offers an incredible opportunity to get the run on your current pension plan and boost it to more realistic figures!

Transferring your pension:

Many of you will have a few pensions with different companies and moving all of these into a SIPP can be a long term project. Our IFA can take care of that for you; all you need to do is fill in some information on your current pension plans and they do the rest!

When this is complete (average time is 6 weeks) you are free to purchase a unit of your choice dependent on money available.

For more information on funding your investment with a SIPP click here.

If you have a pension and are interested in seeing how this works, e-mail us for more information.


Property Investment – Do You Now Have a Choice?

Well lets look at the positives.

As my nan always says….you’ve always got your health!

To which i respond …..I’ll need it when I’m sleeping rough!

Seriously though, many people face the very real prospect of having to increase their pensions and savings to the level they were previously at, the only trouble is, they have even less time to do it!

2 Years ago your savings and pension values would most probably be well on their way to keeping you in the style you had become accustomed.

No Longer, you now have to think fairly seriously about increasing the value of your savings, so whats the best way to do that?

As far as i can see, 2 options come to mind.

1. High risk, but potentially high reward share dealing.

2. Property

Let me discredit the first one quickly, if you have never dealt with shares before i wouldn’t recommend such drastic action, if you fancy giving your hard earned to a broker think seriously about the fact it will probably end up with a banker who had a large part to play in losing you that money in the first place!

So we come to property investment.

Hardly surprising as that is what you do for a living i hear you say!

True, it’s also what i know best.

However it also produces returns of between 6-13% along with the capital growth which will undoubtedly occur whilst investing at the bottom of the market.

Look abroad and the yield can sometimes be up to 20% with capital growth upwards of 15% per annum.

In the past, many investors have discounted property because of the “risk” attached.

Unfortunately these same investors now may not have much of a choice!

If you need your pension to return you a decent amount and do not have 40 years in which to grow it you may simply have to look at property as an investment vehicle.

I’m currently looking at property in London that returns 7% and overseas property in Cape Verde that returns 12%.

Similar London property was selling 2 years ago at £400,000, now on the market at £270,000. If we reach the prices of yesteryear there is £130,000 profit for you.

The units in Dunas Beach Resort, Cape Verde look set to return in the region of £10,000 per year; and if capital growth continues in the area, they should only cost me £2,000 to purchase outright!

If the circumstances above sound familiar, we can help. Find me at Fresh Invest Limited.

Or call me freephone on 0800 043 69 56.


Cape Verde – The Caribbean For Europe

How many of us wish we could afford a holiday home abroad? Silly question? It’s probably all of us!

What puts you off?

1. Price
2. Being able to let it out?
3. Security?
4. Flight times?
5. Guaranteed sunshine?

Well all may not be doom and gloom, there are a few overseas developers that have taken the step of building property that is packaged in such a way as to be affordable and relatively “hands off”.

Obviously the most important factor in purchasing an overseas property is price. Our most recent “fresh” investment is in Cape Verde, the units start from £72,000 and any prospective investor will need to find 35% deposit to purchase.

Where this development comes into its own is that you can release money from your existing home to fund the deposit or alternatively source a secured loan. The developer will then pay the interest on this loan for you until completion, at which time the interest will be added to your completion price.

An interesting point to note is that Cape Verde property has been increasing by 15% per annum over the last few years, even bucking the current financial crisis. If this continues you will have made 30% worth of profit on your investment before completion, as this is 2 years off. If you then want to secure a mortgage on your chosen unit, you can do so at 75% ltv of its valued price. Realistically you could find that you actually only need to find 5% deposit, as the other 30% will have been taken care of by the capital appreciation.

As far as letting the unit is concerned, you have the option of opting in or out of a rental pool, if you opt in, all management is taken care of, leaving you free to keep the profit. At the moment 5* hotels in cape verde are running at 95% occupancy, a recent study showed a 9.5% yield based on just a 65% occupancy. Best part, you get 5 weeks personal use per year! So now you have a holiday home that not only makes you significant profit each year but also only conceivably cost you £3,600!

Security? It’s a 5* resort so security will be of a maximum, their will be creche’s for your children and the entire community is gated. Flight times? if your from the UK your there in 5 hours, half the time of most Caribbean destinations! Guaranteed Sunshine? Yes, all year round dropping to 24 centigrade over Christmas! For more details of how we can source you a great investment contact Fresh Invest Ltd.


Cape Verde Looks Set For an Exciting Future – Property Investors Take Note!

So where does Cape Verde fit? With a sunnier climate than the Canary Islands and Half the flight time of the Caribbean, Cape Verde looks set to be injected with massive investment from developers looking for the next “sure thing”. When developing or investing anywhere, the most important factor to consider is “LOCATION”.

If you can find a location that has all the benefits of its competitors but still remains relatively unspoilt, you could be on to a winner. Cape Verde offers exactly that! It’s not rocket science to realise that with increased flight costs and many people being able to take even less holiday the British public is looking for a location to holiday that they can get to quickly, won’t cost them the earth to stay and perhaps most importantly has “Guaranteed sunshine”!

Many well known developers have pinpointed Cape Verde as the Place to Be over the next few years, land and property costs still remain relatively inexpensive with apartments starting from £72,000 and villas from £150,000. If you equate this to the classier parts of Tenerife which it is competition with, they are at least 50% below Tenerife values. Perhaps the best apsect is that this country made up of 10 islands, all of which are relatively unspoilt, the government wants to retain the lush greenery of the Caribbean whilst building up select areas giving the necessary infrastructure to support the holiday trade that looks sure to increase over the coming years.

Some forward thinking property investors have already realised the potential capital growth to be gained by purchasing property in Cape Verde. Property prices have started to increase, the last 2 years capital growth has been at around 15% per annum. Prices have been so strong that they seem to have become recession proof, the predicted slow down in buying has just not happened! If you are in the market for a holiday home or have grand aspirations of retiring abroad one day, why not take a look at the Fresh Invest website. In a climate where we have all seen our pensions probably halve in value, investing in a property that you also get to use and also could give you a return in double figures may be the best thing you ever did!


Are you self invested?

How safe is your pension? Is it something you think about often?…. Maybe it should be

Now, more than ever is the time to be thinking about a SIPP in Investment Property.

Did you know that for the first time in history the number of over 60 year olds in Britain is larger than the number of under 16′s? The reason for this is “The Post World War Two Baby Boom”

Between 1946 and 1964 there was a dramatic change in the planets demographics. There was suddenly a huge increase in the amount of under 16′s.

Average growth in the population aged over state pensionable age between 1981 and 2007 was less than 1% per year. Between 2006 and 2007 the growth rate was 2%! Source: ONS

Because of this the government is going to have a very large increase in state pension payouts.

State pensions are Index linked therefore as long as the economy is in deflation your pension is decreasing in size.

So the outlook is bleak for your pension? Now is the time to change this!

Invest in any of our overseas property to see long term capital gains and great rental yields!

For example: Our most recent overseas opportunity is Dunas Beach Resort in Cape Verde. Now I strongly believe that that this is one location not to be underestimated! In terms of capital appreciation you are likely to see at least a 15% rise per annum during the course of the first two years. With rental yields estimated at 9.4% (Pessimistic) this is a great place to invest.

Not only is Cape Verde receiving massive Foreign Direct Investments but demographically they have an extremely strong population with only 6.7% over the age of 65 this puts Cape Verde in a great position for economic growth.

To see our Blog on Cape Verde click here

To view details of all our overseas investment property click here


Why Cape Verde is the New Caribbean?

When looking for an overseas investment opportunity Location Location Location really is the most important factor!

If you are looking at an up and coming emerging country that may make massive capital appreciation for you over the coming years i think Cape Verde is the place to be.

When investing myself i normally ask myself who would buy or rent the property i’m purchasing.

Well who would holiday in Cape Verde.

In my mind you have to submit to one of the following:

1. You want winter sun
2. You do not like 9 hour flights
3. Holiday is a rare commodity so you may only be able to take a week at a time
4. Nothing too in your face
5. Value for money

To be honest this has just summed up what i look for in a holiday.

Saying that, i consider myself an “average joe” without wild tastes.

Because of this i believe Cape Verde stands a real chance of taking off over the next few years.

I actually believe that the only reason it has not done so thus far is because of the economic crisis we have found ourselves in.

The reason for this, well do UK holiday makers really have a choice?

Unless you want to go to Egypt, where is close enough to get guaranteed sun in november through to february?

If flight costs continue to increase it’s going to all but price the UK holiday maker out of places such as the Caribbean and U.S.A.

With 1 beds at Dunas Beach Resort going from as little as £74,000 and only a 35% deposit needed it certainly looks inexpensive.

Add to this the fact that you can go for 5 weeks of the year and still command a 9.5% yield worst case, it looks even better.

The compound this with the fact that it’s 2 years off-plan and prices have statistically risen 15% per annum, meaning that in 2 years you may have 30% equity already built in!

Well i’m sold!