As you saw in last weeks blog, i delved into my top 5 places to invest in property for 2010.

The first 3 were Cape Verde, Barbados and Barcelona.

Below are the last 2, and perhaps the most interesting.

4. Mallorca:

Known to many, invested in by few….

Mallorca is one of the most visited islands in Europe, most of us have been there be it on a lads holiday or a family one!

What many people don’t know is that because of building restrictions prices have not been effected by the global downturn anywehere near as much as their close neighbour Spain.
We have a villa in Puerto Pollensa and in 15 years have not seen it lose money, also long term lets are easy to obtain in the winter, it yields around 11% per year AFTER mortgage payments!

Combine this with an average 3 weeks use per year and it looks like a great investment.
As the cost of far away holidays spiral and many long haul operators upping prices or going under altogether, holidays closer to home tick boxes for many people.

The fact that more and more people are buying second homes in Mallorca combined with laws on future building means that prices are sure to steadily increase in the near future and with a vibrant holiday market rentals will follow suit.

Conclusion:

Risk = Low

Returns = Medium

Yields = Medium

Minimum cost to invest = £30,000

5. The UK

Well you knew it was coming didn’t you!

Ok the returns may not be as much as the countries mentioned earlier BUT many of you will have the market knowledge to know a “good deal” when you see it.

In this market many property investors that do look to invest are loking at minimising their risk as much as possible, for the masses that means not moving out of their comfort zones.

I’ll always tell you that using a property investment company is the way to go, they charge very little, normally get paid by the developer and have market knowledge and contacts that can only be gained by years in the business.

We have seen some really great stock recently, from tenanted apartments in Chorley yielding over 8% to townhouses in Chichester (where we are based) yielding close to 9% when let to students under an HMO license.

Check out our UK property investments for more information.

Conclusion:

Risk = Low

Returns = Medium

Yields = Medium

Minimum cost to invest = £20,000

To Finish……These are my 5 places to invest in 2010, i would hope that by 2011 i will have invested in at least 3 of them. If you have a location you are looking at and a reason why, post it below!

The 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.

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, check back next week!

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!

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!

Is 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.

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.