Posts tagged: property
Focus on Turkey: Undervalued property in the fastest growing economy in Europe
The Turkish property market is currently enjoying a boom, not least because its economy is currently the fastest growing economy in Europe according to the OECD. This is a position that will not be relinquished any time in the near future said the body.
This is due to the country being in much better shape than the rest of Europe, with a stable banking system, controlled inflation a budget deficit currently thought to be running at around 2%. Its growth is set to continue thanks to its youthful population and the transition of many citizens from eastern Turkey into the cities.
Although the downturn sent property prices down in Turkey, this now means that they are undervalued when compared to the rest of Europe, which makes them a juicy opportunity for investors.
Tourism in Turkey is still growing rapidly and the population is expanding, which when coupled with low interest rates ensures that the property market is increasing in momentum.
The Turkish government makes it relatively easy for foreigners to buy property although there is a little red tape to be negotiated. This red tape comes in the form of the military which has to approve every purchase making sure it does not endanger national security. However because of the rapid pace of reform, which looks like bringing the military under the control of civil courts for the first time in Turkey’s history, this may be removed in the near future.
Rental yields on Turkish apartments are good, with gross yields being up to 7.5% for a relatively small apartment according to research by the Global Property Guide. Larger apartments tend to generate a little less income with yields being around 3.7% to 5.7%.
Finally, increasing accessibility through improved airport facilities means that this country will continue to be popular with tourists, which are bound to boost the property market even further.
This is a Guest article by Julian Walker of Spot Blue, a Turkish real estate agent currently marketing property in Turkey from as little as £25,000.
Buy to Let may be the investment of choice, says Ed Mead
For the first time since I’ve been at Douglas & Gordon we made more money last month from lettings than we did from sales.
Given that we are a medium sized company that’s not as trite as it sounds. Renting seems to have finally lost it’s stigma and even seems to be where sensible people reckon they should be when property values appear to be on the way down.
Those who work in lettings have often felt, because of the lack of crash bang months, that the drip drip [albeit constant] nature of their income means they’re the poor cousins.
But with buy to let borrowing on the agenda again and with all the publicity surrounding Council tenants suddenly they’re front page news. About time I reckon. Having rented for over 20 years and been dead pleased with it, many commentators were amazed and quick to point out how I was missing out on the market. I politely replied that I had been investing in something slightly old fashioned and possibly more rewarding. It’s called your own company.
Such is the obsession with property (thank heavens as I’m an estate agent after all) that investing in something that actually yields jobs AND a return seems to have become a lost art. With 70% of the world’s wealth now tied up with property it’s hardly surprising.
Perhaps with standard investments yielding derisory returns entrepreneurs might start to see the light of day again, but with residential rents looking set to rise sharply, capital values stagnant at best, and borrowing costs as low as they’ve ever been I would think buy to let might just become the investment of choice for a few years to come.
Author Biography
Ed Mead is a regular contributor to The Big Property List blog. He has been an estate agent for over 30 years, and has been writing and commentating on the market for over half of that as the Sunday Times Property Expert and The Agent Provocateur for the Telegraph. He sits on the Board of The Property Ombudsman Ltd, has a regular LBC slot, and is happy to say it as it is.
Other places you can find Ed online are:
Douglas & Gordon blog
Ed Mead on Twitter
Peek inside London’s most Sustainable Homes
If you’re interested in Sutainable Housing, architecture or design then you’ll be very interested in Open House London this Autumn when 700 houses in London will be open to the public.
The event is organised by the architecture organisation Open City and takes place over the weekend of 18-19 September 2010.
‘The initiative is a simple but powerful concept: hundreds of great buildings of all types and periods open up their doors to all, completely for FREE. It is a truly city-wide celebration of the buildings, places and neighbourhoods where we live, work and play, and is your opportunity to get out and get under the skin of London’s amazing architecture’ says the Open House website.
The ‘open houses’ range from small private home to major lndmarks such as the BT Tower and there will be lots of events such as cycle tours, architects talks and neighbourhood walks to interest and inspire you over the weekend.
Here at The Big Property List we’re particularly interested in the Sustainable Housing element and there should be plenty of eco-homes on show boasting sustainable designs such as The Coach House, 39 Parkholme Road, Retro-eco House and Zero Carbon Loft.
If you’re visiting any of these sustainable houses over the course of the weekend, why not email your pictures and notes to admin (at) thebigpropertylist.co.uk and we’ll publish them here on our blog?
For the full list of open houses you can visit the Open House website or order a guide to see what is available near you – some venues need to be booked in advance.
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The Big Property List officially launched today!
The Big Property List has been quietly online for some time and although the blog has been running for over a year (and has become quite popular) we only opened up the main property portal a few weeks ago.
The initial feedback and response has been good and people are using the site to find properties for sale and to rent in their area.
We are also seeing a suprising number of enquiries being send to Vendors to request viewings – especially given the recent press about fears for the housing market.
Why not look to find out what properties are on the market in your area?
Press Release 11 August 2010 – revised version
LAUNCH OF THE BIG PROPERTY LIST SEES THE UK’S ONLINE PROPERTY REVOLUTION MOVE ON – BIG TIME
The Big Property List (www.thebigpropertylist.co.uk), a new, free-to-use property portal, has been launched, laying down the gauntlet to everyone in the business of buying, selling and renting property in the UK.
The Big Property List displays details of available property, which have been publicly listed on Google Maps the UK, in a familiar portal style, tackling head-on the critics that suggest that users and those looking for property do not like property displayed in a map format.
In June the search engine announced that users were able to search for properties on Google Maps. This announcement led to intense public debate in the property industry about the future of UK property portals such as Primelocation and Rightmove.
Many industry commentators and property portals have dismissed the threat posed by Google, saying that house hunters don’t want to search for property using the Google map view but prefer a list format. The Big Property List addresses this by presenting the information in a familiar listing design.
The Big Property List offers what everyone hunting or selling property wants – a nationwide listing service to match Rightmove, which is free to use by agents. It gives agents, home seekers and sellers on a budget, a no-cost, no frills, nationwide shop-window.
The Big Property List’s managing director, James Cole, says: “Any agent can send property details for free to Google Maps, and if they choose to syndicate this information then this will appear – for free – on The Big Property List.
He adds: “Estate agents fork out millions of pounds a year to advertise on nationwide sites. There will be no reason to do this anymore, with thebigpropertylist.co.uk providing a similar service, in a familiar style, for free.”
“At thebigpropertylist.co.uk we do not have to justify how we have to charge the fees normally paid by estate agents to a portal, allowing us to focus totally on what the consumer wants. If we help people find the property they want, this results in better quality enquiries for estate agents. So what benefits the consumer benefits the agent.”
-ends-
Notes for editors:
· The Big Property List is an independent business and NOT a Google product or service.
· The Big Property List uses the Google Base API to display details of properties which have been publicly listed on Google Maps.
· Anyone choosing to list their property details on Google Maps can choose whether or not to syndicate this data.
· If a user chooses not to syndicate the data, the information regarding their property WILL NOT appear on The Big Property List. Submitting a listing to Google does not mean it will necessarily appear on any other website.
For further information please contact:
James Cole, The Big Property List +44 (0)7551 237 085 press@thebigpropertylist.co.uk www.thebigpropertylist.co.uk
Andrew Barber, Revolution Public Relations +44 (0)7989 553 903 andrew@revolution-pr.co.uk www.revolution-pr.co.uk
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Interior design tips: Never judge a book by its cover…
Never judge a book by its cover …or not?
So, consider this…before:
Selling your home is always a challenge and can take some time. To help sell the property it is always a good idea to give your home that final piece of love and attention. The more effort you put into making your home look nice, the more money it will sell for. Try and look through the buyer’s eyes, investigate every corner and think of how you could make it better and more attractive.
Home staging is becoming ever more the norm and is often needed in today’s demanding property market. With the pressures of meeting buyers’ high expectations it is important to concentrate on the overall look and feel of your home and ensure that it is not only appealing to the buyer, but also inviting.
There is nothing worse than going into a home that is full of clutter, which has been left to its own devices. Over the coming weeks I’ll be providing tips to help sell your home and get it off the market – so book mark this blog or sign up to recieve my tips by email.
It is a service provided by Sav Design, so for more information please visit my website and follow me on twitter @savvy_sav for helpful advice, tips and other random tweets!
Helpful Hint 1: I know we are always told never to judge a book by its cover, but be honest how many times have you seen something and immediately made a judgement? It is quite common for people to form an opinion of some sort within the first few minutes of seeing something, be it a property, person or a pair of shoes!!
So ensure that the entrance to your property is tended to, be it a garden or a corridor. Make an effort to get rid of unwanted rubbish. We are all hoarders of some type and just need that extra push to de-clutter¦ believe it or not you will feel lighter and maybe slightly liberated!!
So get rid of those weeds in the front garden and give it a good sweep. Pick up the mess from the corridors and create an atmosphere of calm, welcoming your new guests. Small entrances can be tricky, but adding a long mirror and additional lighting automatically tricks the eye into seeing more. Another way to add more depth and space is to add a small console table at one end; this draws the eye forward again creating the illusion of more space. As the eye is being drawn to this table it would be a good idea to add a simple accessory such as a tasteful flower arrangement or vase. Leaving the entrance ticked off of your list!!
Now consider this…after:
Consider the impression that the two pictures above would give a potential purchasor. The key is to make that initial impact and create not just a ‘good’, but a fantastic impression.
I hope you enjoyed this article and are looking forward to the next helpful hint! In the meantime please do not hesitate to get in touch for personal advice from Sav Design.
Author Biography
Savita Kalia is the principal interior designer at Sav Design, an interior design firm offering a variety of commercial and residential services. Sav Designis a young company fresh with new ideas and old, ensuring that all client needs are fulfilled. Life is too short to be badly designed, contact Sav Design today! design@savdesign.co.uk
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Property & the Internet: a history of unfulfilled potential…
Ever since the property industry made its first bold steps online, the possibilities offered have been a gift for sellers and buyers alike. From basic search to widgets, from Google Maps integration to social media engagement, pioneers in the property world have seized upon digital developments to reap the benefits of their “revolutionary” vision. But how much of this has truly been revolutionary?
Every so often, we’re promised a real game-changer, but in almost all cases the changes are superficial and the game seems to stay the same. Recently, there’s been a lot of excitement over both Google and Tesco venturing into the industry. Again, we were led to believe this would herald a new era in online property sales. Again, we were disappointed.
For as long as the big players in the property world (old and new) invest their time and money into window dressing, we will always fail to address the issues that really need our attention: significantly reducing the stress and hassle people experience when buying a home, making the whole process quicker and easier, restoring trust in estate agents, dragging intimidating property auctions into the 21st century, and ending gazumping forever.
These issues cut to the heart of what matters to buyers. They should also make us question how we, as an industry, use the Internet not to simply promote properties but also to close the deal.
This is what I had in mind when I created Click to Purchase – a transactional platform that enables people to buy property online at the click of a button or via real-time auction. There’s no excessive haggling or negotiating. No recurrent visits to the agent’s office. No back room deals after an offer has been placed. As soon as a bid is accepted, the contract is immediately exchanged online. It’s like e-commerce for property.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I was told “no-one will ever buy property online”. But the platform has already been active in the commercial market for several months. During this time, it has generated sales in excess of £15 million and thrived despite the financial squeeze. There is obviously a hunger for this kind of innovation from buyers and I’m now hoping for this success to be shared across the residential market.
Very soon, all estate agents across the UK will have the option to invite their customers to buy via Click to Purchase. Now, I believe this really is something special. A game-changer. Dare I say, revolutionary?
Author Biography: Neil Singer
Neil Singer has worked in the commercial property industry for over 25 years. In recent years he has been inspired by the power of the Internet and its use in business. His passion for applying new technologies to traditional processes led him to create the Click to Purchase platform. Please visit the Click to Purchase website (http://clicktopurchase.com) and follow him on Twitter.
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2010 Budget Implications for UK property
The UK government today announced their 2010 emergency budget to the house of commons and it makes significant changes to the taxation concerning income and capital gains from property.
The Headlines:
- Income tax threshold raised by £1000 to £7475
- UK Economy growth forecasts reduced to 1.2 percent this year and 2.3% in 2011
- Capital Gains tax raised from 18% to 28% for higher rate income tax payers from midnight tonight
- Capital Gains Tax remains at 18% for low and middle-income savers
- Council Tax frozen for 12 months from April 2011
- Corporation tax to be cut progressively over the next few years
- VAT to rise from 17.5% to 20% from January2011
The rise in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) was expected by most to rise to the same level as income tax (40% for higher rate) – so this announcement will not come as a shock but maybe some small relief to those expecting a greater hike. Lower income bracket earners wil be relieved that the tax payable on the sale of property (other than a principle dwelling) will remain at 18%
Private landlords will also, no doubt, be calculating the impact on the rental sector that the changes to income tax and housing allowance may produce.
The effect on inflation, trade and unemployment will also have a bearing on inflation, affordability and access to finance – all of which will have a bearing on house prices over the next two years.
Have your say, leave your comments below.
Sources: BBC, Reuters, Sky News
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