Overseas Property: Telling it like it is

Well, it's certainly been a dramatic couple of weeks. The major governments and bankers have finally starting acting in concert. Let us sincerely hope that the coordinated interest rate cut yesterday combined with government bailouts and capital injections will steady the markets again. However, I think they're going to have to cut interest rates by as much as another point.

Telling it like it is
With many companies, both inside and outside the property industry, keeping their proverbial heads down until the economic skies are clear, I thought I'd do the opposite by telling you a little bit more about how Someplace Else have been doing over the last couple of months, and what our future plans are going to be.

There's nothing particularly special about Someplace Else Ireland and we've no closely guarded secret strategy. However we have always run a tight ship - before, during and after the boom times. We don't have dozens of costly admin and marketing staff on the payroll, we don't have plush offices that cost a small fortune to maintain, we don't hire celebrities to endorse our products, we don't waste money in glossy ego driven adverts in the national press or radio and we don't pay PR companies a fortune to make us feel good about ourselves.

Not doing any of the above means we can spend a lot more time (and money) on website improvements and optimisation, google campaigns, staff training, customer service, newsletter design, targeted emails, research, travelling to new locations, launching diverse new products, packaging them in an investor friendly way, meeting and forming exclusive partnerships with developers, lawyers, tax advisors and mortgage brokers etc. and finally - more research.

Recent Company Performance
Because we do all this and because we have very close relationships with so many investors - the recession and general gloom in the market hasn't caused our revenues to drop at all. In fact, we've sold more properties in more locations in the last three months than we did for the same period last year.

So what are we doing next?

1. Argentina
As you may have noticed last week, we've launched a very innovative vineyard product in Argentina (see main image above), which has two revenue streams and provides buyers with a lifetime supply of high quality and personalised wine - which, by the way, has proven to be an extremely recession proof industry. See detailed description below or download brochure.

2. Berlin
A bit closer to home, I'm very much looking forward to launching our new Berlin product. It's called PP Rubens, it's located in Schoneberg in the west of the city, and it comes with 10 year rental, maintenance, management and modernization guarantees. Prices start at just EUR 87,588. Download Preview.

3. Florida
Florida is another area I've been paying very close attention to lately, and many commentators (including myself) feel that the bottom of the market has almost been reached. We will shortly be launching a consultancy and management service for investors seeking to purchase foreclosed properties.

Properties like these will generate a positive cash flow at a fraction (30 to 40 cents on the dollar) of their previous market value. We've put together a short preview document which can be downloaded here. You'll need to email me personally if you are interested learning more about these opportunities and you'll need to be prepared to pay in cash and to move quickly.

4. Panama
The complete Fortune Plaza brochure is finally ready and can be downloaded here. This is one of Panama's finest hands off investment opportunities. Panama stacks up as an investment destination in so many ways as it has an extremely diverse and business friendly economy, it is a tax haven, and it benefits from strong trade relationships with both developed and emerging economies.

Quick Summary:

- Dos Rosas Vineyard Argentina: Download Brochure
- PP Rubens Berlin: Download Factsheet
- Florida Foreclosure Opportunities: Download Preview
- Fortune Plaza, Panama: Download Brochure

Keeping in touch
As always, myself and my colleagues are available to speak with and answer questions from new and existing clients. Our Dawson Street (Dublin) and Fulham (London) offices are always open for those who'd like to drop by and say hello.

I hope the above has been of some use, and I'll look forward to hearing from you soon.

Warm Regards,

Colin Murphy
Director
Someplace Else Ireland

Safe havens from the credit crunch

Hello and welcome to the Someplace Else Blog

I'd like to start by thanking all those who came to visit our stands at the recent property shows in London and Birmingham. We were absolutely delighted by the quality and quantity of people that can to speak with us about our new vineyard development in Mendoza, Argentina.

Amid all the financial turmoil and panic in the media, our staff were only too happy to speak face to face with people who were browsing the aisles and calmly considering and questioning the facts and figures put in from them by the various companies attending.

Argentina is where our latest project is located, and regular readers of these newsletters will know that we've been heavily involved in this country for two and a half years, investing millions of dollars in a range of resorts. The main reasons why we like Argentina so much, apart from its diversity and natural beauty, are also reasons why it is very extremely well positioned benefit foreign buyers seeking a safe market to invest their capital.

One of the most interesting aspects of Argentina is the fact that the property boom is not fuelled by lending or foreign speculation. It is down to local demand for both primary and secondary residences where purchasers buy with cash. This lack of mortgage debt has meant that the credit crisis has had hardly any affect on Argentina.

In our opinion, until the credit crisis is resolved, banks start lending to each other and the mortgage markets open up again; the safest places to invest are areas where the property market is not linked to or reliant on mortgages or foreign speculative buyers. Argentina meets the above criteria perfectly.

Our new project, called Dos Rosas, is upscale vineyard development, which combines premium wine, a boutique hotel and residential vineyards in a stunning location in Argentina's Mendoza wine region. With a dual income stream and 12 cases of high quality personalised wine every year, this is undoubtedly one of our most innovative and recession proof investments.

Detailed information can be found by reading below and by DOWNLOADING our full pdf brochure.

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Kind Regards

Colin Murphy

Emerging markets are a safe bet in turbulent times

Hello and welcome to the Someplace Else Blog

A topsy turvy week
Goodness me, what a week we’ve had. Stockbrokers and bankers across the western world must be going grey and losing their hair at unprecedented rates. With Wall St having one of its most tumultuous weeks ever, one could be forgiven for thinking we’re in the middle of a perfect storm where everybody will be negatively affected and that a “baton down the hatches” approach would be the best bet all round.

Cui bono - who is benefitting from the credit crunch?
Thankfully the Someplace Else team are a little bit more upbeat than most commentators and doomsayers out there and we try to spot opportunities in every situation. Firstly, let’s bear in mind that a crisis produces winners and well as losers. The people benefiting most from USA, UK and Irish economic downturns seem to be the low cost supermarkets (stealing market share from pricier rivals), sovereign wealth funds (snapping up valuable assets at bargain basement prices) and the super rich (whose wealth is actually increasing quite dramatically, especially the newly wealthy from emerging markets).

Much of the blame for this mess can be pinned on a banking system that permitted risky mortgage lending practices and so it stands to reason that countries that have a low percentage (less than 10%) of mortgage debt as a percentage of their GDP (China, India, Romania, Panama, Brazil, Germany) will suffer nowhere near the after affects that debt heavy (40-50%+) countries like UK, Ireland, USA, France etc.).

What other trends can we spot?
One of the big trends that stands out over the last decade are that world growth is nowhere near as dependent on a strong west as it used to be. Emerging market investors should be particularly pleased to learn that these countries have now gotten so big and powerful that they no longer need a strong United States to grow their economies. Domestic consumption in emerging economies is now rising three times faster than consumption in the developed world. Investment is even better according to HSBC, with capital spending up a massive 17% in emerging markets compared to 1.2% in rich countries.

Additionally - the four biggest emerging economies, which accounted for about 40% of global GDP growth last year, are the least dependent on the USA. Exports to America account for just 8% of China’s GDP, 4% of India’s, 3% of Brazils and 1% of Russia’s. Struggling global bankers should also be particularly grateful that liquid investors throughout Asia and the Middle East are on hand lend them money to help repair their balance sheets.

A safe bet in turbulent times
The point I’m trying to make is that emerging markets are a safe bet in turbulent times. Whatever angle you look at them from, they are in a fundamentally stronger position than the traditional “safe” property markets and will be for quite a few years. Why tie up your hard earned cash in struggling low interest banks, volatile stock markets and falling housing markets with low rental yields when it can be diversified and put to much better use elsewhere?

Someplace Else will be launching a series of very interesting and innovative new developments in over the coming weeks, and we are only too happy to discuss them with you in advance if you’d like to get in touch. There’s also great value to be had in current projects on the books, such as the Buenos Aires and Berlin.

As always, feedback (both good and bad) on this blog or our weekly newsletters is most welcome.

Regards
Colin Murphy

Where is the safest place to invest?

Greetings,

I was in sunny Berlin recently meeting with our local partners and discussing various plans for the future. Their offices have amazing panoramic views of the city, and judging by the number of cranes everywhere, I was struck by Berlin's suitability as the ideal place for a safe and secure property investment in uncertain times.

As discussed in Issue 23, I'm a big believer in hunting for exciting high growth opportunities abroad no matter what the conditions are at home.

Balancing a Portfolio
However, I'd also like to emphasise that it's just as important to create a balanced portfolio, where your money is spread between properties in a diverse range of economies and regions, some of which is spent on short-medium term opportunities (3-7 years) and others on long term opportunities (more than 7 years).

There are also a huge number of people out there whose overseas portfolio solely consists of properties in holiday investment destinations such as Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Morocco, Egypt etc.

In my opinion, (and please feel free to argue if you disagree) this type of portfolio is very unbalanced as it will always have an unreliable rental income and is quite vulnerable to changes in fickle tourist markets.

Capital growth could be strong if you bought in a special location (i.e. without thousands of similar properties next door) and sold at the right time, but to be on the safe side, it should ideally be balanced by something in an urban area, where the legal process is rock solid, where rental income is year round, where locals dominate the rental markets and where the economy (and wages) are strong enough to provide you with a local buyer when you choose to sell.

Where is the safest place to invest?
There is an economy in Europe which dwarfs all others, where 85% of locals rent property providing guaranteed income, and best of all, where high quality property can be bought for even less than the equivalent standard in Romania or Panama and at a mere fraction of the current prices in Ireland, UK, Spain or Portugal.

Of course, I'm talking about Germany, where one bed properties in the capital city with guaranteed income can be purchased for less than €75,000 (financing also available).

Someplace Else are in the process of completely revamping the German Section of our website, and we will soon be making new product announcements. I'm convinced that this is a market all of our clients should very seriously consider investing in over the next couple of months, particularly those who wish to put their earnings into a steady and secure long term investment.

Regards

Colin

Investment Holiday Homes

During the boom years, many of us had the luxury of treating ourselves to an investment holiday home. For me, that term always seemed like a cleverly disguised contradiction, as a property you use for your holidays will rarely, if ever, provide a rental income that covers your mortgage or a sound exit strategy when you've grown tired of using it.

There may be a couple of exceptions, but my view has always been that if you want to make money, you would be better off investing in urban locations, with strong local demand, year round rental income and a clear exit strategy. Use the rental income and profits to rent an amazing holiday home every year - there's no shortage of rental websites advertising empty properties out there.

Our property market is changing incredibly fast at the moment, and we understand that the combination of the global credit crunch and our struggling domestic property markets have changed the way many of our clients approach new investments. In order for us to better tailor our future product offers to your changing needs, please feel free to tell us which factors are most important for you when considering an overseas property purchase.

You'll find a list of these factors by clicking on the link below.
Preview Future Project Launches

Best Regards

Colin Murphy
Director
Someplace Else Ireland

How to Profit from a Domestic Downturn

Hello and welcome to the Someplace Else Blog.

Despite the uncertain times we currently face in the Irish & UK economies, there are a whole range of emerging markets out there offering exciting investment opportunities to those looking in the right areas.

Our domestic house prices are falling, that is very true, but those of us who were lucky enough to have lived through an economic boom have a very large disposable income compared to the average hard working citizen of an emerging economy.

The Irish are also particularly well placed to spot trends and opportunities in poor but very fast growing economies, and as one of the wealthiest nations in the world in terms of GDP per capita, we still have the ability to build a diverse portfolio in markets at a much earlier phase of the property growth cycle than our own.

No matter what happens to the Irish & UK economies over the next five years, we are in a unique position to capitalize on the huge growth in emerging economies that are, by and large, unaffected by the credit crisis. For example - about 2% of Romania's GDP is mortgage debt. Ireland & the UK? Over 40%.

I firmly believe that focused research aimed at achieving well defined goals and targets will be how savvy investors use current market conditions to their advantage.

Someplace Else has specialized in these high growth markets for the last four years and our doors are always open to those who would like an informal chat with one of our sales consultants. Speaking of which, I'd like to extend a very warm welcome to Genevieve Judson, the newest member of our sales team.

To view a selection of our latest investment opportunities please visit www.someplaceelse.ie.

Kind Regards

Colin Murphy

Launching Panama & Current Economic Woes in Ireland and the UK

Hello and welcome to the Someplace Else Blog. Panama is the big theme of today’s post and the Someplace Else team are all very excited by the release of our first investment project in this wonderful city. It is called Tropical Hills and the details are all below...

Before I begin though, I must offer an apology to our regular readers for the irregular frequency of these emails lately – these posts & newsletters are very much a team effort and are therefore disrupted during the holiday period. I’d also like to officially welcome Nick Beard to the Dublin office, who joins us from Trinity College and will be concentrating her many talents on the marketing and administration side of our business.

Panama – What’s so special?
While it’s no secret that current domestic economic woes have diminished the famous gung ho investment attitude of the Irish & UK buyer, it is worth noting out that there are still many cities in this world moving to a very different rhythm to our local markets. Some of them offer excellent investment returns to those willing to do their homework and buy the right type of property. Panama is one such city, and we’ve sourced some excellent property starting at just €100,000 ($157,000).

It is officially one of the best places to live in Latin America, and is hugely popular with foreign retirees because of the quality of life, dollar economy and status as a tax haven. Additionally, inflation is low, taxation is low, unemployment is low, economic growth is high and the government is stable, democratic and very open to outside investment. What’s not to like about all that!

Side Effects of a Property Boom
Before moving onto the further information on our Panama project (which you’ll in the new Panama section of our website); I’d like to acknowledge the huge change in our national optimism levels these last six months, which seems to have dramatically changed attitudes towards property and the people who sell it.

One of the drawbacks of our prolonged boom was that it gave unscrupulous agents and developers the opportunity to make a lot of what I would call easy money. Life isn’t so easy for these companies nowadays, which I’m quite happy about.

In my view (and it seems to be borne out by innovative colleagues in the industry who are thriving in the current environment), the only companies that will continue to be successful are those that have always protected their clients and advised them to buy only what suits their budget, timescales, risk profiles and income levels.

It’s all about trust
It’s not an easy thing for a property company to gain the trust of its clients, as it involves taking a long term point of view that doesn’t suit (or even occur to) everybody. You need to continuously source very good properties and research them to death, you need to take a modest commission, and you need to work very hard to ensure your clients get rock solid mortgage, tax, legal and aftersales advice.

In a boom you also often have to ignore requests to promote developments in areas which would be easy to sell but which you know won’t work out in the long term. Instead you must sometimes work extremely hard to convince clients that a city they’ve never even heard of will turn out to be a great property investment for them.

Thankfully, most people have heard of Panama, due to the incredible canal that cuts right through it. And in case anybody is interested, about eight of the apartments we’re selling have unobstructed views of it…

As always, all opinions and points of view are welcome in the Someplace Else Blog.

Kind Regards

Colin Murphy