Hi I have money to invest, and I think the highest return will perhaps be to buy and let a flat/studio in a popular area where propertie prices are seen to increase. I was thinking of buying a flat in the centre of Aix-en-provence and then renting it to students, etc. I am fluent in French and have relatives in the area of Marseille. What advice would you give? Would you even invest £8000 in this manner?

Many thanks,

Tom

I would consider buying land in Brazil , off plan property in Dubai (staged payments) or putting down a deposit on a Bulgarian Apartment

We can assist with Brazilians land plots with just over £4000 deposit required.
£8000 will also allow you put a 40% deposit down on a studio apartment on the beautiful South Albanian area of Bay of Volares.
PM or email me at info@iqpropertyinvest.co.uk

Hi,
I think its an extremely good idea to invest your money in property, not much else is stable right now, and France is a very stable market unlike some of the more speculative areas of the world, president Sarkozy's tax breaks for mortgage payers will be good for the property market. I have a great investment property that sleeps 10 in the South West of France, if you are interested contact me at huffsinfrance@wanadoo.fr

Hi,

8000 pounds (12 000 Euro?) will by itself get you nothing, it would be just a down payment in all cases- France (especially), Brazil or even Albania. If you don't have more funds to follow there is no need to even contemplate such steps. I have studios in Bulgaria on the coast for a bit more altogether, if interested, contact me on gistef@abv.bg

George

Hi Tom,
Yes 8,000 GBP(12,000 euros) would only be a down payment, but with tax write offs on loans and income from the rental of the property you could easily cover your outlays, all the while your property is increasing in value. Bulgaria, Albania and Brazil are those new emerging markets, where property sales are largely unregulated and scams are rife, this is not investing, its speculation, in my opinion you are better to hold onto your money.

With Sterling at an all time high against the US Dollar I find it hard to find a better place to invest money in property than the USA
We have started a second property investment fund with UK based investors buy in Florida. There must be something stirring in Florida when hedge fund managers based in the US are now starting to pounce on the Florida market they are purchasing with dollars, just think of the return a British investor can receive when using Sterling to buy investment property in Florida.
We have set up a management company to guarantee a 1 year rental on investment properties for our clients. We have now started buying short sale and repossession properties through a bank and have managed to secure some great buys.

Fractional Investment is also proving more popular as it allows investors with a small amount of capitol to get involved in the investment scene.

Tom,

I've only just found this forum. I post on another one, but can't mention it because of the terms & conditions. Also, I could advise you how you could invest your £8K to buy 2 apartments in Spain, and get about half of it back in your bank account, but because I market these apartments, again, I can't post until I have made 20 more posts (I don't count this one as being useful - it's just an introduction)

Regards, Gerry

You can get something in Egypt. We have some great things, the amount you need is around 13k sterling but then 6.5 sterling is given back so you only need about 6.500 pounds sterling to buy and the rest is put on mortgage.

A place in the sun, a nice place for 6,500, especially winter time when some places are so cold! And a good developer too.

__________________

Tom,
I'd almost forgotten about this forum. I've been travelling right up to beyond Christmas. Now I've made over 20 posts on the forum, so I guess it's fair to talk about my Fuerteventura opportunity. We finished 2007 with 29 apartments controlled on a complex of 288 apartments.

2008 is the year we want to take control of the management of the community and set about improving the common areas. I'm still procuring these apartments for under €50K, and obtaining bank mortgages of €58K for clients (subject to bank acceptance criteria). After all the Spanish costs, the bottom line is that you deposit £5K per apartment in a UK company, and after completion, you get €800 in your Spanish bank account, and £2,700 of your £5,000 deposit returned to you in the UK for a net investment of around £1,700 per apartment.

The apartments are let all year round to local workers. With the 116% mortgage, they cash flow negative at around €70 per month when let, but the objective is to create forced appreciation by repairing the community common areas and uplifting the value by around €20,000 within two years. Bank valuations are currently €80K, and when the community is run properly, will be close to €100K. Current discount to valuation is around 40%.