To all the Gurus who are already in the Property market.. this one is for you:

If you had to do it all over again... starting today.. and you only have 300,000 DH in the back... were would you buy your first property now???

(as you might have guessed... I am that person..

But since this would by my first investment.. .I don't wanna invest in the wrong place.... I was thinking of a studio at Bab-Al-Bader in RAK... I am thinking that would be like investing in the Palm 3 years ago... But then again... will i be able to flip it quickly?? I hate to be stuck with a property that I cannot sell !

Or should I buy in Dubai? With all those big investers around me... will I be having a chance within those big giants?? Emmar and Nakheel...? They are too big for me!

That do you think??

Nakheel and Emaar are actually the ones you should be looking for. Try for Badrah phase 3. Registration is online (i dont know the site). If you can secure a unit there, which i agree will be extremely tough, you will most probably be able to flip it within a week or so.

Failing this, look for a development with good location, good payment plan and good developer. Also, try choose one thats already 'out the ground'.

Hope this helps.

Have a back up retaining plan, in case you cannot flip.

RAK has the same " Build and they will come " policy like Dubai. Wherever it is, think of buying to rent. If you go with that in mind and if you can flip on the way ( which you want to )then it's a bonus for you.

Regards

Roshan

Hi SamSaf,

It seems that we are both in the same boat. We are late entrants to the market however, I believe it is never too late and the market has potential. I have bought a property in Ajman and planning to buy one soon in La Hoya bay. Even though the prices are higher there, I still believe that as infrastructure develops in RAK, properties prices should go higher. Furthermore, I found this blog very helpful. Visit it frequently for new launches and pre-launches and seek help if need be and i am sure you would learn with time and become efficient in dealing in real estate.

P.S. Bab Al BADAR sounds good but I think it is on the higher end.

Regards.

Hi

If I were you I would snap up a Nakheel Badrah apartment from launch 2 on the secondary market at a reasonable premium - 10 to 12% because you can be sure that even if you secure an appointment at badrah 3 launch it will cost more than badrah 2 with 10%. Try a studio or one bed.

IMHO this is a safe bet

samsaf,

I think before you leap into the market, there are some funadamentals that you need to look at.

What kind of investor are you? Do you wish to trade properties or do you wish to own for the long term.

I believe that the only reason to flip a property is because you need cash right now for something, or alternatively because you cannot get a mortgage.

I would suggest buying a good property like Emaar, take a 90% mortgage and hold for a longer period. The result is far less effort, stress and importantly bear in mind this achieves similar results to flipping. Leverage here is a key element.

As an example, I bought in the Greens 18 months ago, took a mortgage, so my only payment was the initial one. I sold last month at 55% premium = 3% per month. I think the really slick operators here may achieve better results through flipping, but many of them do this for a living and when you consider the idle time of their cash, the amount of effort required, you must ask yourself if that really is doing better. For the man in the street the mortgage longer term hold is better.

If the bank will give you a mortgage, it means the bank has faith in the developer. A lot of the northern emirates properties do not offer mortgages.......not to say its a bad investment, but think of how your buyer is going raise funds to buy from you.

I will also look at flipping, but I am putting another mortgage deal in place first.

You make a good point Kenny.
For me, the ideal portfolio is to do a bot of both. I have some props in Abu Dhabi that I have been holding for one year and they now attract a premium of 90%. I also like to flip on the occasion for cash flow as I am not mortgaging the longer term properties and I also think that some launches hgave far better short term prospects.

At the end of the day it is all about your personal strategy, risk management as well as a sound exit strategy.

Hi jennie,

I agree with you......flipping should be part of an overall strategy.

I would just like to make 2 points here :-

1. Flipping takes a certain level of expertise and know how......I don't think it a good strategy for a first time investor.

2. Leverage, leverage, leverage.......most people here know about it and use it. This is why launches are so popular. Lay out 5% and sell within a month at a 5% premium.....basically 1% premium = 20% profit.....great leverage. However, this gets weaker over time because of the amount of cash that you need to lay out gets bigger.

Case in point is Hydra Avenue Furnished Hotel Apartments in Abu Dhabi. IMHO a great investment, however at this stage with premiums of 20% and well into the 30/70 payment plan, I have to haul out almost 50% of the price to buy this great investment. In this case 1% premium = 2% profit.....not so great.

I have badrah phase 2, single bed unit at 10 percent premium. Mail me on iimz at hotmail dot com

Hi brother, I don’t recommend you to invest in RAK, the property is very difficult to dispose off, it will take time. This is my personal experiance. It took me 6 months to sell of my Town house in Alhamrah Village RAK

I recommend you try to buy a property with minimum premium and easy payment plan, this will help you.

keep in mind you should be able to pay at least 2 installments with the money you have in pocket , and then sell it out . Dubai property is easy to sign off.

Two installments will stretch you up to six months, which is fair enough to earn approximately 100 to 150 dhs per sqft.

Try investing in studios, and the quickest to sell and carry a low price tag.

Try JVC .JVS / Dubai lands.

My last and final advice, don’t think too much while investing, nothing will happen to your original investment in Dubai, and you will never be stuck.

Leave the rest to God, Inshallah you will succeed.

All the best.

Haider