Cheap Flats In London

Program Income is a money making machine!

You don’t need a website or any upfront investment. It’s a zero cost method to make a good, long term income online. That’s the beauty of Program Income. If you are a complete newcomer or experienced Internet marketer – Program Income is for you.

Benefits of Program Income:

The Program Income is absolutely Free.
• The Program Income is Simple to set up and Easy to Use.
• With Program Income no website required to make profits online.
• Program Income gives you long term reccuring profits.
• You can get started straight away.
• The Program Income is fully automated, all you need to do is to refer subscribers to this page.
• The sytem will give you know-how and tips how to refer subscribers.
• Instantly updated stats with Your profits!

How Much Can You Earn? Up to $2475 from just 100 visitors!

Click here to Get Your FREE Report how you CAN BENEFIT With Program Income!

In today’s insecure and unpredictable climate, increasingly larger numbers of people are considering closing insurance policies for their real estate properties and assets in order to protect their value in the event of a harmful accident. On the actual premises, the closing of solid insurance policy deals is regarded as a crucial step in protecting real estate investments; by closing an efficient insurance policy with a reputed insurer, one can rest assured that one’s property is covered against a variety of unfortunate events such as fire, lightning, explosion, earthquake, flood, smoke, theft, attempted theft and so on.

At present, it is advisable to close a property insurance policy for each property you own. The necessity of closing an efficient insurance policy for your properties is even more pronounced when your properties are located abroad. For the fact that overseas properties (especially holiday homes, villas or apartments which remain unoccupied for long periods of time) are more exposed to damage and deterioration, as well as acts of theft and vandalism, experts recommend owners of such properties to close adequate insurance deals as soon as possible. However, take note that the process of finding the right property insurance company and closing the right insurance deal abroad is challenging and time consuming.

Even if you manage to find a reliable and competitive insurer abroad, the closing of a property insurance policy with a foreign insurance company can be complicated, requiring you to obtain and translate a variety of specific documents. Apart from the language barrier, another disadvantage of signing property insurance deals with foreign insurers is that most insurance companies abroad pay claims in the local currency (this should be particularly avoided when closing deals in countries with unstable, oscillatory currencies).

In order to effectively overcome the impediments characteristic to closing overseas insurance policies, you should hire the services of a popular, respectable UK insurance company specialized in delivering quality overseas insurance services. If you own a holiday home in France, Spain or other European countries and want to close the right overseas insurance property deal in less time and with less effort, then all you have to do is hire an experienced UK insurer specialized in overseas property insurance and rest assured that your needs and requirements will be handled with professionalism.

The UK property insurance business has made significant progress over the last few decades, and nowadays there are many reliable and competitive insurance companies out there providing dedicated services to both physical and juridical persons in search of a suitable property insurance policy. The remarkable evolution of the property insurance market has determined most insurance companies to develop better, more comprehensive insurance offers in exchange for more affordable fees; consequently, today’s insurance offer is extensive and is addressed to a large segment of clients.

By hiring the right UK insurer, you can nowadays enter in possession of efficient, comprehensive property insurance policies (for both UK and overseas properties) for low rates and with little effort. With the help of a dedicated UK insurer, your holiday home in Spain, France, Italy or other European countries will be comprehensively covered and you will be provided with quality and convenient services.

For greater resources on holiday home spain or especially about holiday home france please visit this link http://www.larkquickquote.co.uk/overseas_quote.php

The idea of purchasing a commercial property is that it is well suited to the needs of your business. This can and is defined by several factors and they will all be considered when you apply for your mortgage. The commercial lender will look at your business and what it does and how it will relate to the commercial property in question.
If your company makes widgets, the lender will want to know how long you have been making widgets. They will also want to know what your growth rate has been over the time you have been making widgets. They will look at the property to consider whether it will meet your needs for making widgets during the lifetime of the loan.
The lender will want to see that you will have room to grow and that you will grow to fill the space. They will also look at the location of the property to see how that is going to work with your widget manufacturing needs. Do you have good access to roads that can handle the volume of traffic that will be generated?
Will there be adequate parking available for staff and customers? Does the location provide room for expansion if your growth rate is more then expected or will you be moving in a couple of years? What tax incentives are available on that property and how long will they be available for that property? Are the tax incentives a one-time offer or are they able to be extended to make the property more appealing.
The things that will make a commercial property desirable will change depending on what your business is. If you want to open a pub, your needs will be very different from that of a factory. The lender will want to know that the property is in a good location to maximize the profitability of the pub. The property could be located across the street from the factory we talked about in the previous example.
The lender will again look at your past performance in regard to operating pubs to make sure that you know how to run a pub. They will want to know what the growth potential is and if the commercial property will meet those needs.
The commercial lender will not give you a commercial mortgage if the property is too big or not big enough to meet the expected needs of the business. If the property does not have enough parking for peak customer traffic, it will mean you could loose business.
The lender will want to know if there is enough space for the number of employees required and if the kitchen is large enough to meet thier needs. What is the maximum seating capacity of the building and how much will the average customer have to purchase to make the payments.
There are many similar small things to consider when deciding if the commercial property being looked at is a good deal for both you and the lender. The list of things that can make or break a property deal is very long and it does change from business to business.
For example for some businesses, it may come down to waste removal. If your business is involved in agriculture, it could come down to the smell. Is the location of your farm upwind or downwind from a population center?
If you are upwind from a population center, there could be some issues as locals oppose your being there. This could create a different kind of pressure on the lender that could make the property less desirable for the commercial loan. An independent broker could help out with this type of issue.
It does not make any difference what your business is, what will make all the difference is what your business needs are and will the commercial property meet those needs. The definition of a good commercial property is one that will meet all your current and long-term plans.
If it does, it will make it easier to get the commercial mortgage you are looking for. It will also help you to get better rates and conditions on your commercial financing.

Slovenia property investment may not be as popular as many other well known property investment locations, but savvy investors are buying and making great capital gains, in one of the top markets for capital growth in the world.

With prices starting at just $50,000 and capital growth in excess of 30% per annum combined with the potential for significant rental income, it no wonder more investors than ever are looking at Slovenia property investment.

Capital growth potential

Investors in Slovenian property are currently enjoying capital gains of up to 30% per annum and this growth looks set to continue.

In the next decade capital growth was forecast at 278% by property specialist program “A place in the Sun” which has increased interest from property investors around the world.

Why Slovenia is hot

Since attaining independence from Yugoslavia and joining the EU, Slovenia has seen strong economic growth.

Tourism has been the fastest-growing sector of the economy and this has enabled it to produce the highest GDP of the new EU members.

Slovenia has become popular due to its variety of scenery; good infrastructure and a variety of airlines now offer cheap, frequent flights – making it easy and inexpensive to get to.

Natural Beauty

Slovenia is located between Austria, Italy, Hungary and Croatia and while a small country, it is beautiful and has something for everyone.

Slovenia features forests, vineyards, snow capped mountains, a beautiful stretch of Mediterranean coastline and some great baroque architecture.

Slovenia has a beautiful capital – Ljubljana.

The city has been described as a smaller and less crowed Prague and comes with stunning architecture.

A booming economy

Slovenia’s accession to the EU saw big changes in the economy, as Slovenia opened its doors to overseas property buyers.

Strong growth in GDP has been mirrored by growth in Slovenian property prices.

The capital Ljubljana offers the best returns on investment, with prices predicted to continue rising by around 30% per annum for many years to come.

The limited supply of housing and restrictions on land development are the main driving forces behind this growth.

The economic expansion in the capital which will see rentals soar – giving “buy to let” investors significant income, as well as capital growth potential.

Primorska on the Adriatic coast and the mountain district of Gorenjska are the next most expensive places to buy in Slovenia.

If you are interested in Slovenian property and cant afford these areas there are plenty more to choose from, as this is a market in its early stages of development and offers better risk to reward than the more mature markets that surround it.

Slovenia has a wide range of property investments to suit all tastes and budgets.

Property for sale in Slovenia with good capital growth potential can be bought from under $50,000 in many areas.

You can invest in ski apartments in areas such as the Julian Mountains, or in traditional country houses near the vineyards or finally, in the expanding urban areas.

In Conclusion, Slovenia Offers property investors:

A great opportunity to invest in a stable and growing EU member.

Slovenian property investment offers above average capital growth potential combined with significant rental income from “the buy to let” areas and finally, being an emerging market it’s highly affordable.

In part 2 of this article you will find some of the best new emerging destinations to buy in and also an in-depth look at the buying process.

Discover more about Slovenia and Slovenian property investment and see how it could change your financial future.

Listening to and reading reports this week about the recent slump in Spanish Construction companies stock on the Spanish Stock Exchange and the imminent demise of the Spanish property sector instantly brought to mind the well known quote that I have used in the title. The British press and television coverage has been quick to link this correction to a crash in the property market for holiday property in the coastal areas, (Costa’s), and the dangers for UK citizens purchasing property in Spain.
The headlines and suppositions of these so-called experts are based more on scare-mongering than economic fact and the data from the agents on the ground and some basic economic fundamentals tells a very different story.
For those who live in Spain and work in the Property industry I think the jitters in new construction companies stock comes as no surprise. Whilst triggered more by domestic concerns, the sheer volume of new construction in progress and planned, in the Costa regions was bound to outstrip the demand eventually and a correction in stock prices due to the new start figures needing to be revised was somewhat expected.
To link this to a wholesale crash in property prices across the market would, however, be wholly unjustified. Firstly, new construction should be viewed separately from the largest sector of the market, re-sales. Which in itself should be viewed as separate from the Spanish domestic market.
The reasons behind this statement are as follows.
The first thing to recognize is that the domestic property market in Spain and the market for holiday properties on the Spanish Costa’s are two distinct different economic models. Whilst they may overlap in terms of new construction from large domestic building companies, the largest proportion of the coastal property sector reacts completely independently from that of the domestic market.
Supply and demand, the basic factors that drive price in the market are completely different for the two models and thus to compare the market as one and predict trends based on both, based solely on the changing factors in one, would be naive at best.
If we look at the demand for property in the coastal areas of Spain we find that over 70% of this comes from outside Spain. Moreover, nearly 60% of it comes from the UK market as those that can afford to leave their home shores look for some peace and serenity in the sun and use the accumulated equity they have earnt on their UK property to purchase a second home or move completely to sunnier climes.
It is possible to track recent corrections in the Spanish market directly to jitters in the UK property market, the last of which occurred approximately three years ago when interest rates in the UK turned upwards and rising oil prices and worries about the war in the Gulf brought about a market slowdown in the UK. This spilled over to the Spanish property market which had been making record profits on the back of the UK market and signaled a correction in prices.
Since then the market has steadied and in the past twelve months has resumed a steady growth in demand.
The fact is that whilst people continue to make equity profits from their property in the UK, they will continue to purchase property in Spain and whilst domestic construction may falter, this can be attributed more to domestic issues and an overzealous expansion regime that got ahead of the game than to a lack of demand. Over supply in new construction will correct itself. Demand for property in Spain is still growing and therefore continues to fuel a steadily increasing property sector.
Problems will only arise should the domestic market in the UK suffer a downturn on a scale not seen since the end of the 1980’s, which is something unlikely to happen soon.

Many investors will agree that cash flow is the secret to successful investing. Whether it is a property or business, the key to success is to have a strong grip on your cash flow situation. Interest rate increases, like the ones we have recently experienced, can significantly eat into the cash flow. Many people think that one needs to amass great sums of money to build wealth, but building a strong inflow of cash can also bring about financial freedom without having piles of cash.

The trick is not to focus on all the debt, but to build your strategies around cash flow. It is highly evident that many investors don’t know what to do in order to generate positive cash flow from an investment property. By asking yourself “How do I make money from an investment property I already own?” you will come to the conclusion that you need to generate more income or you need to reduce your expenses on that particular property.

How to Reduce Expenses on a Property

* Your biggest expense will be the monthly instalment that you have to pay the Bank. By extending the Bond over a longer period (like 30 years), you will reduce your monthly instalment. Don’t focus on the extra interest that you have to repay, it is the tenant that repay’s it for you.

* Negotiate a better interest rate with your bank. Normally when you extend the bond period to 30 years they are more than willing to drop the rate. In the process, negotiate a discount with the lawyer (up to 20% is normal, some investors get no less than 30%).

* Do your own management on your rental properties. It is a simple exercise of monitoring your bank account to see that the money has been deposited. Especially if you only starting out with a few properties. Once you have a strong, positive cash flow and enough properties, consider using an agent.

How to Increase Income on a Property

* The easiest is to have a rental escalation clause in your lease Contract. Normal escalations are 8 – 10% p.a.

* Consider converting a storeroom or double garage into a granny flat. Having more than one tenant on one property can generate substantial cash flow.

* Considering adding a granny flat if possible. It can be FAR cheaper than buying a new small flat.

* See if you can subdivide the land. Either to sell the divided part or to build a second unit on.

* Have you ever bothered to ask your tenant what he would like? A second carport or security gate can generate more income.

* Look at the security of the property. Can you add more security to increase the rent (e.g. burglar bars, alarms, etc)? If you don’t know, ask the tenant if such additions would add value.

* You can change the nature of the property? Rezone farming land for residential use or changing residential to business rights can be most rewarding.

* By adding additional businesses to you student housing like a Laundromat facility, games room with coin operated pool tables or put vending machines that sell sodas or sweets you can generate additional income. This will also make your property more appealing in comparison with the one next door.

* Convert a 4 bed 2 bath house into two 2 bed apartments. Not only will it generate more income but you reduce your risk as well.

By combining some of these ideas can easily make you property go positive. Also take note of what to look for when you buy your next property. The more space you have, the more options to consider. Each property has unique opportunities like extra space, additional buildings or it might be the ideal location. It is your job as an investor to identify the opportunities that others don’t see. Use your imagination to see with your mind and not only with your eye’s. In the mean time, with all the interest rate increases, exercise your imagination on your current property investments.

With increase in interest rates and tightening credit from lenders, investors must start to look at how to make more money from their current investment properties. Optimizing the portfolio has never been more important than in the current economic climate.

Many investors will agree that cash flow is the secret to successful investing. Whether it is a property or business, the key to success is to have a strong grip on your cash flow situation. Interest rate increases, like the ones we have recently experienced, can significantly eat into the cash flow. Many people think that one needs to amass great sums of money to build wealth, but building a strong inflow of cash can also bring about financial freedom without having piles of cash.

The trick is not to focus on all the debt, but to build your strategies around cash flow. It is highly evident that many investors don’t know what to do in order to generate positive cash flow from an investment property. By asking yourself “How do I make money from an investment property I already own?” you will come to the conclusion that you need to generate more income or you need to reduce your expenses on that particular property.

How to Reduce Expenses on a Property

* Your biggest expense will be the monthly instalment that you have to pay the Bank. By extending the Bond over a longer period (like 30 years), you will reduce your monthly instalment. Don’t focus on the extra interest that you have to repay, it is the tenant that repay’s it for you.

* Negotiate a better interest rate with your bank. Normally when you extend the bond period to 30 years they are more than willing to drop the rate. In the process, negotiate a discount with the lawyer (up to 20% is normal, some investors get no less than 30%).

* Do your own management on your rental properties. It is a simple exercise of monitoring your bank account to see that the money has been deposited. Especially if you only starting out with a few properties. Once you have a strong, positive cash flow and enough properties, consider using an agent.

How to Increase Income on a Property

* The easiest is to have a rental escalation clause in your lease Contract. Normal escalations are 8 – 10% p.a.

* Consider converting a storeroom or double garage into a granny flat. Having more than one tenant on one property can generate substantial cash flow.

* Considering adding a granny flat if possible. It can be FAR cheaper than buying a new small flat.

* See if you can subdivide the land. Either to sell the divided part or to build a second unit on.

* Have you ever bothered to ask your tenant what he would like? A second carport or security gate can generate more income.

* Look at the security of the property. Can you add more security to increase the rent (e.g. burglar bars, alarms, etc)? If you don’t know, ask the tenant if such additions would add value.

* You can change the nature of the property? Rezone farming land for residential use or changing residential to business rights can be most rewarding.

* By adding additional businesses to you student housing like a Laundromat facility, games room with coin operated pool tables or put vending machines that sell sodas or sweets you can generate additional income. This will also make your property more appealing in comparison with the one next door.

* Convert a 4 bed 2 bath house into two 2 bed apartments. Not only will it generate more income but you reduce your risk as well.

By combining some of these ideas can easily make you property go positive. Also take note of what to look for when you buy your next property. The more space you have, the more options to consider. Each property has unique opportunities like extra space, additional buildings or it might be the ideal location. It is your job as an investor to identify the opportunities that others don’t see. Use your imagination to see with your mind and not only with your eye’s. In the mean time, with all the interest rate increases, exercise your imagination on your current property investments.

Multi Property Services – gives owners of Costal del Sol property who are interested in letting out their villa or letting out their apartment the confidence and piece of mind in knowing that they can gain the financial rewards of short- or long-term rentals while protecting their property and interest. Here are some tips for you if you are looking for a company in Fuengirola, Mijas Costa, Benalmadena or Marbella to manage your property or letting your villa or apartment.Property inspections – the company you select should check your property on a weekly basis. Inspections should include a check of all plumbing, baths, toilets and making sure all showers are off and all other fixtures are in working order. It should also include an inspection of electrical outlets and small appliances, again to ensure that they are in perfect working order.Outdoor inspections – includes the checking of lawns, gardens, and the pool for any damage. The rental property management company should make sure that the sprinkler systems and pool filters are working. The company should also regularly inspect for any pests or vermin.Property administration – The rental property management company will ensure that utility payments, taxes, and other bills are paid in a timely manner. They should also provide you with a monthly report.Property inventory – the property management company will go through the property with you, making a thorough property inventory and using that as the basis for checking the apartment or villa after guests have departed.Cleaning – Prior to the arrival of guests, the rental property management company should arrange to have your villa or apartment cleaned and prepared for letting. Some companies may, for an extra fee, also offer a greet and meet service for guests.Mail pick-up – Any mail should be picked up from the property and forwarded on to the owner.When you do find the right rental property management company, then owning a property in Fuengirola, Mijas Costa, Benalmadena or Marbella will be both a personally and financially rewarding experience. Furniture packages -Buying furniture for your new property can be an overwhelming and frustrating experience. There are so many shops to choose from and so many companies offering furniture’s. On completion of your new purchased property time is very limited and there are lot more things you have to consider. Our company prowide furniture packages this way you don’t need to wory about the quality of the furniture.To learn more about subjects like costa del sol property management please visit the web site at: http://www.multipropertyservices.com

Are you or someone you know thinking about investing on property abroad? If so, then don’t be discouraged from doing such because there are many of reasons that you should invest property abroad. But don’t forget that there are also some precautions that you will need to take.

When you are investing property abroad you should consider searching long and hard, because investing property abroad is not something that you will be doing in your everyday life. You will be spending a numerous amount of money on investing property abroad. So what you will need to do is a lot of research, so what if it will be taking a lot of time, it is well worth it.

If you are looking online for property to invest abroad and if you find the property that you actually like it is a known fact that you should go to the country where you are investing the property because you don’t want to end up investing property abroad that turns out to be a real downer and in real bad condition, or even worse you could end up investing property abroad that ends up not even being there! So be sure to go there in person before you pay for the property, or if you are not able to go to the country where you are investing the property you could always have a family member or a friend that you trust with all the money to go and look at the property before you buy it, you could even have the take pictures of it or video cam it for you so that you will be able to see for your own eyes.

When it comes to investing on property abroad this can be a real good thing, because you will not have one place to stay, but you will have a getaway house where you can go to for special occasions such as anniversaries, Birthdays, or holidays, or perhaps you could just use the property you have invested abroad to go to when you feel like you need a break away from things,

Perhaps you are looking to investing property abroad so that you could have some extra weekly or monthly income flowing into your bank account. You could invest on property abroad then turn around and rent it out to tenants. You have to be careful about this because you may want to make trips to the property at least twice a year to make sure everything is all right with the house.

The Spanish island is experiencing a sort of property boom; cash has begun to flow in Mallorca accommodation and major investments are still expected. The average property prices are rising in a favorable manner and many purchasers are taking advantage of their investment in order to earn more money from rentals. Every expert claims that this property boom offers the highest investment opportunities in the whole world. Owners are using all their properties in order to earn cash; this cash is used in order to pay off their initial investment. There were three factors that have fuelled this boom that came along with property hunters. The first factor to be considered is that the German buyers have returned to the island; the island’s amazing and excellent infrastructure is the second factor to be taken into account. Finally, the Palma’s new airport makes this island a quite easy location to reach. The airport is fed with various budget flights thus transforming this destination into an accessible one.

The Spanish government has understood the need when it comes to carefully managed development because this type of management will enable the property market to reach higher levels. The Mallorca Rental Properties are regarded as a true businesses opportunity because the tourism boom has led to a constant flow of visitors. Many of these visitors are also likely to harbor a personal and secret ambition, namely to live in this idyllic location for good. If you are a visitor who likes drinking, eating out and smoking, you will find Mallorca as being a real heaven on this earth; but if you are planning to become more than a visitor, you have to search for a specialized advice. If you have decided to search for a property to buy, you should consider prospecting all the possibilities that are related to the Mallorca accommodation. This decision is to be thought through and you should not hurry into the first property that seems appealing to you. The estate agents should be used in order to find the proper location thus saving a lot of time and money.

The buyer should be perfectly aware that buying a property in Mallorca is totally different from buying a property in his own country; all the agreements and transactions will be in a foreign language and the legal things will be done in a different manner. When choosing to buy a property in Mallorca, the buyer should know that he will buy the property’s facilities too. He will have to take care of these facilities too. The expenses and costs that are related to these facilities will be calculated on a certain percentage basis and they will be apportioned accordingly. Different legal requirements are also to be encountered and they are quite straightforward and logical if the buyer manages to understand them. Regardless of the fact that you buy a holiday or a retirement house, this process is not a huge event anymore thanks to its everyday occurrence. All the Spanish properties will come in various prices, sizes and styles. The properties that are aimed at the special holiday sector will be completely different from the ones that are to be found among the properties that are built for Spanish people.

Spain and all its main provinces will offer a huge range of different properties; that is why the buyer can find it difficult to search for the proper location in order to invest his money. So, if you are a first buyer, you have to sit down and decide. You should decide what you will expect from your future property and you will have to search for the areas that are able to fit all your present needs. A real estate agent is also required in order to provide you with all the necessary information that you will use when searching for the perfect location. The country is offering a quite wide range of properties and you have to be able to choose the fittest one from them.

Recent property media has been abuzz with news of the real estate down turn occurring in the United States. With all the media sources available today you can’t possibly avoid hearing about the doom and gloom of the US Property market, not unless you live under a rock, in which case it won’t affect you anyway. News travels fast and stories of the downturn in US real estate markets is quick to hot South African shores where people are now, as a result of the phenomenal property boom experienced in local markets over the past few years, sensitized to real estate and the wealth creating benefits thereof. As news hits our shores many are contemplating how the US down turn will affect the local property market.

To put things in perspective, we all know that when something of major significance happens in major markets that drive world economies, the effects will ripple throughout the world. As the ripples that emanate when a rock is dropped in water, market events in these markets eventually reach FAR off shores. There is not much anyone can do about this, it is just the way it is and has always been.

However, in every market there are factors that carry major events, such as the recent downturn in US real estate markets, further than normal. Factors such as market moods and emotions, media, fear and other non-tangible factors. These factors often have the effect of perpetuating ripple-effects well beyond their natural reach. In this manner, the effects of market events, often travel even further than expected and actually increase in volume as apposed to dissipating.

This is much the case with the South African property market, ever since news of the downturn in US real estate markets people have been contemplating the effects and the speculations have been growing. Some theory’s are realistic, yet most are way out of the ball park.

So, what is the real effect of the American property market on South Africa?

Some say none, I beg to differ, some say major and I beg to differ on that also. The reality, as normal, usually lays someplace in between.

Without writing a long essay explaining the history of the American property market and why it landed in this state, it must be understood that markets in different countries work under different environments, regulatory, economic, financial, etc. Therefore, a direct and immediate effect of the same nature – can’t possibly happen. Simple logical reason: South Africa has to be firstly in the same exact situation as the US for events to unfold in the same manner, and since it is not and never has been, I wager that we will not see turmoil to the same extent as the US in South Africa.

So, why are we then linking the US to the current South African property market?

The biggest and most dangerous effect that any market always faces is of human nature, it is called “mood” or “market emotion”. If emotions start running high due to fear of loses, change in trends and is compounded by excessive negative media, it will invariably trigger action. Any actions under negative “mood” conditions are usually not actions of positive nature, nor logical for that matter. In many cases the human survival instinct kicks in to reduce damage, survive a down turn, when a down turn may not even exist in a certain region or country, but the market “mood” will prevail and control peoples emotions.

Of late, we have heard much negative rhetoric of “negative mood” type talk in the property market. Is in not ironic that it happens to coincide with US market mood. It is true to say that major markets such as the US directly trigger some of the talk. However, I feel that local factors such as the NCA, increases in interest Rates and escalating property prices are having more of a dampening impact on local market conditions than news from far off shores.

So, while we do live in a global village and people must look at similarities in markets to determine what to expect, it cannot be a for gone conclusion that changes in local market conditions are solely as a result of events taken place in major markets. To conduct analysis purely on this basis, without local context, is the catalyst that creates the overwhelming emotion that will inevitably change market direction; “what if this will happen here?” is the first thought. Before you know, the message spreads and more people hear the news and take it at face value without research, analysis or independent thought. Next when you look, the the market is in a downward spiral.

There is no one to blame in this game; it is the way it works. However, to win the game many more considerations are required when looking at localized markets in any country.

So where does this leave the South African property investor?

Due to the factors considered and outside influences, now more than ever, South Africa’s property investors need to understand and educate themselves more on the local context down to the specific areas in which they invest. Big picture issues, such as inflation, global markets, should never be ignored, but instead placed in the correct context. To do that correct knowledge and a clear mind is necessary.

The truth in any market only lays in the full evaluation of the circumstances, in context. Anything else and investors risk spiraling down with the “negative mood” which may have been initially created so far away that all bets are off in local context, but no one notices anymore.

That said, the South African market has its’ own problems, but they are not all the same as the problems the US markets face.

In the US, due to low interest rates, many people have refinanced to a point where they are over exposed and have bonds of 150% of the property value. That can’t possibly be a good thing, but that is not the case in South Africa.

In South Africa, where bonds of 108% (include purchasing costs) are the maximum that banks provide lenders, property owners are not in a position where they are mortgaged to the extent the Americans are, far from it.

Nevertheless, South Africa has different problems. With property prices growing phenomenally in the last few years, interest rates increasing and the NCA putting a stop to reckless lending, there are fewer buyers in the market. This does put pressure on the sellers and if a seller needs to find a buyer fast due to financial difficulties, they may have to settle for a price that is below Market Value. Though this may not be good news, especially for investors that need to release stock and cut down shortfalls due to increase in interest rates, the situation is far from the American “doom” story, so far that it is unfair to make local comparison.

Some local investors and home owners have purchased properties that they may not be able to sell fast, right away, nor at the prices they planned and wished to sell. However, this is normal and in no way a sign of impending avalanche type disaster. Some areas in South Africa could are in a “housing bubble” that has burst, but that does not put the entire market in a down turn mode compared to the US. In fact there are some areas in South Africa that will not even see the local market recession.

If you are looking for advise on what to do under current circumstances there are only a few words of wisdom that one can offer right now. Everything else is up to your wisdom, education and correct evaluation of the property deal, the area, and putting matters in perspective.

1. When you read about property markets keep things in perspective to the South African context, as not everything everywhere applies to everyone.

2. When you listen to economists understand their point view of macro economy, not micro economy, and put things in perspective to your regional context while trying to understand the bigger underlying market forces.

3. If you are in any sort of negative or scarcity mood, don’t close deals unless you have a clear mind and strategy.

4. Last but not least, educated yourself about investing in up markets as well as down markets, this is the only full proof system. The only way in which news of any mood will never over impact on your investing success.

With cool head and knowledge you will be able to shift and change your buying patterns profitably, according to current market trends.