Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Land for sale can be considered a low risk investment and remains one of the major secrets of the world's wealthiest investors. Donald Trump and Howard Hughes are just two investors that have made billions in this area. In fact, many of the world's wealthiest investors have become rich by investing in land plots for sale, which are rural, commercial and developable.
In case planning permission is granted by local councils investors could reap returns of up to 10 times there original investments but even otherwise undeveloped land, tends to increase historically in price anyway over the longer term with increase in acute shortage of housing in UK.
Why UK Land Prices are Booming?
• 250,000 to 3,500,000 new homes are needed over the next 15 years rising to 4,400,000 new homes are needed over the next 20 years.
• 90% of towns in the UK are unaffordable for 1st time buyers.
• The UK is the second most densely populated country in Europe and has a fast rising migrant population
• The UK suffers from some of the oldest housing stock in Europe and a huge shortage of supply of affordable and mid priced housing.
• Over the last 30 years the demand for new homes has increased by 30%. Whereas the same period house building rates have dropped by over 50%.
• Since 1997, the Government has increased the average number of new homes built per hectare from 25 to 40.
Why Invest in UK Land Plots?
• Recent volatility in equity and bullion markets world-over and underdeveloped real estate markets in developing countries makes UK land for sale market only safe heaven to park investments for common investors expecting decent returns on there investments
• Land Investment market in UK is very well regulated and is comparatively safe for common investors in comparison to markets in developing countries
In view of the above arguments it is advisable for individual investors to explore UK Land market as an investment option.
On the Threshold of a Property Boom
Punjab Real Estate: Realty Springs to Life
Till just 3-days back, Tarn Taran was just for the Sikhs or others who went there to pay homage, a holy place just a stone's throw (22-km) from Amritsar. Today, Guru Arjan Dev's birthplace that so far, had remained serenely undisturbed by the pace of business life and spiralling realty prices in its neighbourhood, has woken up to its own realty potential.
With the Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh declaring it a district on 16th June 2006, the opportunity of a lifetime has been granted to realtors and real estate developers, alike. Land that went for Rs. 40-lakh per acre a month ago is now priced at Rs. 1-crore per acre. As the government jumps in the land war intending to acquire acres and acres of Tarn Taran land for the construction of hospitals, offices, university and jails et al, the once upon a time, 1980's hotbed of terrorism, is now a place of attraction for anyone interested in buying or investing in real estate.
In direct contrast to Mohali, which also gained the status of a district a few months back, land prices did not escalate in this peripheral town of Chandigarh, as they have done so in Tarn Taran. That may be, because Mohali has always been in the limelight due to the interest evinced in it by IT firms. Awaiting the rush of investors and developers, a few have already made their move in Tarn Taran. Realising the potential of the region much earlier, UK based NRI, Anita Sharma bought two banquet halls Rose and Queen Farms on Albert Road and Batalla Road in Amritsar, a year ago. She has already sold the former for Rs. 5-crore at double the cost. Tremendously buoyed by her success, she is planning to launch her own company in the coming months. Once Anita Estates is launched, she plans to come up with a 4-star hotel in the area, and is scouting the land for other ideas.
Waiting for approval of Tarn Taran sight maps, realtors wait anxiously to purchase the sights, accordingly. Even as, land rates in prime Amritsar locations go as high as Rs. 5-crore per acre, and are expected to continue to rise further, once people come to know about project locations. With the government poised to acquire almost 200-acres, land prices can only be escalate further, in locations adjacent to the prime projects.
And, so the juggernaut of Punjab real estate experiencing a few highs and lows, a few peaks and plateaus, is on a definite roll, getting costlier by the day. Not wishing to play country cousin to other states of India as they transform themselves into glittering images of the world's famous cities, Punjab leaving behind its agrarian roots and shedding its image of country bumpkin, gains a veneer and a polish, in a bid to transform itself into Northern India's Silicon Valley, with its capital Chandigarh being touted as an IT city, a strong rival to South India's Bangalore city!
As for all those who in their ignorance sold out their inheritance, even though it was only a few acres of land for a meagre sum, in an attempt to buy a passage overseas i.e. USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Australia, etc. will rue the day when they thought a life abroad was better than in the Punjab. Not only is India on its way to becoming second if not the first economic world power, slowly it is transforming itself into world class cities, including improving infrastructure and amenities that make for comfortable living.
If, you own even a few sq. yds. of land in Punjab, my advice is to hang on to it, as property prices are only going to soar not dip!
This articke is sponsored by: www.indiarealestateblog.com
Builder Incentives – Valuable or a Ripoff?
Many new housing builders have their own lending arms now. Not only will they build your house, but they offer you the convenience of getting your loan through them.
The Advantages
This lowers the number of players trying to get your home loan done, which in theory may make the process smoother. The builder's lending arm is supposed to be able to work better with the builder, so you don't have last minute hold ups on your loan. Some builders will cancel your purchase contract if your loan documents are not generated in time. This can really hurt if you signed a purchase contract for a property to be built and its price has risen significantly in the period before it was finished. That can be a lot of lost money.
Many builders offer "thousands" in upgrades as an incentive to use their lender. Some of these incentives may be valuable – such as a full set of upgraded kitchen appliances. Many of these upgrades that are marked as worth "thousands" are heavily marked up, and as such, are not as valuable. Examples of this are $500 grout sealing options for kitchen tiles, something which you can easily do for much less.
Prequalification
Many lenders will require that you be pre-qualified by them to make sure that you are credit-worthy and able to actually buy their homes, not just sign contracts. Some will accept written pre-approvals or pre-qualification from third parties. They usually try to get as much of the loan business as possible. This prequalification process allows them to sell you on their loan offers.
In the end, some people and their spouses can't resist builder incentives. This becomes an emotional rather than financial decision.
Drawbacks
For starters, the builder's lending arm may not have the full range of loan products out there. Each month new loan types are offered by other lenders.
Your builder may not be able to get you the type of loan you want, such as a minimum option loan. Some builders may claim they offer every type of loan out there, but they should prove this to you. Their definition of "everything" may just be the loan types that they normally use or know about.
The builder's rate may also be higher, or their fees may be higher. Their offer to cover some or all closing costs is something you may be able to structure with an outside lender.
It is usually a good idea to get outside offers on your mortgage. If for nothing else, you can use this for leverage to see if you can get a better deal from the builder.