I was in Brazil a couple of weeks ago, not to look at local property developments (although I did do that too) but to deliver a series of presentations to a large real estate conference attended by international property investors. I was the only person there promoting European property and the only person discussing the strategies available to those seeking to purchase highly discounted property from distressed sellers.

 

Hardened investors who had arrived with the intention of purchasing offplan condo hotel or vacation property in South America were surprised to find themselves very seriously considering purchasing city centre property in Birmingham or vacation homes in Andalucía instead. They simply weren’t expecting an Irishman to stand up and offer them high quality finished properties in these locations at lower prices and higher rental yields than their offplan South American equivalents. It was a great success for Torcana overall, and if any of our regular clients would like to view one of the presentations I delivered please click here.  

 

Regards

 

Colin Murphy

Torcana Ltd

A new trend seems to be emerging in certain property circles. Several times in the past six months I have seen evidence of hardened investors who have always pursued an offplan investment strategy considering a radical change.

 

The profitable strategy of the past decade is fairly simple on paper – find a reputable builder, reserve an apartment in a great location which will be built in 2-4 years time, negotiate preferable payment terms and wait for capital appreciate during the construction stage. Definitely not as easy as it sounds, but hundreds of thousands of people have been doing it successfully.

 

Times are changing though, and these same hardened buyers are now pursuing a new strategy with equal vigor – instead of offplan apartments or condo hotels in emerging markets, they are snapping up completely finished properties in developed markets at discounted prices.

 

Why? The credit crunch. Developers are struggling to sell excess stock, which means they are under pressure from the banks that financed them. This forces them to drop prices dramatically to stimulate supply and boy are they doing it. I’ve seen prime urban properties in very wealthy cities selling cheaper than an offplan resort in an area with a fraction of the income per capita.

 

The property section in Torcana.com has plenty of examples for any who have time to look through them.

 

Kind Regards

 

Colin Murphy

Torcana Ltd

There is an enormous glut of properties in Spain at the moment, and I’m very picky regarding the types of developments that are chosen for clients.  My top tip for those seeking the perfect mix of investment and vacation is our new 288 unit development in Granada. We have negotiated exclusive discounts jointly with the bank and developer and independent research forecasts net rental yields of 8%. It is a beautiful resort in an unbelievable location with access to beaches (10min), golf courses (15 min), ski slopes (35 min), airport (25 min) and the historic town centre of Granada (20 min). You can find further on our website.

Generally speaking, I would advise buyers to stay clear of large developments (I get nervous when they are bigger than 300 units) and high density developments (more than 3 storeys). You should be purchasing units that are least 30% lower than the previous purchase price and that are at least 65% sold (to avoid risk that community fee system will collapse). And of course, don’t even think about purchasing offplan, with hundreds of thousands of unsold finished properties available all over the country at bargain prices, there’s simply no need to take that risk.

 

Kind Regards

 

Colin Murphy

Director

Torcana Ltd

 

Apologies for the longer than usual delay between posts - a very hectic travel schedule over the past 10 days taking in conferences in Brazil, meetings in London and site visits in Granada, Almeria and Birmingham has robbed me of the time I usually set aside to write these newsletters and blog postings.

However, our website www.torcana.com has been updated daily with great new projects and my colleagues have been kept extremely busy from a large influx of enquiries from PR exposure in Business & Finance Magazine, The Sunday Times and Homes Overseas Magazine. 

I wasn’t in Fortaleza Brazil earlier this month to look at local property developments (although I did do that too); I was actually there to deliver a series of presentations to a large real estate conference attended by international property investors. It was a great success for Torcana overall, and if any of our regular clients would like to view one of the presentations I delivered please click here.  

 

 

Regards

 

Colin Murphy

Torcana Ltd