http://www.torcana.com/blog Welcome to the Torcana Blog, discussing the latest investment trends from around the world Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:29:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en For people that purchased property in the USA between 2003-2007 it´s been a pretty disastrous 3 years. Don´t think anybody will disagree with that.   What about the people that bought in 1980 or 1990 or 2000? As the chart below illustrates, they are looking just fine. The red line is property ... http://www.torcana.com/blog/2010/07/long-term-us-property-trends.html Harsh as it may sound, there are several ways those who are still liquid can profitably take advantage of a global downturn which is still causing much suffering to others 3 years after the credit crunch began. One of these ways, which Torcana identified more than two years ago, is to ... http://www.torcana.com/blog/2010/07/are-there-still-investment-opportunities-among-all-the-economic-chaos.html "Too much" is a very vague term. It would be more accurate to say "What happens when people don´t want to lend to governments anymore".  Nonetheless, if a debt or a deficit is perceived to be too high, a country needs to borrow less, spend less and/or grow more. These ... http://www.torcana.com/blog/2010/07/what-happens-when-a-government-borrows-too-much.html A government's debt is simply the total amount a country owes to its borrowers and the total amount owed is often expressed as a percentage of GDP (the size of its economy).   Governments usually borrow money by issuing a bond, which are mostly bought and traded by banks and investment funds.  ... http://www.torcana.com/blog/2010/07/why-is-everybody-talking-about-government-debts-and-deficits-all-of-a-sudden.html Like many of our readers, I'm the type of person who tunes in regularly to radio chat shows, current affairs programs, newspaper reports and financial magazines.    I do my best to keep on top of how the global turbulence is affecting our governments, our house prices, our labour markets, our stock ... http://www.torcana.com/blog/2010/07/making-sense-of-the-jargon.html CONFUSED BY THE Government’s latest extension to its deposit guarantee scheme? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. In fact, all the comings and goings have left many readers in the dark as to how well their savings are protected. When the scheme was first launched at the height of the credit crisis ... http://www.torcana.com/blog/2010/07/confused-by-the-irish-government-bank-guarantees.html I read an interesting little article today on realtytrac, which is very similar to the philosophy Torcana have been following in Florida these past 2 years.  I´ve summarised the main points below. “Buy low. Rent smart. Sell high.” It should be every real estate investor’s mantra in today’s market. It is for ... http://www.torcana.com/blog/2010/07/270.html I´ve had a few clients ask me about the new Irish government bonds recently and what the pro´s and con´s are for these versus a real estate investment. Whilst these bonds guarantee a standard rate of return, in reality, they are not offering anything new, with some of these incentives already ... http://www.torcana.com/blog/2010/07/torcana%c2%b4s-opinion-on-irish-government-bonds-vs-florida-real-estate.html Great news below on the Sunrail Communter train in Orlando from the Florida Trend. This could be a real game changer for people owning properties on the new line (see map below).  Construction could start as early as June on the first phase of the SunRail commuter train that eventually will ... http://www.torcana.com/blog/2010/06/construction-due-to-start-on-massive-orlando-rail-project.html Over the past 3 years a wide range of governments, regulators, banks and buyers have collectively been suffering from what might be described as Icarus Syndrome.  Laws and tax breaks were installed to encourage rampant construction of apartments, offices and hotels in dubious locations. "Soft touch" regulation was all the rage ... http://www.torcana.com/blog/2010/06/the-one-property-market-that-stayed-out-of-trouble.html