Depending on whether the property purchase is a new build off plan purchase, or a property that is newly constructed and ready for occupation dictates whether you need to put some money down, let me explain the process. If the property is a new build off plan, where there is a future building completion date, the developer will expect you to pay a reservation fee that is non-refundable. He will also expect you to sign the contract straight away, it is then that you will be asked for a 10%/20% deposit. Some offplan builds can be 3, 6 or even up to 24 months before completion, however in the mean time your property is increasing in value. You could even sell your place in the queue so to speak with a new contract. This is where you obtain a buyer before completion and the property passes to them at completion giving you a profit from any discount you origianlly received for purchasing pre-construction and from increased prices. Now is the time to buy. You can find the best properties in the best locations. First you would arrange for viewings then if you like any particular property you would put your offer forward to the owner where both parties sign. You would sign an offer form before contracting. If your offer is accepted contracts will be signed and the transaction completed unless the buyer is obtaining mortgage finance. You can arrange mortgage finance through most Banks. They will lend up to 85% loan to value for Nationals, 80% loan to value for Expatriates and 75% loan to value for Foreign Nationals. Once you have purchased your property and it's not for your personal residence you can then lease it. There are professional leasing companies that deal with all aspects of leasing serviced apartments, houses and individual apartments. The rental leasing market is very good and high rents can be obtained on properties in the best locations. If you purchase a property in London such as, a one bedroom apartment this will lease for approximately £1,500 pm and upwards, a two bedroom apartment will lease for approximately £1,880 pm and upwards and a three bedroom apartment will lease for apprioximately £2,500 pm and upwards. There are three methods of leverage you can use when purchasing your properties. The first leverage is purchasing properties off-plan or pre-construction. This is where you purchase when nothing has been built and you can only view a model or the plans. The offplan build maybe for two years and after one year your proposed property is now worth more money. If you have only paid down a 10% or 20% deposit, you then sell your property to someone else for the current market value and receive back your original deposit plus your profit. So if your property was £200,000 and you paid down £20,000 and sold for £240,000 you would walk away with £40,000 a full 200% profit on your investment in this example. Actual figures and market conditions can vary. This method avoids you finally purchasing the property and having the headache of completing, furnishing and leasing. We can of course arrange these transactions for you with the off-plan purchase and re-sale.The second leverage is to obtain a discount on your purchase. So when purchasing it is important to get in "at the launch" of a brand new development. Some of the launches for example have given a 20% discount off the price. Then the next day after the launch the prices have gone back up to the full price. This then gives you a further option to make money on your off-plan and pre-construction property especially when re-selling. The third leverge is to obtain mortgage finance on your property, this is where you have paid down a 20% deposit on your property and can then obtain an 80% loan to value mortgage. This gives you all of the money to complete on the property and then if the property is resold you will receive back your deposit plus profit. Again if you have paid down £20,000 deposit by example but have kept the property for longer by leasing, not only will you have profit from the leasing but also a larger profit than in method two above which could be £260,000 giving you back a total of £60,000 a mere 300% return on investment. Actual figures and market conditions can vary. Once you have purchased your property whether off-plan or as a re-sale you then need an exit strategy for your investment. With off-plan purchases you can market your property for sale before its even built and sell it with a premium where you can make an instant profit. You can also do the same with re-sales, this is where you have purchased a property from someone who has already purchased off-plan, again you can market your property for sale and sell it with a further premium. This is fine if the market is going up, however how do you make money if the market is going down or sideways? This is what you do:- Purchase your property in the mormal way, then lease it with a leasing company. This way you will make profits from the leasing, then hold the property for one or two years by which time the market starts to go back up and then you sell to make a profit. An excellent strategy here is where you purchase several properties, lease them out, then sell three properties you originally purchased and replace those three with three brand new properties. This not only gives you an enviable profit per annum from capital but also an income profit from leasing.
