Investment Property, what to repair on?

Surfing the web, we found a practical article about what is concerned on reparations in investment property. With a right point of view the journalist mesures interesting strategies depending of long rental properties or fix and flip homes:

When I buy houses I want a great deal.  I try to buy houses at least 20% below market value and that usually means the houses I buy are in pretty rough shape.  I spend a lot of money on when I repair investment property and it is very important what I do and don’t repair.  I fix and flip homes 10 to 15 homes a year and I also have 7 long-term rental properties.  I have a completely different strategy to repair investment property depending on if it is a fix and flip or rental property.

Keeping repair costs as low as possible, while still making homes nice is a key to my long-term rental strategy.  I detail my strategy in my complete guide to purchasing long-term rental properties.  I include articles on buying, selling, renting and detailed figures on my properties.

Differences when repairing fix and flip vs long-term rental properties

With my long-term rentals I tend to make fewer repairs than I do on the fix and flips.  I will still make the rental property look very nice and make sure it is safe, but I won’t do as many repairs as I would if I were to sell the home.  The reason I don’t fix as much on a rental property is because renters aren’t nearly as picky as buyers.  Most renters do not think of a house they rent as their property, they aren’t as concerned with the age of the mechanical systems or the finish details, because it is not their house.  If something breaks, the landlord will fix it, or at least should fix it.  I have found renters to be very nonchalant about light fixtures and paint color, where buyers are very picky about these items.  In rental property number 7 I left he brass fixtures in the home as an experiment to see if it would be hard to rent (we usually put in nice brushed bronze).  It rented right away and the renters did not even seem to notice the fixtures.

In a fix and flip we will always replace the fixtures and make sure the little things are perfect, because buyers want a home they are buying to be perfect.  The buyers won’t have a landlord to fix anything, they will have to the repairs themselves or pay someone.  A buyer will also most likely hire an inspector who will go through the entire house.  That inspector will find most items wrong with the home and buyers will often get scared off by an inspection that finds many things wrong.  We try to have as few items mentioned on the inspection as possible.  I know many fix and flippers who have an inspection done on their homes after they do repairs.  This allows them to make repairs the inspector finds before listing the home and to advertise the home as pre-inspected… more

How to sell Spanish real estate fast

Believe it or not you can sell your Spanish property in a matter of days. The key is to set the right price.

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A couple years ago a property selling e.g. in Mallorca for 500K was sold within 2 months, Nowadays the same property will not even sell at 450K, but might stand a change if its priced between 350-400 K.
Many investors and 2nd home owners who bought Spanish property and have to sell would like to close their eyes and wait until their nightmare is over. They are faced with the decision of having to sell their property at a loss.
Most of these investors would rather wait a little longer and see what happens. They might think about the recuperation of the US housing market and they desperately are focusing on the positive economic figures in Europe.
What these investors are disregarding is simple fact of Who in their right minds would want to buy a property which has been in the market since a long time and for the same selling price?. The chances of finding a buyer ar very very slim.

So here a couple tips when selling Spanish property.:

1) Sell at the right price
Try to be realistic when selling Spanish property. If your property is not selling its because of the price.
Lower the price of your property and you will be amased to see what the effects are.
2) Be sharp
When your property comes into the market invest heavly in promoting it. The fisrt couple of weeks are essential when trying to sell the property. The longer your property is in the market the less chances it has.
3) Compare prices
Check what similar properties are selling for and price your property in a competitive way.
4) Seek professional assistance
An estate agent will probably help you filtering potential buyers and curios not wanting to buy buyers.
5) Be calm
When showing a property to a potential buyer do not give him the sensation you desperately want to sell. Do not overly exagerate the positive points of the property.
6) Do not disregard offers
If someone makes you a valid offer, one that is within reason, do not disregard it or you might regret it later on.
7) Using social media and other property portals
Make sure the property is priced the same in all the media and with your estate agent/s.
Having different prices is suspicions and scares buyers off.
8) Using an attractive ad
Properties that do not have pictures do not sell. Aln make so provide good descriptions and if you can make a video presentation.
9) You sold your house, or maybe not.
Let say you found a buyer. Make sure is has the credit to buy it. Make sure he can get a mortgage.
Make sure that when a deposit is paid to in case the sell is canceled. Do not take the for sale sign off until the sell is completed.

New London housing is focusing on high-end prime properties

Developers are focusing on high-end properties, according to report that warns firms could be forced out of the capital

Developers are focusing on properties in London that cost more than £2m to buy or £5,000 a month to rent. Photograph: /Jason Hawkes

London's housing shortfall is running at more than 20,000 homes per year and too many of the properties under construction are aimed at wealthy buyers, according to research that warns of a growing affordability gap in the capital's new housing stock.

A report by estate agency Savills warned that businesses could be forced out of London because their workforces cannot afford accommodation, while overcrowding forces young professionals to live longer with their parents.

More than 50% of housing demand in London comes from households earning less than £50,000 year, according to Savills, but developers are instead focusing on high-end prime properties. These cost more than £2m to buy or £5,000 a month to rent, with many ending up in the hands of overseas investors.

"Builders' focus on wealthier, equity rich and credit-worthy buyers since the credit crunch means that a disproportionate amount of stock is being delivered at what we call 'new prime' levels," Savills said.

Opposition politicians accused the government of allowing useless homes to be built, while ordinary Londoners struggled to afford to stay in the capital.

 

Provided by London & Country for the Guardian

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The Real Estate market is changing. Now we are looking foward a global market, and It must be commanded by a good use of  IT resources. So we did focused our services making us pioneers in the field.
We do not make easy advertising on  medias. Rather, we professionalize the resources offered by these IT services, so we are able toprovide:

Inside InmoLaSirena.com  site you can publish for free. From there, you can choose some EXTRA emarketing services (Plans) that gives an online platform feding some +20 websites inside InmoLaSirena Team and +80 around the world, more than 100 websites at all:

- Through processes multipublication one property is published in +100 platforms

- Create a personal website for each property, which subsequently it integrates and disseminates in social networks
- Video presentation of the property on our  Youtube channel , and later released over other streaming platforms 
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Question: Buy property in Spain get Citizenship ?

Hello,
I read an article that if I buy a home that costs about $200,000 U.S.D. I'll get automatic Spanish Permanent-Residency which I imagine will lead to Spanish citizenship after a few years even though I'm not European.
Is that true ??
$200,000 U.S.D. is a lot of money for one property, is it possible to buy a few properties that add-up to that amount and receive the same benefit ?


I don't know the amount in US dollars but it was 200.000euros and has now been reduced to 160.000 euros whatever that equates to in USD.
This has come into being because the Spanish governmentis desparate for money from abroad and Eu citizens have stopped flooding into Spain with the result that there are thousands of properties standing empty.
There will probably be some other conditions apart from purchasing property. You may find you need to prove that you have an income from outside Spain.
For example, Cyprus gives non Eu citizens residency if they buy a property for 300.000euros, can prove they have an income of at least 30.000euros per year and 5.000 for each dependant. They also have to deposit 30.000 in Cyprus bank which they must leave there for at least 3 years. All of this money must be proven to come from outside Cyprus.
I would imagine there will be similar conditions to getting residency in Spain if you are a non EU citizen although the amounts may be smaller.

eMarketing Solutions for Properties

InmoLaSirena brings you e-Marketing Solutions and Muti-advertisiment tools for your home. Multipublication is carried out thanks our multichannel platform. From InmoLaSirena.com +100 websites are replicated as online channels. We do eMarketing professional and personalized, creating a personnal website and a youtube video in our channel, promotion jobs and marketing on social networks. Posting Plans from $ 0 (free under the Basic Plan)

The Real Estate market is changing. Now we are looking foward a global market, and It must be commanded by a good use of  IT resources. So we did focused our services making us pioneers in the field.
We do not make easy advertising on  medias. Rather, we professionalize the resources offered by these IT services, so we are able toprovide:

Inside InmoLaSirena.com  site you can publish for free. From there, you can choose some EXTRA emarketing services (Plans) that gives an online platform feding some +20 websites inside InmoLaSirena Team and +80 around the world, more than 100 websites at all:

- Through processes multipublication one property is published in +100 platforms

- Create a personal website for each property, which subsequently it integrates and disseminates in social networks
- Video presentation of the property on our  Youtube channel , and later released over other streaming platforms 
We apply professional eMarketing & SEO techniques in order to multiply your results, geting this way more effective visits ..