How To Make Money In Global Real Estate In A Bad Economy

Making Money In Global Real Estate

Published Date : March 11, 2010

The current state of the global economy may seem gloomy to most of us, but there are still many opportunities to make money in every industry, including in real state. As some would say, there are always going to be successful and unsuccessful business ventures. This is true wherever there is a marketplace, as it is a necessary fact of a healthy market. But there are ways of maximizing your chances of being successful, and paying close attention to these key points of interest is even more necessary when the economy is in a slump. And this fact applies to real estate as much as any industry.

Part of the problem facing real estate developers in the current state of the economy is the increased difficulty in getting consumers to spend their hard earn money – not just on you, but at all. In order to be successful, in order to out-compete the competition and secure more profit, real estate developers are going to have to become just as innovative in the marketing of their products, but also in developing them. Those who manage to become more innovative will find success; those who do not, will not.

There are several specific areas that real estate developers can focus in on in order to get ahead of the competition. The first area is information. Real estate developers that are going to be successful around the globe are going to have to become more informed and demand more information throughout the industry. As a directly related point to that, successful developers will want more information, and more transparency in the industry – and not just for themselves, but also for their clients. Another related area to information is vague promises and hyperbolic information on developer websites and in brochures. An increased skepticism must come with a deeper focus on information, and this will be a good thing as fewer empty promises will result in better professional relationships.

The next area that future successful real estate developers will want to improve on is understanding the health of the overall financial systems before entering the market in the first place. This means exploring financial data and trends, and analyzing the stability and appropriateness of regulation within the financial system. The current economic crisis reaffirmed something that many businessmen and women have forgotten: without a healthy financial system supporting the economy, no industry is going to be safe from a bust. Therefore any successful real estate developer is going to need to keep an eye out on the health of the financial system.

Another area where developers will want to focus in on is specific pricing trends in real estate throughout the recent bubble and burst. The successful developer will not just want to seek a substantial discount over 2007 pricing highs, but will also want to pass on that discount onto potential buyers. This increases the buying rate of properties, and will most certainly help in the recovery. The new global real estate developer will also want to negotiate on prices that seem still too artificially high, especially when it comes to high-end, high-risk properties. And as a related note, any developer that wants to be successful will increase his or her chances by avoiding areas that run the risk of either an oversupply of real estate or copycat developments. This has a direct effect on pricing instability and unfairness at a very local level.

There is one last key area where developers will want to focus a lot of attention on as global real estate recovers from the current crisis, and that is real estate associated with larger global concerns. The most prominent of the larger global concerns right now is probably environmental in nature. Therefore the more successful developers will want to focus on developing and marketing real estate that offers a more environmentally sound or sustainable approach to living. And as an added bonus, environmentally friendly businesses are likely to receive added regulatory support or even subsidy from government agencies around the world.

There is a lot of information to be understood in these areas by real estate developers, no doubt about that. But the changing landscape of both our financial and regulatory sectors as well as the real estate industry as a whole will effectively demand that real estate developers be very cognizant of these areas. It is therefore a good idea for developers to start working on exploring and understanding these areas, as well as making what they learn a vital part of their development and marketing plans. Remember, in the end, a global real estate recovery is a necessary aspect in the broader global economic recovery. Anything that helps global real estate helps the global economy. And vice versa.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Mar 11, 2010.

Canadian Luxury Real Estate Market Soars

Toronto and Vancouver Are Luxury Real Estate Hotspots

First Published Date: September 27, 2015

In a recent report, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada mentions that luxury real estate in Canadian cities, especially in Toronto and Vancouver, will rise for the rest of 2015. This is mainly due to strong international demand.

Sotheby’s predicts that Toronto and Vancouver will see rise in sales for luxury condos worth more than $1 million, but the highest gains will be over $4 million category homes.

In Montreal, the real estate market is balanced but luxury property demand will continue to increase.

In Calgary, luxury property sales declined in the first half of 2015 due to the declining gas and oil industry and likely will continue to decline.

There are several factors driving the demand for luxury properties. Low interest rates, increased international demand (due to stock market turmoil and slowing economy in foreign markets), and limited inventory are only a few to mention.

Although there has been a lot of speculation in the Canadian real estate market (that it will meltdown), Canada is still considered a place with economic and political stability that makes global real estate investors flock to the nation.

At the Temples of Philae | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 3 (Part 28) 02D19

Philae Temple – The Temple of Isis at Philae | Aswan

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

When we approached the Philae temple complex, the first things I noticed were two large and tall majestic wall-like sandstone façade structures and a small entrance door. The temple complex was dedicated to the goddess Isis, but also the gods Horus and Osiris.

The enormous facade had carved images of the god Horus. There were lots of long columns inside the complex. Every inch of the columns, walls, and any other flat surface seemed to be covered with hieroglyphs.

These hieroglyphs cover the large carvings of the gods of Ancient Egypt and the last to be written by the Ancient Egyptians. These ornate pictorial alphabet inscriptions tell the stories of the gods and civilisations.

These inscriptions have been officially declared as the last written Egyptian hieroglyphs. They were meant for the Ancient Egyptians because these temples were built by the last of the Egyptian pharaohs, Nectanebo II.

The Philae temple complex was built in stages and some parts were built by the Greeks in Egyptian styles. So, the new Macedonian or Greek dynasty wanted to replicate Egyptian elements. They worshipped the Egyptian gods, dressed like Egyptians, and built temples, monuments, and structures in the Egyptian style to convince the locals the Greeks were the chosen rulers of Egypt.

My travel guide pointed out some fine lines as proof that these whole complex structures were cut, moved, and reattached from one island to another island, which I have talked about in previous posts.

This was the last item on our itinerary for today. We will go to the Basma Hotel from here and will have a free evening tonight.

American Express Platinum or American Express Gold Credit Cards?

Amex Platinum and Gold Are 2 Different Things

First Published Date: September 29, 2015

A common question American Express credit card users, or even those do not hold any Amex cards but are considering it, are struggling to answer is should they choose the Amex Platinum or Gold. Or would it make sense to even choose both?

Today I will try to answer these questions by keeping things simple and without going into too much detail about these cards’ perks and features.

The very first striking anomaly anyone will notice in these two cards are the wide gap in annual fees. The Platinum charges a hefty $700 and the Gold charges a $150 annual fee (in Canada). However, based on your objectives, these fees may or may not be justified.

The American Express Platinum card is all about perks and features. This card makes sense for those who travel often and want to enjoy traveling in style and distinction. The card gives you access to over 600 airport lounges across the globe and also provides elevated hotel status for many big name hotel chains. This means benefits like a room upgrade, late checkout, and so on. If you do not fly or stay in hotels often, a platinum card may not provide any value to you. By often I mean not traveling one or twice a year, but once or twice a month.

While the platinum card is packed with features, it’s terrible with rewards points because it offers only 1.25 points for every dollar. This is where the American Express Gold comes in. The Amex Gold is a credit card that is designed for rewards points and it’s much generous for points on each dollar you spend, such as 2 points for every dollar at eligible gas, grocery store, and travel purchases. The gold card would make perfect sense for those who don’t travel often and don’t need to access lounges and elevated hotel status.

These are the very basic elements that separate these cards on the surface. Both cards offer much more and the only way to find out what suits you most is to go through all the features and benefits before making any decisions. You will find users who do not travel, but still hold the Platinum card and you will find users that hold both platinum and gold cards. So which card(s) is best for you totally depends on your lifestyle, what you want, and what you value most.

Disclosure: Information provided here may not be accurate and no longer valid. The mentioned card provider is not related to A Dawn Journal and neither monitor this site nor responsible for any inaccurate information. Contact the card company directly for accurate and updated information.

Are We Returning To Good Old Paper Money?

Cash Isn’t Dead

First Published Date: Aug 9, 2009

The past few years have seen a major change in the way we do things financially. More and more, we are seeing an economy that works away from the traditional methods. It used to be the case that shoppers would pay for smaller purchases with cash, and for larger ones with either cash or check, and as time went on with credit cards. As time has passed, however, there are many people who do not bother carrying cash with them and the check is now about as fashionable as velour flares. More and more, we are becoming a society of people who pay with plastic. Our weekly shopping is paid for by handing over a small rectangle of plastic and the funds are taken from our account directly.

This is a system that has taken off in no small part due to its convenience. Don’t have time to get to the ATM and withdraw cash on your shopping trip? Just hand over the plastic. Not sure how much you need to withdraw? Plastic means that the only money to leave the account will be the money you spend in the store. It’s convenient and saves on thinking. Initially it seems that it is the perfect way to do things. But this system does have its drawbacks, and people are becoming more and more aware of these and returning to good old paper money. If anyone out there is  hoping for the day when cash is entirely replaced by plastic, they probably have some time to wait. Checks may be playing less and less of a part in personal finance, but notes are still going to be used for a while yet.

The reason for this is that cash does allow you to take far more of a pro-active role in managing your money. One thing that has made paying by plastic problematic for people is that it makes it altogether too easy to spend money without really noticing. When the wages hit your account on pay day, you have a certain amount of money for the rest of the month. Paying your bills cuts away a fair section of that money. After other necessities are taken care of, you have your disposable income. Now, you wouldn’t be cavalier with the bills and necessary payments – but paying by plastic makes it all too easy to spend your disposable income, and that has to last for the rest of the month.

By withdrawing your disposable income in cash it becomes a lot easier to keep an eye on how much you are spending. Sure, you want your money to earn interest, so open a savings account and put some money in there. The rest of your disposable income can be kept somewhere safe and accessed whenever you need it. If you are keen to stick to a budget, it becomes much easier when you can physically see what you have for spending. Your plastic does not show you a running total as you use it, so the benefits of cash are surely clear. No, cash isn’t dead. Not by a long shot.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Canadapersonalfinancewebsite.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Aug 9, 2009.