How to Buy An Island

How To Buy Your Own Private Island

First Published Date: January 1, 2015

We’ve all had that conversation – if you became improbably rich overnight and money was literally no object to you, what would you buy? Answers include sports teams, huge houses with a hundred rooms and a garden big enough to land a jet plane in, a jet plane, a flight into space and so forth. We all have our own ideas on what we would buy with our new found wealth, and in many cases they are pretty common ideas. One idea that pops up in a great many of these conversations is a private island. As money is no object, you could trick that island out so that it was something really special. You could buy a speedboat so that you can get back to the mainland in a hurry if needs be. It’s a mouth watering prospect for many people.

The truth is that you do not need to be rich beyond the gift of man to actually buy an island. Sure, the more money you have in the bank the wider the choice. If you are a millionaire then that makes things a lot more straightforward. And there is no point in denying that a private island will not come cheaply. You need to be looking at six figures before it becomes well worth parting with your money. But with all of that taken into account, it is not such an outlandish idea (figuratively speaking, anyway. Literally speaking, it is exactly what you would call “outlandish”). Depending on where in the world this dream island is located, prices vary – and somewhere with a lot of islands and (comparatively) little demand, you could find yourself in possession of an island for as little as $200,000.

There are many things to take into account. As with buying any plot of land – because, after all, an island is just a plot of land surrounded by a body of water – you will get more if you pay more. This includes facilities, construction and general readiness for human habitation. A cheaper island will come with less already on it, and if you buy at the bottom of the range you may need to make your own arrangements for things like electricity and water supply, accommodation and other such essentials. Unless you really are ridiculously rich there is little point in buying an island and then not doing anything with it. If you plan to live there or rent it out to someone for a profit, you will want to make sure that it is habitable.

It is possible to rent an island before you buy, in order to get a feel for it and see if you would be prepared to take it on as a full time thing. There are numerous sites on the Internet devoted to doing exactly this. They are stacked with color photographs of the islands in question – although the phrase to keep in mind is caveat emptor – buyer beware. Always make sure you have seen the island for real before you even consider parting with your money. Aside from that, it’s your party – and it is a pretty sweet feather in your cap to be able to say you own an island.

NB – If you are interested in finding sites that deal with buying islands, search on Google for these: buy, rent, island, etc.

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 May 18, 2009.

How To Avoid ATM Fees

How To Avoid ATM Fees

If your bank is charging you ATM fees to withdraw money, now is the time to find out how much money you are losing to ATM fees every month. Generally, ATM fees run from $1.00 to $2.50 per transaction. This doesn’t look like a lot of money if you look at each transaction separately, but those small fees add up very quickly.

Here is a list of things you can do to avoid ATM fees:

1. Switch to a no-fee bank.

2. Instead of withdrawing smaller amounts many times, find out how much you need in a month and withdraw one large amount.

3. Avoid using other banks’ ATM machines. If you use any bank’s machine outside your own banking networks, you will be paying as much as twice as much your own bank’s ATM fees.

4. Many grocery chains allow withdrawing money (i.e. you can get “cash back”) when you pay for your groceries. This is a smart way to get cash without paying fees.

5. Nowadays, you can use a credit card almost everywhere. Instead of paying in cash, use a credit card to pay your daily expenditures. However, this is not going to work unless you pay your credit card balance in full every month.

6. Banks usually have a set allowed number of transactions each month. If you stay within this limit, you won’t be paying any fees.

7. Do your research and find the most suitable account with the lowest fees to meet your banking needs.

First Published: ADawnJournal.com Jul 17, 2008

How To Buy A House In Canada

Buying A Home In Canada

First Published Date: Oct 3, 2010

Canada is a beautiful country with a lot to offer the world. It is generally considered to be one of the best countries on Earth to live in. If you already live in Canada, you know exactly what we are talking about, if you don’t then you need to visit the second-largest country on Earth. You can live on the cool east coast, the northern rainforest of the western coast, the prairies, the tundra of the north, the land around the Great Lakes, in the mountains, anywhere.

Living in Canada, you probably know where you want to live in Canada, so now you just need to figure out the house you want and how to go about buying it. To help you out, here is a step-by-step guide to buying property in Canada.

1.    The first thing you have to do is look at how you are going to pay for the house. This involves financing and when a seller knows you can secure financing, they will be more open to negotiating the final sales price. When you are buying a home in Canada, you should have at least 5 -20 per cent of the purchase price as a down payment. This may seem like a lot, but Canada has stricter guidelines than the United States for homeownership, which is one of the reasons why Canada did not suffer as large of a mortgage meltdown as their neighbours to the south. The loan can also be amortized over 25 years, with 25 years being the typical length for a mortgage. You are no longer allowed to have anything over a 40-year mortgage due to new rules. If you do not have good enough credit though, or the down payment, you will not get the house because credit guidelines and laws are much tougher in Canada than in the United States.

2.    At this point, you need to go onto MLS.ca to find the home and realtor for you. MLS will allow you to do searches by area and price, number of bedrooms, and a wide variety of other criteria to find the perfect home for you. Using a map service, you can see exactly where the house is and even see all the homes in the area you want to live, that are in your price range right in front of you.

3.    Through your realtor now, after you have found the home you want, you will negotiate your Offer to Purchase/Agreement of Purchase. One good tip is to hire an attorney who can review the contract for you.

4.    Put all your paperwork in and wait for the bank to approve your mortgage. You should schedule a closing so that the bank will approve your mortgage, or at least give you word back on it, in a timely manner.

5.    Now, once approved, sign the paperwork and put the funds through a solicitor. You will pay transfer taxes, title insurance fees and mortgage fees at this point.

Now, just enjoy your house!

Real Estate In Plovdiv

Moving To Plovdiv

First Published Date: Aug 2, 2010

Bulgaria is a very interesting and historic country that many people are choosing to move to for the affordability of the houses, the history of the area and the amazing landscape and climate. There are many different places you can move to in Bulgaria and one of the best is the city of Plovdiv, which is the second-largest city in Bulgaria with a population that numbers 381,110 people. The history of Plovdiv goes back a very long time, roughly 6,000 years, and it has been occupied by some of the largest empires in human history, including the Roman Empire.

Plovdiv was a major Roman city after it was a Thracian settlement and it has been a part of the Byzantine Empire, Bulgarian Empire and Ottoman Empire. The city itself sits on the southern Plovdiv Plain along the banks of the Maritsa River and the city has seven hills surrounding it that stretch to one-quarter of a kilometre high.

The climate of the city is heavily influenced by the Mediterranean Sea, and the temperature difference between winter and summer can be extremely pronounced. Summers are very hot and very dry, with roughly 38 days a year going over 30 degrees Celsius. The winters are quite cold, giving the area an average temperature of 12.3 degrees Celsius. The city is also a major cultural center for Bulgaria, which makes it very popular among foreigners who want to move to the country. There are over 200 archaeological sites in the city including Ottoman baths, two ancient theatres, medieval walls and towers, churches, museums, galleries and more.

If you are going to move to Bulgaria, it is not as easy as just packing up and going to the city of Plovdiv. There are important steps you need to follow.

1.    You need to create a Limited Liability Corporation within Bulgaria as the only way you can buy a property in Bulgaria as a foreigner is to be the owner of an LLC within the country.

2.    If you are going to be staying in Bulgaria for longer than 90 days, you will need to get a D-status visa from the Bulgarian government. Ensure you clear your visa with the government before you move to Bulgaria to ensure there are no problems.

3.    The last thing you need to do is to find a notary public within Bulgaria who can oversee the transfer of your new home within the city of Plovdiv from the previous owner to yourself. In Bulgaria, only a notary public can legalize a property sale.

Plovdiv is a very old city that has over 6,000 years of history attached to it. If you are going to move to Bulgaria, then the city of Plovdiv is the city that you should seriously consider. Beautiful landscapes, wonderful people, a long history, it is the perfect place to live within Bulgaria. Just make sure you clear your house sale properly so that there are no problems when you move to Plovdiv.

Canada’s Real Estate Market Health

Canada Housing Market

First Published Date: March 30, 2010

While many other western countries, most notable the United States, are still experiencing the aftershocks of a housing bubble crash, the Canadian real estate market is still doing quite well. Since the start of 2009, the average home price in Canada has risen nearly twenty five percent, with the volume of home sales at nearly seventy five percent. What does this mean? Simply put, it means that Canada has a very healthy, vibrant real estate market. And this signifies that it is currently a good time to purchase real estate in Canada.

But why has Canada’s real estate market been so healthy? Why has it outperformed its southern neighbour? There are four basic reasons why. The first reason is that Canada has maintained a set of high quality lending standards. The lack of this high quality lending was a great problem in the United States’ recent real estate crash. Related to the first reason, the second reason is the single regular “lack of regulatory capture.” In Canada, regulation is much more consistent and uniform than in the United States, and the regulating body tends to be much more in lockstep than the US’s regulating bodies. This has a direct effect on not just clarity of information, but also on issues such as corruption and trust.

The next reason is relatable to the first: high risk mortgages in Canada require the purchase of mortgage insurance. The final reason is what is termed “full recourse mortgages.” In the Canadian real estate market, a person may walk away from his or her home, but not the debt. This has a direct affect on consumer behavior – it limits risk on the consumer end, essentially. Each and every one of these traits of Canada’s real estate market plays a role in why it has remained healthy. And it is exactly this stability and market health that makes real estate such a great investment in Canada, even while so many other countries are struggling with real estate problems.

If you’re already set on purchasing some form of real estate in Canada, the question then becomes what? Are you looking for a short-term solution, or a lifetime investment? How much space do you need? How many rooms? And then, just as importantly, you need to know how much you’re able to afford, and how much a home mortgage will cost per month and overall. Now this is one area in which real estate operates in Canada much like it does in the United States, and most everywhere else.

See, regardless of the regulations involved, all financial transactions from direct exchanges of goods and services for money all the way to borrowing and lending are governed by universal economic laws. How much you’re able to afford in monthly payments is necessarily a function of how much income and savings you have. These also have a bearing on what size of a mortgage loan you’ll be approved for. As a general rule, you’ll be approved for a larger loan if you have a higher income and increased savings. Of course there are other factors involved, such as other debts or financial obligations, as well as the current health of the market.

The simple facts are these: when purchasing a home, you’ll want to be approved of a mortgage large enough to complete the transaction of the home; you’ll want your mortgage rate to be as low and as beneficial to you as possible; and finally, you want to purchase the home in a stable market environment. These three facts all still come together very well in Canada, and they make purchasing real estate there a generally wise investment