Robert Liebman            Journalism    Copywriting    Media Training

Personal Finance

Among property buyers, those who need help the most are first-timers, and those who want help the most are investors.

In Britain, property investment took off about a decade ago, and it shows little sign of abating - even when economists and other experts say that other forms of investment will bring better returns.

Several key events helped launch the desire to become a landlord:

• a boom in buy-to-let mortgages

• a bust in dot-com stocks and shares

Buy-to-let mortgages with attractive rates made it both economically feasible and profitable to become a landlord - especially for ordinary homeowners using equity from the often immense increases in value of their own homes.

The bursting of the technological bubble, and with it the collapse of the entire stock market in general, convinced many buy-to-letters that stocks and shares were simply too risky.

The bottom line: many amateur landlords would remain loyal to property through thick and thin. And many new investors were, and still are, eager to join their ranks.

Where should I invest, they ask Robert (they really mean: What inside knowledge do you have regarding the real next hot spot?). Is Bansko the next Chamonix, or Berlin the next London, or xxx in Brazil the next Rio? Is Cyprus a better investment than Turkey (or Bulgaria or Cape Verde or Romania)?

Usually the questions that these earnest investors pose admit of no definitive right answer. Wise investing involves lots of homework and research, and this page points to some helpful sources of information.

Robert was a panellist on several Buy Association podcasts, moderated by Adrian Mills

Buy-to-Let podcast: Robert and co-panellist Frazer Fearnhead of Armchair Investor discussed the current status of the buy-to-let market. Frazer's site specialises in "Buy to Let Investments in both the UK and Overseas property markets:"
www.armchairpropertyinvestor.com

Florida podcast: Robert highlighted the Panhandle, Indian River County and other off-the-beaten-path locations in the Sunshine State.

This page is under construction

Seminar Speaker, Invest in Property Trade Show, London and Dublin

• Hot Spots - How to find them

• Going for Gold — major regeneration projects in the British capital in the runup to the 2012 Olympics

Program notes for Invest in Property Show, April 2005. Complete text.

Links

Buy Association

Hot Spot Columns

propertysecrets.net

Armchair Investor