Couple fail in case against Platinum Developments

This is a story that seems to have come in under the radar for some reason. It's a worrying one as it involves Platinum Developments in Sandyford, a company lauded for pulling its Sunset Beach Resort in Pomorie (pictured) out of the fire when the Dutch developer legged it with a bag of cash. Credit is most certainly due to the company for not folding its tent and heading for the hills as many others would have done. The company morphed from an agent to a substantial Bulgarian developer, the largest foreign developer in the country as far as we can ascertain, and completed this development. Credit where it's due then.

There would, however, still seem to be substantial problems at the original Pomorie development in relation to promised refunds, which the Irish company is foisting on the Dutch parent, the original cause of all the problems, but also with rentals and management. See the totally property forum if you want to get in touch with others in the same boat. The forum doesn't have a posting since last November, but we're not sure whether this is because everything was settled to the owners' satisfaction or if Platinum had it shut down (it doesn't appear to be closed though). AskAboutMoney.com was threatened by the company over a posting on its forum, which you'll find here, some months ago. It was subsequently suspended.

The most recent story about Platinum is in last Wednesday's Indo and Times (you need to be a subscriber to view the whole lot). The Indo version (it was on page 4 beside a picture of Bono in Japan) doesn't seem to appear online for some reason but Eircom, God bless 'em, appear to be able to provide the full story, even though it too came from the Times.

Some excerpts:

"Mr and Mrs Uwen had said they remortgaged their home in England in 2003 to invest in the Pomorie Golf and Beach Resort in Bulgaria, owned by a Dutch company, NV Capital Ground and Building Investment (CGBI). It was developing the lands through a holding company.

The Uwens say they paid CGBI €215,000 for 14 apartments and two commercial units, representing 20 per cent deposits on the purchase, and received receipts.

In mid-2004 the Dutch authorities froze CGBI's assets after it hit financial difficulties. Works ceased with about one-tenth of the complex complete, Daniel Simms, for Mr O'Reilly, told the court.

Mr Simms said Mr O'Reilly, whose Platinum Developments firm had acted as a selling agent for CGBI, put together a team of investors to "salvage" the project, and they acquired the CGBI holding company. This firm's name was changed to Sunset Resort OOD and, in letters to the Uwens, Mr O'Reilly said he was the owner of Sunset.

In an affidavit, Mr O'Reilly said the Uwens were offered options on how to deal with their investment, and they chose repayment on completion of the development.

Mr O'Reilly denied they were entitled to receive €215,000, and said the amount was just €12,800. CGBI had informed Sunset the Uwens had paid that latter amount, he said in his affidavit.

Because the Uwens had chosen a refund on completion, they had no contract with him and acceptance of this option stipulated that the laws of Bulgaria would apply in any dispute, he said.

The Uwens claimed Mr O'Reilly repeatedly ignored letters seeking a refund and was "deliberate" in trying to avoid refunding them.

If Mr O'Reilly was sued in the Bulgarian courts, he would say there was no contract between his firm and the couple, they said. Despite Mr O'Reilly saying in May 2007 that the resort was complete, they had not been repaid."

The Uwens were essentially told to go sue Neill O'Reilly in Bulgaria although the judge did agree that they appeared to have a case and granted them costs.

The full story is here.

_______________________________________

For a selection of property in Bulgaria click here.

For a list of agents selling property in Bulgaria click here.

For independent articles on the Bulgarian property market click here.

For advice on purchasing in Bulgaria click here.

For news on the Bulgarian property market click here.

For new releases and product updates from Bulgaria agents click here.

For a selection of property exhibitions featuring Bulgaria property click here.

Register now to receive our informative newsletter, save searches and tailor your OverseasCafe.com experience to your own needs.

Spanish Property on Today with Pat Kenny

It was great to hear our Advice and Editorial contributor, Diarmaid Condon, interviewed in studio on the Today with Pat Kenny show yesterday morning. The piece was a rundown on the trials and tribulations of the Spanish property market, where things stand at the moment, is this a buying opportunity, etc.

We thought it was very informative and Diarmaid very much held his own in the company of the esteemed Mr. Kenny.

The link to the Spanish discussion on the programme is here, you'll need iTunes to play it which can be downloaded for free from the Apple Website.

On a more amusing aside. Straight after the Spanish property interview two musicians, a lady and a gentleman, entered the studio. Diarmaid had no idea who was to follow his interview and, shook hands with the gentleman not knowing who he was. It was only when he heard the ensuing music from outside the studio afterwards that he realised he had just shaken hands with Sir James Galway. Way to not be overawed.
____________________________________________

To view properties in Spain: Click Here

To View a List of Spanish Agents: Click Here

To View the most Recent News from Spanish Agents: Click Here

To View the Latest Spanish Property News: Click Here

To See a Listing of Upcoming Spanish Exhibitions: Click Here

To See a Selection of Advice on Purchasing in Spain: Click Here

Register now to receive our informative newsletter, save searches and tailor your OverseasCafe.com experience to your own needs.

www.OverseasCafe.com

Wife Says Lynn in Portugal

The wife of missing solicitor Michael Lynn has told the High Court that she saw her husband two weeks ago in Bulgaria.

Brid Murphy is giving evidence in an attempt by ACC Bank to recover a mortgage it gave Mr Lynn on a €5.5m house in Howth, Co Dublin.

Ms Murphy told the court that her husband collected her from the airport in the Bulgarian capital Sofia last Monday week.

She said she left Bulgaria seven days later and that Michael Lynn has now returned to Portugal.

From Irish Independent.

According to the Irish Times: "The wife of missing solicitor Michael Lynn has told the High Court she remains in touch with her husband and last saw him just over a week ago in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia."

"Ms Brid Murphy said she knows where her husband is, that he had collected her at the airport in Sofia from where she left on Monday week last and that he went to Portugal the following day. She remains married to Mr Lynn, she added."

"Ms Murphy told the court that, when she married her husband in April 2006 having been with him since 2004, he was a solicitor with his own practice and property company and she trusted him completely in relation to financial affairs, including dealings for the purchase of Glenlion. She had worked as a nurse earning some €46,000 a year before their marriage but gave up work in early 2006."

See the full article here.

_______________________________________________

Register now to receive our informative newsletter, save searches and tailor your OverseasCafe.com experience to your own needs.

www.OverseasCafe.com

OverseasCafe.com in the News

It's great to see the OverseasCafe.com website getting a few notable mentions in the press. On Sunday last the Sunday Business Post featured a piece on the April search stats from the website.

The piece, written by the Business Post's property editor, Gillian Nelis, says: "The overseas property portal OverseasCafe.com has released details of which markets generated the most interest among its users during April."

She continues: "The total number of queries was over 72,000, down from almost 84,000 searches over the same period last year, reflecting the slowdown in the industry in 2008."

You'll find the full article here.

Eddie Lennon, who writes the Money Talks Business column in the Sunday Tribune also gave the site a mention on Sunday in his 'Tip of the Week' section. The piece is fairly short so we've included it below.

Tip of the Week - By Eddie Lennon

LOOKING to buy a holiday home or overseas property? A new online overseas property portal, OverseasCafe. com, lets you browse thousands of properties across the world. The site features thousands of articles, with regularly updated news and advice from some of Ireland's most respected property experts, plus an exhibition/seminar listing, updated daily, in an easily searchable format. The site also conducts relevant surveys on the overseas market and issues an informative monthly newsletter. If you register, you can list your own overseas property for free. A very useful feature for house hunters is the saved search facility - whenever a property matching one of your searches is put on the site you get an email alert. The site also has a relevant and thoughtprovoking blog.

You can find the full article here, it is at the end of the Watch Your House article.

_______________________________________________

Register now to receive our informative newsletter, save searches and tailor your OverseasCafe.com experience to your own needs.

www.OverseasCafe.com

High Oil Prices to Hit Airlines

Further to our previous blog on Willie Walsh's claim that we've hit the end of cheap flights, Louise McBride has an equally downbeat piece in the Sunday Independent, where she includes a few of Michael O'Leary's typical one-liners.

"Anything is possible," said O'Leary when asked if oil could soar to $200 a barrel. "But do I think it's sustainable? No. Whatever the forces driving oil prices up, $150 per barrel looks more likely than $100 over the next few months"

O Leary says he believes oil prices will stay at about $130 a barrel. "Long-term investment decisions are being made at $70 a barrel. But the price won't drop to that level this week. The truth be told though -- no-one knows what's coming next. Most of us are hoping that the latest surge in oil prices is a short-term spike."

O'Leary continues; "only four airlines would survive on an oil price of $200 -- British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France and Ryanair."

The whole Sunday Independent article can be found here.

Another feature in the Business section of the Sunday Times yesterday by Brian Carey claims Ryanair is to cut more than 20 planes from non-profitable routes over the winter as fuel prices continue to rise. We can't find this piece on-line as it is only in the Irish version of the paper but if anyone can find it we'd appreciate the link.

The Times today also has a feature this morning saying that airlines are being asked to pay for fuel in advance by suppliers fearful that they will go out of business before making payment - see here. It's all blue skies and happiness these days.

This is all scary stuff indeed, but what does it mean to the overseas property investor who, naturally, depends on flights for accessibility? Who knows, but time will no doubt tell. It certainly doesn't look like flight access is going to get any cheaper whatever happens, so if it costs you a lot of money to get to your chosen destination at the moment, expect it to get a whole lot more expensive before the end of the year. In the midst of a severe economic nosedive it would appear that many overseas lifestyle property purchases could become very expensive added extras indeed.
_________________________________________________

For an advice article on the risks of basing your purchase decisions on the availability of cheap flights click here.

For other stories referring to airlines click here.

Register now to receive our informative newsletter, save searches and tailor your OverseasCafe.com experience to your own needs.

www.OverseasCafe.com

Lynn Struck Off and Fined €2m

Here's another shocker. The High Court has struck off 'renegade' solicitor Michael Lynn and fined him €2m in absentia. A report in the Belfast Telegraph says: "The President, Mr Justice Richard Johnson, granted the application made by Shane Murphy for the Law Society on the back of recommendations by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal last month."

It continues: "It is estimated that the Mayo native, whose whereabouts are unknown, owes a number of financial institutions more than €80m." Ouch.

I think this is what you officially term "closing the stable door when the horse has bolted." I'm sure Mr. Lynn is quaking in his boots over the most recent ruling on his case.

More likely he is laughing his backside off reading reports like this one on the internet. If you're reading this, hi Mick, how's it going?

The full Belfast Telegraph article can be found here.

Register now to receive our informative newsletter, save searches and tailor your OverseasCafe.com experience to your own needs.

www.OverseasCafe.com

End of Cheap Air Travel?

Now sit down for this one. BA chairman Willie Walsh, yes he who presided over the Terminal 5 fiasco at Heathrow, claims that we've hit the end of cheap air travel.

According to the Guardian Willie has said; "... the soaring cost of oil allied to global economic uncertainty would force airlines to raise fares in a scramble for survival that will see many of them go bust." Not good news for the consumer obviously. Less airlines = less competition = the backside being ripped out of the market.

This announcement comes the day after the world's biggest carrier, American Airlines, announced huge cuts in routes and jobs because of rising oil prices. Walsh also said that; "budget airlines would have to increase fares and add-on charges such as baggage check-in fees and that many unprofitable companies would simply go bust. The industry has no future if it does not price in its costs." Ah, has that not been happening already Willie? Aer Lingus and Ryanair have both announced increases in baggage charges and boarding fees over the past few weeks.

The prediction is likely to send shivers down the spine of Irish owners of property abroad, many of whom bought on the back of cheap access and who rely on such cheap access to visit their properties regularly.

Let's hope Willie's predicitions are as reliable as his ability to open a new passenger terminal.

You'll find Mr. Walsh's rather unpopular prediction here.

_________________________________________________

For an advice article on the risks of basing your purchase decisions on the availability of cheap flights click here.

For other stories referring to airlines click here.

Register now to receive our informative newsletter, save searches and tailor your OverseasCafe.com experience to your own needs.

www.OverseasCafe.com

Taxing Times

It's one of those things you may not like to talk about, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist - tax. You know what they say, the only things certain in life are death & taxes.

One thing is for sure, if you're looking to get into overseas property you'd better not overlook the tax implications, particularly if you're purchasing in your own name rather than through a company.

As is the wont of the OverseasCafe.com website, we have commissioned a few very fine articles on taxation and how it will effect you in relation to your overseas purchase. We strongly advise that you visit and read a few of them to get a handle on these issues before you consider your purchase abroad (or indeed after you've purchased abroad should you have already done so, but reading them in advance is better if you can manage it).

For a listing of impartial advisory articles relating to taxation issues when purchasing property overseas click here.

____________________________________

For a selection of property from around the world click here.

For a listing of agents selling overseas property click here.

For independent articles on overseas property click here.

For advice on purchasing property overseas click here.

For news on the world of overseas property click here.

For new releases and product updates from agents around the world click here.

For a list of upcoming overseas property exhibitions around the country click here.

Register now to receive our informative newsletter, save searches and tailor your OverseasCafe.com experience to your own needs.

German Property - Think Laterally

Looking for German property, then the chances are you'll have been offered units or projects in Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Leipzig or Dresden. You've probably never been offered anything in rural Bavaria though (of course Munich is in Bavaria but we're ignoring it for the purposes of this blog, just because it suits us and its our blog).

Bavaria is Germany’s number one vacation state and its Chiemgau alpine region enjoys a healthy share of the state’s tourism, drawing many thousands of German and foreign visitors annually. Well you'd never have thought of that would you? Apparently it's a wonderful spot so we said we'd better check it out to see what all the German's know that we don't.

We wrenched Margaret Carragher from her desk at the Sunday Indo and sent her off to the region to size it up, you can see what she thought of it here.

_________________________________

For a selection of property in Germany click here.

For a list of agents selling property in Germany click here.

For articles on Overseas Property click here.

For advice on purchasing in Germany click here.

For news on the German property market click here.

For new releases and product updates from agents selling in Germany click here.

For a selection of property exhibitions featuring German property click here.

Register now to receive our informative newsletter, save searches and tailor your OverseasCafe.com experience to your own needs.

Rate Your Spanish Agent

Had an absolutely wonderful experience with your Spanish property sales agent? Alternatively, have you had completely rubbish service from an agent, been led up the garden path, taken for a ride and every other cliché in the book? Well then you'll be glad to know that, as with everything else, there's a website where you can find out about agents before you use them or report your experiences so that others can read and assess your comments.

As an example, here are links for the ratings given for some of Spain's larger agencies. Just remember when browsing the results that you may need to balance it somewhat with the fact that people are more inclined to complain that they are to compliment.

Aifos

Ambasun International

Andalucian Dream Homes

Atlas International

Iberian International

MacAnthony Real Estate International (MRI)

Masa International

Medsea Estates

Ocean Estates

Palmera Properties

Parador Properties

Polaris World

Viva Estates

There is also a list of Spanish developer ratings here.

______________________________________

To view properties in Spain: Click Here

To View a List of Spanish Agents: Click Here

To View the most Recent News from Spanish Agents: Click Here

To View the Latest Spanish Property News: Click Here

To See a Listing of Upcoming Spanish Exhibitions: Click Here

To See a Selection of Advice on Purchasing in Spain: Click Here

Register now to receive our informative newsletter, save searches and tailor your OverseasCafe.com experience to your own needs.

Justifying Irrational Purchase Decisions

When an investment seems overpriced, when the purchase seems completely irrational, we can be talked into accepting it by thinking that 'this time it is different' there are now 'different market drivers' and things will never return to the 'old status quo'.

That was a motto of the Internet bubble, the heyday of delusional investing. Valuations in the fledgling industry made no sense, even with the most heroic assumptions about their earnings potential. But the sector was so appealing that investors created a new assumption - unfounded, as it turned out - that the world would change so fundamentally that valuation norms no longer applied.

This has also been happening since that time in the property industry, leading to an unprecedented boom and, ultimately, bust.

See full article here.

____________________________________

For a selection of property from around the world click here.

For a listing of agents selling overseas property click here.

For independent articles on overseas property click here.

For advice on purchasing property overseas click here.

For news on the world of overseas property click here.

For new releases and product updates from agents around the world click here.

For a list of upcoming overseas property exhibitions around the country click here.

Register now to receive our informative newsletter, save searches and tailor your OverseasCafe.com experience to your own needs.

Revenue Seeks to Track Down Overseas Property Owners

This isn't exactly news, it is merely chronicling articles which deal with the subject as it seems to be a very popular one in the media recently. The Revenue is openly co-operating with the writing of these pieces (you'll see one in the SBPost links below from Diarmaid Condon who writes for the site) so there is obviously a big move on to clamp down on overseas investments and the Revenue wants it known that this move is being made.

These are the most recent reports on the initiative from the Revenue to track down overseas property owners from the Sunday Business Post (and others here and here on making a Qualifying Disclosure) and Irish Independent today.

Click here for informative onsite advisory articles dealing with the Revenue.

www.OverseasCafe.com

Who's Been Looking Where

The OverseasCafe.com has been doing monthly surveys on where Irish web surfers (both North and South) have been checking out on the Web. The surveys have been an excellent barometer of where potential Irish property buyers interest currently lies. Its big advantage is that it is right up to date, rather than the usual season old data received from shows and cobbled together from anecdotal information.

The results of the survey for 2008 and comparisons with April 2007 are available here. They make very interesting reading as there has been a sea change in the areas now tickling the fancy of Irish investors. We could be seeing the end of the huge surge in French interest, which has lasted since 2000, but has dropped dramatically from 25% of all searches to just 8%. Interest in the UK and US are at all time highs as buyers seek to profit from weakness in both currencies.

Register now to receive our informative newsletter, save searches and tailor your OverseasCafe.com experience to your own needs.

http://www.overseascafe.com/OverseasSearch/Property.aspx