The Lucky Banker

Ok, at first sight a recent UK seller seems to have it all. He has just sold his Knightsbridge home for the princely sum of £18m. Some achievement, you might say, given current market conditions.

If you look a little closer though, all may not be as it seems.

The asking price for the house was a whopping £40m. before the bust hit. The developer actually rejected offers of £33m. before the economic hurricane swept all before it. 

The buyer in question is Raffaelle Mincioneo, who you might also think is the luckiest guy in the world, but he is in fact a banker - not a jolly lot these days - but then he's obviously doing ok for himself if he can afford to shell out £18m for a Knightsbridge home in the depths of the worst recession in our lifetime. 

He's obviously been blessed with good fortune in his life as he was once dating Heather Mills - now that is a lucky escape. 

The full story from the Daily Mail is here. 

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OverseasCafe.com UK Property Links

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OverseasCafe.com May Newsletter

Whew, there's been a phenomenal response to the May newsletter we sent out yesterday. We are experiencing a huge amount of interest in the properties listed in it in particular, which is no mean feat considering the economic turmoil the country is currently experiencing. It just goes to show, there is money out there looking for a home, it just takes the right product at the right price to get it moving.

We featured a number of UK repossessions as well as a selection of UK commercial property offering strong yields. That's one of them pictured, a very nice London commercial unit tenanted by Sainsbury's with four other shops and eight flats. 

Just so that those who are not signed up for the newsletter don't get left out we said we'd put a link to the May version here. If you want to view other past newsletters you'll find the index here. 

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OverseasCafe.com UK Property Links

For a selection of property in the UK click here. 

For a list of agents selling property in the UK click here.

For independent articles on overseas property click here.

For advice on purchasing in the UK click here.

For news on the UK property market click here.

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

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

Legal Eagles Protect Unethical Practices

There's an interesting piece on the relationship between the legal profession and 'big business' in relation to overseas property in our editorial section. It is written by Diarmaid Condon, who has seen and done pretty much what is to be seen and done in the Irish overseas property industry. It's well worth a read - very thought provoking - particularly if you've been on the wrong end of some less than ethical practices in the overseas property industry - and let's be honest, there's plenty of this in evidence these days. 

It certainly raises the question of whether the average property purchaser overseas should have better access to lower cost and more effecient legal services in the quest to bring to book developers and agents who have failed to deliver on the promises made during purchase negotiations.

You'll find the article in full here. 

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Apologies for OverseasCafe.com Site Outage

Apologies to our faithful readers for the outage to our OverseasCafe.com website. 

Essentially OC is moving hosting providers but the one it's leaving isn't best pleased and is being less than accommodating in hastening the transfer of the domain name to the new providers. 

It's a real nuisance but hopefully everything will be back in action soon.

If you do wish to visit the site you'll find it here in the interim. 

Apologies for any inconvenience experienced in the meantime.

Credit Crunch Causes Cape Verde Development Fallout

There are signs of cracks on the veneer of the property industry of the idyllic island archipelago of Cape Verde. 

A judgement granted against developers Tom Sheehy (Cape Verde Development) and John Cahillane shows the level of distress that is being felt in the industry at the moment, particularly in 'emerging markets' such as Cape Verde. 

The case, brought by Brian Murphy-O'Connor and Ted Whittaker against the two developers, shows just how cashflow in the industry is rapidly running dry. Sheehy doesn't deny the money is owed but, like everyone else, they are finding it difficult to get their hands on funding at the moment.  Under normal market conditions you suspect a case like this would never make it to court. 

See our full editorial piece on the case and its ramifications for the island group here. 

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

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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.

Trichet Sees a Bottom

Ok, so the headline could be taken as an indication that the venerable European Central Bank President has been spending a little too much time in naughty areas of Amsterdam, but no, he sees a potential bottom to the current malaise of the European economy, nothing more sinister than that.

This is, indeed, good news. Although you would have to say, the bottom in question may be a bit more distant for Ireland than other parts of Europe, we do seem to be in a particularly bad pickle. 

Having said that, it is good to know that Europe may be able to see light at the end of the tunnel, because the chances of Ireland Inc. recovering without others around it first improving their situations are very slim. 

According to Trichet: "As far as growth is concerned, we're around the inflection point in the cycle, that's the sentiment." He claims that a number of recent reports are encouraging but he issues the caveat that there's no time for complacency.

Of course, the fact that the European Central Bank President sees the potential for an upswing in an economy in which he has such a vested interest doesn't in itself mean much, it could be argued that he is merely talking up the European economy. It could also be said that he is ignoring a lot of negative sentiment still remaining in the market.

It is, however, an indication that at least there are some positive reports and sentiment on which to pin our hopes, which was not the case some six months ago, so perhaps a corner of sorts is being turned. Or maybe a bottom of sorts is being reached. Again, no pun intended. 

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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.

Potential Changes to Letting Rules in the UK

The Times reports that all private landlords in the UK may have to be registered before letting residential property under new government plans mooted to curb abuse in the rental market.

It is estimated that the number of private landlords has risen to about one million in England and Wales and it is felt within the government that moves must be taken to prevent unscrupulous landlords from exploiting tenants.

The proposal is that anyone letting a residential property would have to pay a fee, mooted to be £50 to start with, to register with a national body. Those required to register would include developers, buy-to-let investors and those who have become landlords because they cannot sell their properties and have let them out instead.

See the full article from the Times here. 

If you would like information on current opportunities in the UK please fill out this form and our partners will be in touch. 

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For a selection of property in the UK click here.

For a list of agents selling property in the UK click here.

For independent articles on overseas property click here.

For advice on purchasing in the UK click here.

For news on the UK property market click here.

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

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