House Prices in Berlin Residential Property Market - Could A Boom be Coming Soon asks LettingFocus.com

Prices in the Berlin residential property market stand at one heck of a discount to other big and not so big European cities.
Just how long can that continue I wonder?
True, Berlin’s housing market has some structural problems, lots of people rent and the tenancies are quite well protected – even compared to the UK.
Also Berliners have never really got into the habit of buying their own houses or flats with a view to capital gain before - mainly because they have never really seen house prices go up.
And, as they get good cheap rental accommodation, they have rightly asked why they should bother becoming home owners.
However, many UK, Irish and other investors have seen the decent rental yields and the lack of any price downside - and the fact that Berlin just looks plain cheap, even when compared to Bratislava and Warsaw.
And so quite a few are now piling in and joining some of the big funds who have recently bought up whole blocks.
Eventually, the locals will join in too and if German banks start doing sensible mortgage deals then we could, at last, see a Berlin property boom.
But it may not to soon.

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.

I’m David Lawrenson.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling commercially published property book for the last 3 years.
Our main business is at a corporate level for organisations - both public and private companies.
We provide consultancy for banks, local authorities, social housing providers and other organisations – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies and services.

OTHER WORK
We also write for property websites and are regularly quoted by the media. In addition, we have written articles for numerous publications including The Independent, The Telegraph and quality landlord websites.
For private landlords, we also find some occasional spare time to help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work, which are ethical and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one to one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
Unfortunately, in the UK today, property advice in the UK is still largely unregulated and what counts as “good advice” is too often more about making the promoter money than giving useful information to the investor.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it. We also show you how to manage tenants properly.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
For general info on our CONSULTING click here: Consultancy and Seminars
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

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The USA Shudders As Sub Prime Mortgages Comes Home to Roost

Right now we are hearing quite a bit from across the pond about sub prime lending and the perilous state of the US housing market.
Indeed, part of the reason for recent volatility in the world stock markets is due to some of this possibly risky (some would say reckless) mortgage lending in America.
It seems that some lenders have pushed the boat out a bit too far and have lent to people who are struggling financially. (The lenders hope was that rising property prices would in a few years make the loans look a bit less shaky.)
In the UK too, lending to sub prime borrowers has become more common. Mortgage credit, including loans on buy to let investments are being increasingly extended to people who also have some kind of adverse credit history.
If you are a “sub prime” borrower with some kind of adverse history of paying back your debts, the options available have increased.
It’s still good for lenders – they just charge for to reflect the risk – though the USA’s experience my have caused them a shudder.
For borrowers, I’d advise them to try to sort out their own finances before worrying about buying a buy to let.
And on a more global scale I fear the worst about this crisis. There are whispers that some US banks have been playing fast and loose with their accounting.
There could be big ramifications worldwide.
Hold on to your hats!

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.
I’m David Lawrenson, a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and author of “Successful Property Letting” – the UK’s top selling commercially published property book for the last 3 years.

Services to Businesses and the Public Sector

Primarily I am a consultant to banks, local authorities, social housing providers and other organisations – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies and services.
For example, I help banks improve their buy to let mortgage lending practices and I help housing association / local authorities find private landlords (private rented access schemes, local letting agency models etc.)
I also write for property websites and am regularly quoted by the broadcast media.

Services for Private Landlords

For private landlords and other investors in the private rented sector, we do just two London seminars each year.
We also find some spare time to help landlords and property investors by coaching them in how to make money in the private rented sector using ways that work, which are ethical, fair to tenants and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one-to-one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it.
We also show you how to manage tenants properly.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
For general info on our CONSULTING click here: Consultancy and Seminars
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords

TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk
To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR TO OUR WEBSITE?
IF YOU SELL SERVICES TO LANDLORDS, YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!See our TWITTER PAGE: http://twitter.com/LettingFocus

Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2007.
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