On the 12/1/08 Saturday Mr Antonis Loizou has given a lecture at Ayia Napa on behalf of the U.K. Alzheimer’s Society, which was attended by 120 mainly foreign residents in Cyprus. The subject was the Real Estate Market in Cyprus. We provide a shortened version of the speak.Real Estate Investment, be it a house, land income producing property or development, has been so far a “safe” investment in terms of security of capital. Since 1974 prices have been moving upwards at varying rates p.a. Upto the year 2001, prices moved upwards on average 7% – 10% p.a., but since the Cyprus Stock exchange crash, investors interest turned towards real estate. Cyprus’ inclusion to the E.Union, coupled with the most favourable tax system in the E.U. and the Russia-Cyprus double taxation treaty, has caused Cyprus to attract an increasing influx of European and Russian interest, which has helped real estate investment in Cyprus.The lifting of restrictions regarding property purchases by E.U. companies and citizens, has widened the scope of real estate investment and now, it is estimated that foreign buyers in Cyprus real estate contribute around CP700 mil. This is just short of the biggest foreign exchange earner, the Tourist Industry and its CP1.200 bill. p.a. and far ahead from the third biggest foreign currency earner i.e. the offshore companies contribution of around CP350 mil. p.a.This keen foreign demand, coupled with the local interest as well as the added taxation on real estate, such as V.A.T. of 15%, has caused prices to move at a rate between the years 2002 – 2004 of around 15%p.a., whereas the very recent years prices have shot up by almost 20% p.a.This is particularly so regarding building plots and land and more recently towards agricultural land. With prices of development land being so expensive and with the planning laws allowing the development of a single house just about everywhere, the public’s interest has been diverted with an increasing volume towards agricultural land, where prices have shown increases in excess of 30% – 50% over the last year alone.This situation of high development land cost, converts now to around 40% of the total development cost of any house/apartment, whereas a couple of years ago, the land cost on a building sales price amounted to 20% – 22% only. This unhealthy state of affairs will get worse with the introduction of VAT on building land from 1st August, 2008.So, when it will end and more importantly are we heading for a real estate crash? I doubt it. Since so far these substantial increases in property prices, have been absorbed by the public, be it, it has affected the rate of sale mainly for the less competitive projects making in part, the market, rather unpredictable and somewhat uncertain.To this negative picture one must bear also in mind that various positive/balancing measures that are now in hand. The reducing interest rates [as for 1.1.08 from 4.5% this rate it is reduced to 4.0%] and the longer repayment periods of loans that are now offered have helped.The new Central Bank measures regarding own contribution in buying or developing real estate which has increased the original contribution of 20% to 40% [for non own users - permanent residents] is expected to affect the “by to let” market, since returns/fields in Cyprus are very low [around 4% p.a.] and it is one of the lowest in the popular holiday home destinations in Europe, whereas high cost of air tickets etc. makes letting not as easy as in other countries [some balance may be gained when low cost air fair airlines are in full operation in Cyprus].The pending new infrastructure measures such as the pending development of the two airports in the Island, the pending development of the 4 new marinas [expected to come around the year 2012] now under offer, as well as the expected 7-8 new golf courses, will add to the island’s attraction, making Cyprus, perhaps, the most densely area in Europe in terms of golf courses per population. On the other hand if these projects materialise [i.e. golf/marina/Larnaca port projects] they will place in the housing market [mainly directed towards the foreign people] around 10.000 new housing units in addition to the normal number which are now produced [approx. 5.000 p.a.] With the existing demand of around this number [5.000 units] and even considering an increase in demand due to the above infrastructure properties, the supply will surpass demand in the year 2010 -2015 with possible negative affects on the holiday home market prices.Buying / building real estate/homes in Cyprus is easy, since it is the most popular business. At this point of time “Property Development” is carried out by just about everybody independently of qualifications, financial status, honesty etc. For this reason we note an increasing percentage of delays uncompleted projects, projects without a permit etc. and as such, care is needed. For this reason I have prepared for your consideration our firms “10 Building commandments” which every potential real estate buyer should follow as much as possible.Buying in Cyprus is easy, but selling your property is another matter however. One must compete with the aggressive and well connected developers, well organised estate agents [some of which charge in excess of the legal 3% -5% - rates reaching upto 15%] so you must take into account not to be in a particular hurry should you want to sell your property.As I have said before, real estate prices have recently moved upwards at a rate of 20%. This is partly due to the foreign interest which represents approx. 20% of the total real estate acquisition in Cyprus. This is a very high percentage especially where it is concentrated in certain areas. So care is needed since if you chose to invest in such popular areas of foreign people concentration, you stand a higher risk of price adjustments up and down, since foreign people behave differently than the locals whose demand/supply is inelastic.The following table is quite an interesting one illustrating foreign peoples concentration [on a % of the total demand of the area]Pafos Limassol Larnaca Nicosia Famagusta90% 40% 50% 5% 50%What are we going to do with the Russians my dear friends? As this country becomes more stable and as oil prices move upwards so the middle/upper middle income, Russian people will become more and more financially able and to turn their attention to the holiday home destinations. The average sale prices per sq.mt. for this type of property that the Europeans usually buy is in the region of CP1.500 – CP2.500 [max.] per sq.mts., the Russian market with a particular interest for Limassol, has even shown prices of CP4.000 – CP6.000/sq.mt. for beach units.With a mathematical calculation Cyprus beach and even the near the beach locations will be acquired by the foreign market and this is something which one must consider. Foreign buyers demand affects the local population whose income is not competitive to the foreign market and who is gradually outpriced.This will create several problems, whole areas/towns will be inhabited by foreign residents, at periodic visits [see Sotira area west of Ayia Napa] and even the complete take-over of small villages and I dare say towns [see Pafos in 10 years' time]. Ofcouse I am not against the foreign market and I know that Cyprus cannot go back to the restrictive system on foreigners real estate sale, so it is more of a theoretical approach than otherwise.We live in a global economy and now with the E.U. travelling and settlement abroad will become easier and easier. Cyprus is at a fortunate position regarding the weather, be it with little drinking water, but in closing, I will say that yes, invest in real estate, but take care and do not outstretch yourselves financially. Do not depend on rental income to repay the loan, bearing in mind that you need around 10% of the 12 month income of a residence to cover repairs/void periods and management, in addition to any tax implications, including your tax liability in the event of a resale.For those who are permanent residents however, my advice is try to learn some Greek words or even better, to speak the local language. I know that trying to learn Greek is most difficult [two types of languages, the written proper Greek and the local Cypriot speaking Greek - quite difficult]. If you manage to master part of the language, it will make your life much easier, although I am aware that even when you attempt to practice your Greek language skills, people will quickly reply to you in English.If you manage to speak the language I can assure you it will make your life much easier/happier here.

Myself and many others are living proof that by changing your mental and physical habits, you can build your wealth. This mini-course focuses on changing or fine-tuning your mental habits and attitudes toward real estate investment so that you can profit at will. It’s about getting your mindset right.By mindset, I mean your way of looking at, and approaching your real estate investment business. This includes the way you perceive your business. It also includes what you allow to impress and intimidate you, also what challenges and excites you.Note: This article is the introductory session in a soon to be released mini-course entitled “The Mind of the Real Estate Investor” and the full course will soon be available to Rehab Real Estate Central (http://www.rehab-real-estate.com) newsletter subscribers. This course will be a free service of Rehab Real Estate Central.Why bother with “mindset?”Simple. Because the cost of NOT adjusting your mindset is outrageously expensive (in opportunity loss)! If your mind isn’t conditioned to think like a wealth-building investor, you are like a sailor paddling around in a boat with holes in it. If you bail water quickly enough, you’ll keep it afloat, but you will eventually tire…and sink!ALL money-making endeavors begin with a thought. They are all ideas born in the mind of an investor. Some have more and better ideas than others. Why is that? Are some minds better conditioned than others? I say “yes!”In our society there is often resistance to conditioning one’s mind, but nobody thinks a thing about going for a jog, or hitting the gym to condition their body. Does that make sense? If you walk the entrepreneurial path, mental conditioning is central to your business.The six concepts that I will unfold in this course are powerful weapons of the mind. If you condition your mind to these concepts will make you a lot of money, and you will KEEP making a lot of money.Simply put, if you don’t develop, and then fine tune your mindset you will either:- Never quite get around to investing in real estate (if you have not yet begun) and forfeit the wealth you want to attain for you and your family.- Never quite get where you want to go in your investing (if you are already investing), and forfeit the wealth you intended to attain for you and your family.You see, a lot of people have enough knowledge to invest in real estate. Far fewer DO it. Why is that? Because far fewer have bothered to develop the mindset that conquers fear and other hurdles to investing in real estate. Frankly, it doesn’t matter how much knowledge you possess about investing in real estate, you WON’T do it if you haven’t conditioned yourself to think like and investor.Usually I write and teach practical matters of rehab real estate investing, but for this course, I’m breaking from that in favor of talking about what you can do to adjust your thinking…change the way your mind works. Since the investing won’t be successful without a properly conditioned mind, it can be considered the most important aspect of learning to be a real estate investor!Mindset is the foundation of real estate investment. In other words, if it’s not solid, you cannot invest successfully. I don’t know how to put it any plain-er.I’ve known scores of folks who have WANTED to invest in real estate. These are usually acquaintances who find out somehow that I invest in rehab real estate. Invariable I here, “I’ve thought about doing that.” Sometimes I hear “I looked into that.” Sometimes they proceed to ask questions, but I find that most of the time the next word after the previous phrase is “…but” and then I hear an excuse.These excuses range from “I couldn’t find any property” to “the numbers scared me” to “I couldn’t get a mortgage.”What I’m thinking to myself is “these excuses have solutions, but they don’t yet have the mindset to overcome these relatively minor hurdles.” In fact, unless someone ASKS me for specific advice on overcoming these hurdles, I don’t offer advice. That’s not because I don’t want them to succeed! It’s because their mindset is not yet right.Let me tell you where I’m coming from on this topic.My mindset was screwed up for 10 years! I was a real estate guru junkie! For a decaded I consumed every book about real estate investing on the market, attended seminars, and bought courses. I had “book knowledge” running out of my ears with ZERO property.Finally, one day I realized that I was about to “retire” from the Navy, I REALLY didn’t want to get a job, and my family still liked to eat! I changed my mindset, and put thoughts into action. The rest is history. What changed? Not my knowledge! My way of thinking changed.Facing the end of my Navy career was the catalyst that got me started. If you haven’t started, there IS a catalyst in your life, you only need to find it and capitalize on it. Are you satisfied in your job? Want more time with family? Want more disposable income? Want to build your retirement savings? This list could get long!This course is aimed at helping you capitalize on your action catalyst by developing your real estate investor mindset.For those that are already investing, this course will serve to fine-tune your mindset to make you more profitable. The VERY SAME mindset ideas that make people launch successful real estate investment careers are the ones that keep investors successful over their real estate investing careers, be it 2 years or 20.Let’s get started!

Real estate websites are popping up all over the internet so when will you get on the boat? I hope before it’s too late. CNN and CNBC talk about the Real Estate market in a recession every day and how it probably won’t come out for another year or so. There is no better day than today to get off your butt and create a profitable real estate site for your business. Whether you are an agent, realtor, broker or landlord, you need to have a site for your business in order to compete and succeed. Below you will find five steps to a profitable real estate website.If you have any questions, please feel free to ask by following the link to my website in the author resource box at the bottom of this article.1. Real Estate Website Design: The design of your real estate website should be simple, straight forward and logical. You will basically want to spoon feed information to your visitors. You will have less than 10 seconds to capture your visitor’s attention and keep them from clicking that nasty back button. If you don’t do this, your visitors will quickly realize that your site isn’t worth their time and they will click off of it just as quickly as they clicked on to it. So, how do you do this? I suggest starting with a blank slate. Either hire a professional website designer & developer to do the project for you (PLEASE DO NOT OUTSOURCE YOUR PROJECT OUT OF THE COUNTRY) or take on the project yourself. It might be a cost efficient way to produce your website, but you are hurting American jobs in the long run – one of the reasons why real estate in America is in a recession. Real estate web design is not a complicated task because it is basic and straight forward. I recommend using a site design that is professional, modern, clean, organized and classy. These are qualities that the average house buyer would probably like to see in their new home, so why not have them in your website? A good website design will consist of intuitive navigation, organized content/copy and use of professional images of happy people smiling.2. Real Estate Domain Names: Choosing a domain name may be one of the easiest tasks and it may be one of your most difficult tasks at the same time. Consider hiring a professional website design company such as MJM Design in Cleveland, Ohio (Google MJM Design Cleveland) to pick out a quality domain name for your real estate website. Choosing a catchy domain name will help draw in visitors and we all know it, it’s a fundamental truth, the more visitors the more business you will bring in. It’s like fishing, if there’s no fish why put your hook in the water in the first place? Real estate domain names are sometimes hard to get because they are registered already. If you realize that the domain name that you absolutely must have is already registered, you can try contacting the owner of the domain name. How you ask? Well you would use a service called WhoIs which tells you the name, address, phone number and sometimes even the email address of the website owner. Otherwise, you might try GoDaddy’s Back Order service where GoDaddy will wait until the domain name is about to expire then try to register it immediately. This is most likely only effective if the domain name is about to expire which WhoIs will also tell you the date to.3. Real Estate Website Hosting: Every site needs hosting, regardless if its eBay, Amazon or your website. Real estate web hosting is not a type of website hosting only created for real estate oriented websites. Website hosting accounts can be purchased from my company for as little as $240.00 per year which includes storage, unlimited email access, unlimited email accounts and unlimited databases. Real estate hosting allows you to link your Domain Name to your website. This means that when someone types into their web browser, http://www.yourrealestatewebsite.com it will take them directly to your site on your website hosting account.4. Dynamic or Static Website Content?: This is a question of usability and interaction of your website with its visitors. Will your real estate design require a database to showcase available properties or apartments for rent? If so, then your website will be a dynamic website which pulls information from a database stored on your site hosting account. I recommend a PHP real estate script to run your website. These real estate scripts range in complexity from basic integration of a basic layout and table structure to a complex solution consisting of landlord contact forms, tell-a-friend forms, custom amenities list, Google Maps integration and more. Using a dynamic system also allows for easier updating as these systems usually consist of an administration panel which is protected by a secure username and password. The administration panel is where you will be able to login, navigate the categories of the website to change, modify and administrate different settings on your real estate website.5. Converting Visitors into Customers: This fifth and final step covers converting your real estate visitors into actual customers or leads. When someone visits your website, they are basically nothing to you – completely useless unless you can capture their information to contact them. You can track your traffic through statistics programs that your real estate hosting company will provide you with. If your hosting company doesn’t provide you with the appropriate advanced traffic tracking software, then its time to move on. The most common way of capturing your customer’s contact information is through the use of a Contact Us page. This page usually consists of an HTML form where the visitor can fill in their name, phone number, email address and a message and click Submit to email you right from the website. Most visitors don’t prefer this style of generic contact form and would much rather use a custom “Request a Free Consultation” or “Have Us Call You Back” form. This makes them feel special and let them think they are getting something for free. Implementing one of these custom forms will help you get leads from your new real estate website.I hope that the information contained in this article helped you understand the 5 basic steps to establishing a profitable real estate website and bringing a real return on your investment.