You know the saying, ‘Keep your friends close, your enemies closer’? Well, bear it in mind if you owning a property abroad has suddenly made you very popular indeed amongst your circle of friends. In an eye-opening survey conducted by Barclays and YouGov, a staggering 13% of respondents admitted that they were only friendly with certain people in order to take advantage of their foreign property.

While reports confirm that international property purchasing has taken over from traditional stocks and shares as the most popular investment vehicle of choice, it seems that a fair few people out there are letting others part with their cash – so that they don’t have to! By staying in property for free owned by friends and family, British holidaymakers are thought to have saved a massive £4billion. According to the findings, 41% of people who travel abroad regularly stay in a flat or house owned by someone they know.

Continue reading ‘Holiday Home ‘Friends’ Stay and Save’

If you are thinking of buying an international property, data published today from a worldwide annual cost of living survey compiled in March by leading human resources consultancy Mercer ranking 143 of the world’s major cities using the most expensive US city, New York as the benchmark, puts the realities of living abroad into perspective. The Mercer study, aimed predominately at Governments and multinational companies with expatriates on foreign assignment to gauge whether their compensation packages remain competitive in line with the global cost of living and measures changes in the comparative costs of more than 200 items including rent, transport, clothing, household goods, entertainment and food taking into consideration those daily must-haves such as coffee and dietary staple the fast-food hamburger! Continue reading ‘Mercer HR Ranks 143 of the World’s Most Expensive Cities’

The last census carried out in 2004 by the Insee statistical institute showed the number of British people who live permanently in France doubled in the past five years to 100,000 people, unsurprising considering all things French continue to gain in appeal from a morning croissant and coffee to an evening glass of wine.

The standard of living, education and healthcare coupled with a stress-free way of life made easier still by local airport connections, fast trains and new motorways means its no wonder that Brits continue to want to buy French property, in fact over a quarter of those surveyed by Mintel in its market report last year for homes overseas, expressed a desire to move to la belle France whether it be the French Alps, Provence or Paris city.
Continue reading ‘The appeal of French property is here to stay’

2007 should be a bumper year for overseas property agents indicated by a new opinion poll by Populus of 100 high net worth individuals, just over half (51%) of whom say they intend to invest in property overseas this year and would set aside 21% of the expected average bonus of £294,000 towards paying for their international property. A quarter of those looking or intending to buy overseas say they have a budget of £500,000 or more to spend and were more likely to be aged 35 and over.

It appears the moneymaking appeal of emerging property markets is clearly not a priority for the city’s top earners according to the recent poll conducted on behalf of overseas property agents Pure International. 28% of those surveyed put a place in France at the top of their wish lists mentioning it as their overseas property location of choice along with the more traditional overseas home locations of the United States (23%), Italy (21%), Spain (19%), Switzerland (18%) and Canada (15%).

Beach property continues to attract the eye of most city investors when selecting property abroad followed by ski, urban and interestingly golf resort property which lags in fourth place just before rural farmhouse property.

Of the sample group with average salaries of £331,000 polled, almost 60% revealed they already owned at least one property abroad and 29% stated it accounted for at least half of their investment portfolio. Three quarters felt that property is a more secure investment than a pension, two thirds of whom believed that UK property is more valuable than their overseas property.

When asked to rank symbols of achievement in terms of their importance owning a luxury property overseas came fourth above a luxury car and attractive partner!

Thursday this week saw a return of the Best & Worst Places to Live in the UK for 2006 on Channel Four. As promised, following on from yesterday’s mention of Phil & Sofie’s (this year) 10 Worst places to call home I have detailed Phil and Sofie’s verdicts on the ten Best places to live in the UK.

Contrary to my prediction of a home counties postcode sweeping the board, as it turns out Winchester came out on top, so it seems anyone whose anyone is/should be enjoying ‘vibrant’ living in Winchester these days???!!!

I do have to say that the program provides a cursory look at the UK property map as well as a ‘To Do List’ for the government in addressing some of UK society’s most pressing issues. The top 10 may have ticked all the boxes for a next to perfect life Continue reading ‘Channel Four Best and Worst Places to Live 2006 cont.’

Tomorrow at 8pm Channel Four’s The UK’s Best and Worst Places to Live is screened once again, but this year we are treated to a younger version of new mum Kirsty Allsop in the form of sister Sophie along with regular sidekick Phil Spencer. The hour long special is quoted as being based on 5 criteria:

- crime levels Continue reading ‘Best and Worst Places to Live in the UK 2006 on Channel Four’

Part one of this post prompted me to look further into some of the lesser known low cost carriers out making in roads into the cheap long haul sector and factors affecting future air travel but first let’s find out your opinion in our poll:

[poll=9]

Low cost long haul now an option
Zoom Airlines offers low-cost flights between UK hubs London, Glasgow and Manchester and the main cities in Canada Continue reading ‘Talkback Msn Money Low Cost Airlines Part 2′

Overseas Property TV – Sky Channel 287
After the soft launch on the 14th of August the Overseas Property TV channel is due to go fully live on the 1st of September 2006. MacAnthony Realty International (MRI) have secured a 5 year contract with Arqiva’s Satellite Media Solutions division to showcase overseas property in many countries including the USA, France, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, the Bahamas and Turkey, notably the company’s complete collection of real estate locations. Continue reading ‘Overseas Property TV useful tool or just a platform to showcase MacAnthony real estate’