Telco investment a guide to Filipino property opportunities

The Philippines is an interesting market. The country is experiencing strong urban population growth, though economic activity is subdued as elsewhere. Low household debt levels and gthe prospect of greater regulation of property zoning presents a far greater opportunity for capital growth than elsewhere. It remains to be seen how the credit crisis impacts on the Philippines government reform agenda, however the Philippines will benefit from a continuing shift towards BPO call centres. Of course it will need to overcome cultural challenges to increase its market penetration. Eventually Filipinos will be engaging in sales (‘cold calling’) as well as performing customer support. It’s just an issue of cultural familiarity and training. I would suggest that the greatest prospect for property appreciation is in the regional cities which are likely to experience greater income growth as call centres shift to regional areas to profit from lower wages and greater worker retention (due to less competition and worker migration). Rural workers are more loyal, though such locations are currently disadvantaged by poor telecommunications infrastructure. The best way to establish where to buy is to determine where the new tfibre optic lines are being built, and where call centres will be able to get quality P1 line connections.
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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

Should first home buyers buy now and where?

The answer to this question always depends on the context. You would think that the Australian government has seen the folly of debt given the current extent of indebtness. Yet its solution to the current crisis is to provide first home grants to aspiring home buyers or builders. One would think that we could do with some more savers in the country. But the political agenda is not about good policy, but rather stimulating economic activity at any price; whether that causes financial ruin for some naive 20-24yo who has managed to save a deposit. Tough love from government.
It is not entirely a bad idea to shun such gratuities, but there are times and opportunities when you should buy property using such grants. The instances in which you might buy property could be:
1. you are employed with exposure to the rural sector
2. You are living in a rural area where property prices are low, yields are high
3. You have saved up a deposit and you would be borrowing less than $50,000.

Given that the Australian government is offering $14-23,000 to first home buyers, in this context I would happily buy a property in the countryside. It would be insane however to buy property in the city, or fringe areas for some time yet.
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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

Buying property for the exchange rate benefits

Recently my partner and I bought a property in NZ. There are several attractions to buying property in NZ.
1. The very cheap currency - when commodity prices collapse so does the currency
2. The absence of capital gains tax (CGT) & goods & services tax (GST) on property
3. The attractive lifestyle - NZ is far more fun compared to when I first came here years ago
4. The change in government - the new National government are likely to be better economic managers, perhaps similar to the Aust Liberal Party, but in a moderated sense because these are different times.

The attraction of buying NZ property makes particular sense if you can pay off the loan in foreign currency (whilst the NZD is low) so you can sell it when the currency (and commodity prices) is stronger. You also have the flexibility of making this work in other ways. You can rent the property when the currency is low, and use rental property abroad to pay off your (low NZ) costs of living. When the NZD shows signs of strength, you can move offshore to enjoy the same benefits in another country, or you can refinance your home to pay off another investment property if the local property market is still hot.

The issues that come to mind for investors are:
1. Setting up a bank account - try ASB, BNZ or Westpac
2. Speaking the local language - English in NZ
3. Residence visa - easier if you have a NZ or Australian partner, you are a business owner, or you qualify for their skilled migration program. eg. Tradesperson.

'Buying NZ Property – Download the free sample readings!

The NZ property market is shaping up as one of the most attractive property investment markets for the next few years. High yielding property and the collapse of the NZD make NZ the perfect counter-cyclical investment if you buy right! In addition, there is no capital gains tax, transfer taxes, VAT/GST or wealth taxes in NZ, so rest assured that NZ property is tax-effective! Learn more now!

New Zealand Property Report 2009 - Download the table of contents or buy this report at our online store for just $US19.95.