Property investors in popular holiday destinations are set to benefit from increased demand for tourist accommodation.

The popularity of self-catering holidays has grown significantly in the last few years, particularly in countries such as Spain.

This means that a Spanish rental property could be a sound investment, as demand to stay in one during the summer is so strong that people are reserving them well in advance.

We see a clear trend - people have started to book their holiday rentals flats before January to make sure they have the select of the best holidays available.

He added that there was still a "great need" for more rental properties in popular locations, since people were being forced to snap them up early to avoid disappointment.

This comes after the Association of British Travel Agents said that areas such as the Costa del Sol would attract large amounts of Christmas holidaymakers, as many would choose to spend the festive season in their Spanish property.

Cheers!

People who are planning to retire to Spain have been told of the importance of long-term financial planning.

Age Concern said that those who were considering overseas retirement had to research issues such as the cost of living and how residing in another country may affect their income.

A spokesperson for the charity commented: "The dream of a sun-soaked retirement spurs many older people to move abroad.

"However, retiring to another country is very different from holidaying there."

She added that the key to a successful move was knowing what to expect, as this would enable people to prepared for certain circumstances.

For example, people were advised to consider healthcare and what would happen to them if they fell ill while abroad, especially in a non-English speaking country.

Spain is the most popular place to buy second property as flats & houses among Britons who are thinking of retiring overseas.

Fair Trading investigators found that 20 of 23 properties (flats, houses and villas) presented a discrepancy of more than 20 per cent between the minimum promoted price and the price achieved on auction day. Two of those returned a difference of more than 50 per cent.

Spokesman Graham Humphreys says there is no list or guideline in terms of tolerances.

"Each case is looked at on its merits and the circumstances involved because property prices vary so much dependent on suburb and location," he says. "So we look at individual cases to see what's reasonable in the circumstances." 

Cheers mates!

The eagerly awaited Apple iPhone has finally hit the Indian market. But there are a number of challenges that it may face in the market. Not just Apple, but its Indian Retail partners—Bharti Airtel and Vodafone—will have to play their roles to perfection for their customers to enjoy the iPhone. India is amongst the few markets where the partner telcos are spending huge sums training thousands of their employees to activate the iPhone. This because, unlike their western counterparts, Indian customers cannot be expected to activate the phone online. Low internet and PC penetration is a roadblock here and even amongst those in metros and large cities who own PCs, only a small minority has Apple’s iTunes on their systems. The other catch is slow internet speeds which can frustrate users attempting to download the iTunes.

“We have trained over 3,000 employees across 41 locations and 400 stores in the top 45 cities to help activate the iPhone. We have also trained a large number of our call centre executives who will help our customers activate the iPhone". explains Bharti Airtel president for mobility Sanjay Kapoor. Mr Kapoor added that it would take customers about five minutes to activate the iPhone at Bharti’s retail outlets. Ditto to Vodafone, which has gone a step further and even given appointments at its retail outlets to its customers who have booked the iPhone to help them activate and use the device.

Cheers mates! Mi flats are yours!

Overseas property investors in Spain could benefit from a UK-style transport network, it has emerged.

A delegation from the Andalusian government recently visited London as part of their research on public transport, in particular the Tube Network.

Authorities in the province hope to develop a similar system in order to provide improved access between major cities such as Seville, Malaga and Granada.

This should make it much easier for holidaymakers to explore the region, potentially making it a more attractive destination for foreign property buyers as well.

The government said it was inspired to follow a model similar to that of the London Underground because it was a long-established and cost-effective means of transportation.

Furthermore, it stated that reform of the public transport network would also help to reduce the number of cars on the roads.

London's Tube network currently transports approximately three million passengers each day.

Claim 4 subways close to your new flats or houses! Cheers!

The property prices of prime locations in Punjab have shot up by 40-55% in the last two years. The cash-strapped state, which desperately needs to push the growth of industrialisation, is facing shortage of land, which has pushed the prices upwards. Flats & houses prices in Mohali, Jalandhar, Bathinda, Amritsar, and Ludhiana are scaling new heights. We have been fetching more price than the reserved cost from our previous auctions. A maximum price has been fetched from Ludhiana as it is an industrial belt. Now we have kept a reserve price of Rs 165 crore for the forthcoming auction of a 5 acre site scheduled to be held on August 26 in Amritsar.

The state government recently acquired 300 acres for the proposed Mohali international airport for which the government paid compensation of Rs 1.5 crore per acre to farmers whose land was possessed. This was the highest ever compensation paid for acquisition by the state government to farmers which has certainly set a benchmark. Lately Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), a one kanal seven Marla plot in sector 69 fetched a whopping Rs 3.11 crore against its reserve price of Rs 2.3 crore. The reason this plot went for such high prices could be that Mohali is all set to develop a state-of-the-art town centre in Sector 62, which is near Sector 69. Real estate experts have projected that with the upcoming international airport, Knowledge City and the rapid development in Mohali will keep the reality prices upward only.

Cheers!!!