Category: Interviews

Investing in Phnom Penh’s Luxury Property Market

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phnom-penh-city-centre

Cambodia is one of the fastest growing countries in Asia and has attracted many foreign investors during the past years. Even if the market has been a bit shaky, overseas buyers, and especially Chinese, continue to flood the property market in vast numbers.

Here, you’re not only able to buy residential property, but also commercial property that can bring in great returns long-term.

Today, I’ve invited CS Tee from Huttons Asia in Singapore to explain more about how it works when buying luxury real estate in Cambodia. He has personally bought commercial property in The Peak and will explain about the property market, the buying process, property taxes, what the benefits and drawbacks are, and more.

Let’s see what he has to say.

Thanks for being here Tee. You’re from Singapore and promote Cambodia real estate to international buyers. Can you explain what makes Cambodia so interesting and why foreigners should consider investing in real estate here?

Cambodia is still a relatively new market and therefore has the potential for an attractive return on investment compared to its neighbouring countries, like Thailand and Vietnam.

Continue reading Investing in Phnom Penh’s Luxury Property Market

China Real Estate Expo: A Comprehensive Interview with Lisa Zhang

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china-real-estate-show

Chinese people are keen on buying overseas property, we know that for sure. Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam are just a few countries where Chinese investors buy everything from a single unit up to dozens of units at a time.

Not surprisingly, many agencies and developers focus hard on the Chinese market, offering services and support in Mandarin and Cantonese.

China Real Estate Show hosts some of the biggest real estate events in China that attracts thousands of Chinese investors, willing to engage with foreign developers, agencies, and law firms.

So far, events have been held in multiple locations, including Shanghai and Shenzhen. This time, we have a look at the next event that will be held in Shenzhen, and where the expo will open its doors to more than 130 exhibitors and 25,000+ visitors.

Info about the next event:

  • Name: Shenzhen Real Estate Expo 2019
  • Date: May 18th-19th, 2019
  • Venue: Great China International Exchange Square, Shenzhen, China

Continue reading China Real Estate Expo: A Comprehensive Interview with Lisa Zhang

Buying Real Estate at Auction in Asia: Interview with World Auction Alliance

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When you think of an “Auction” in Asia you may picture a venue where people are buying luxurious paintings, jewelry, or even huge land purchases.

But wait, it’s a residential real estate auction, and the live event is open to bidding by anyone, regardless of their location, using an absolute real-time internet application open to a global audience.

Asia is now embracing auctions as an alternative method to sell and buy newly developed and under-construction residential property – and it can offer buyers the chance to get great savings over the original asking price, because at auction, “the buyers set the price.”

Auctions save time and money for all concerned and are popular all over the world to sell various assets. At a real estate auction, property can trade quickly, at fair prices, in a surprisingly open, honest, transparent, and hassle-free process.

Surprisingly, 30% of all residential sales in Australian cities are sold through auction.

In Singapore, according to JLL, it’s now being recognized as an alternative method to sell high-end units.

About World Auction Alliance:

World Auction Alliance (WAA) is headquartered in Hong Kong and their management pioneered real estate auctions in the United States; having transacted over 2,000 units and $1.1 billion in auction sales in its first 3 years.

They also elevated themselves to be one of the top three real estate auctioneers in the US.

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The Impact of Blockchain in Real Estate: By OpenLedger ApS

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mihail-romanovsky

Blockchain becomes increasingly interesting and receptive, not only among tech-savvies, but the general public.

Personally, I believe that blockchain is here to stay, and it’s much more than just cryptocurrencies, that some people merely associate blockchain with. I’m pretty sure that we will see blockchain in all kinds of industries, ranging from law, real estate, banking, product compliance, and more.

Cambodia is a perfect example where blockchain could help the local population immensely, even if it might take some time.

In the late 70’s, Cambodia experienced big problems when Khmer Rouge fighters destroyed many land titles during the genocide. This left a big part of the population empty handed, with no proof of property ownership. Up till now, Cambodia still experiences issues with land grabbing.

OpenLedger ApS is a Copenhagen based company and one of the pioneers to introduce blockchain services in real estate. Therefore, I decided to invite Mihail Romanovsky, the company’s CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), to let him explain more about how blockchain works, and what impact it will have in the real estate industry.

Let’s see what he has to say.

1: First, thanks for having you Mihail. Before we get into the details, can you explain briefly what blockchain is and how it works technically?

Sure! So a blockchain works like this; It’s like a database that all its users agree on. When a new version of the database exists, that all the users agree is accurate, and that’s recorded immutably in an encrypted format – that’s called a block.

Continue reading The Impact of Blockchain in Real Estate: By OpenLedger ApS

Koh Samui Property Market Outlook: By Conrad Properties Co.

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conrad-properties-co

Koh Samui is one of the most popular destinations for foreign travelers and property buyers alike in Thailand. It’s a great substitute if you want to avoid the hustle and bustle in Bangkok, enjoy the white beaches, mountainous rainforests, and thrive in a community with many foreigners. You’ll be able to find everything from low-priced properties to high-end luxury resorts on this cozy and romantic island.

Before buying a property, it’s important that you get investment advice. Not only buying at the right time, but also the right type of property is crucial to maximize yields and capital appreciations.

Conrad Properties Co. is an established real estate agency on Koh Samui, it was founded by Conrad Krawczyk who has over 10 years of experience working in real estate in Asia. The company has helped many foreigners to buy property on Koh Samui, and always put their clients needs first.

In this article, Conrad shares fruitful information about the property market in Koh Samui, his own projection on the coming years, what kind of property that is in demand, and more. Let’s see what he has to say.

How’s the property market in Koh Samui at the moment?

The future of the market looks positive for the long-term. Short-term capital appreciation is still possible, but not to the extent of the ‘property boom’ prior to the global economic recession, however healthy long-term capital gains over 5 years are realistic. High short-term rental yields of 10-20% NET returns are possible with the right properties, in the right locations and with the right marketing.

Continue reading Koh Samui Property Market Outlook: By Conrad Properties Co.

Buying Off-Plan Property in Perth: By Amanda Gauci (interview)

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amanda-gauci

Perth is the capital and the biggest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. Being the 4th most populous city, Perth offers a great quality of life with white beaches and property prices that are not as propped up compared to Melbourne and Sydney.

Interestingly, the distance to Jakarta is shorter than if you would travel from Perth to Sydney or Melbourne, giving you more proximity to the rest of Asia.

Off-plan property is a preferred choice when foreigners invest in Perth and Australia, a reason why I decided to invite Amanda Gauci, the founder and managing director of Pulse Property Solutions, a boutique property development company located in Perth.

Today she will explain about:

  • Perth’s property market
  • The process when buying off-plan property
  • Benefits of buying in Perth
  • Interesting projects built by Pulse Property Solutions, including illustrations

Welcome Amanda, first, can you please tell us a little bit more about yourself, your history and how Pulse Property Solutions helps foreign buyers to buy off-plan in Perth?

I founded Pulse Property Solutions ten years ago with my family with the aim to create unique boutique developments that people love living in. I come from a business and marketing background which provides a unique approach to development and design.

I’m passionate about the development industry and am part of the HIA Environment, Planning & Development Committee and a board member of Entrepreneurs Organisation Perth.

Continue reading Buying Off-Plan Property in Perth: By Amanda Gauci (interview)

Foreign Buyer’s Guide for Bali Villas: By David Chambat

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david-chambat

Bali is one of the most sought after locations when Asians and expats look for a place to reload their batteries. Some (or should I say many) people take it a bit further and actually buy a property here.

Vacant land prices have grown with rates that hasn’t been seen elsewhere and luxury property prices increased by 15% from year-to-year. A common option is also to rent a villa as foreign ownership regulations aren’t the most favorable in the region.

Today, I have David Chambat with me who founded Villa-Bali in 2012. Currently living in Singapore, he realized that booking a Bali villa was still a challenging thing to do. The company has dozens of employees and offers neat services to foreigners who wish to rent some of the best villas on the island.

In this interview, he’s sharing some of his best advice when buying and/or renting a villa here.

Hello David, thanks for having you. Let’s start with an introduction so that our readers can know a little bit more about yourself and your company. Where are you currently operating and what services does your company offer?

We started Villa-Finder.com from Singapore in 2012 to offer the best experience when booking and staying in a villa in Asia. Our motto at that time was “It has never been easier to book a villa in Asia”.

In a very fragmented Asian villa market, diverse in terms of style and quality, we are able to not only offer a guaranteed, secured booking service, but also a great Concierge service in our Asian destinations.

Since 2016, we have also started a distribution platform to help villa owners distribute and market their villas worldwide.

Currently, we market over 1,500 villas in Bali, Phuket, Samui, Sri Lanka and Mauritius.

Can you explain about the general regulations that apply when foreigners lease or buy a villa in Bali?

There are 2 types of systems in Bali: Freehold and Leasehold.

Continue reading Foreign Buyer’s Guide for Bali Villas: By David Chambat

ABC’s for Property Buyers in Koh Samui: By Harry Bonning (interview)

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harry-bonning-ko-samui-properties

Koh Samui is one of the most popular islands when foreigners decide to visit or relocating to Thailand.

With a population of almost 65,000 people, it’s still fairly big for being just that, an island. Just making a comparison, in Hua Hin (which is a city 2-3 hours away from Bangkok) you have 85,000 and in Phi Phi Islands 2,500.

Previously relying on fishing and agriculture, exporting many coconuts, the tourism industry has taken over since the 80’s.

In this interview, Harry Bonning from Koh Samui Properties tell us a bit more about Koh Samui’s property market and other useful information. The Real Estate agency is one of the most reputable and has helped many foreigners to buy property in Koh Samui.

Harry has been on the ground for years and provide fruitful advice if you plan to buy property in Koh Samui.

Harry, thanks for having you here. Can you please tell us about your background and current business in Koh Samui?

I have been a Chartered Surveyor since I qualified in the UK in 1974 and have worked in the UK, Germany and Abu Dhabi with responsibility for a large portfolio of property in the USA, owned by a Sovereign Wealth Fund.

I have also worked subsequently as General Manager of a portfolio of properties owned by one of the local families before moving to Thailand in 1999.

I saw an opportunity in 2000 for a professional real estate agency in Koh Samui and for the first seven years we were extremely successful. The economic crash of 2007/8 brought the market to a standstill for a time and we reduced our staffing accordingly to correspond to the reduced demand.

In Phuket, the property market relies heavily on foreigners and prices aren’t predicted to increase significantly in the coming years. How has Koh Samui’s real estate market performed and what’s your view on the coming years?

Continue reading ABC’s for Property Buyers in Koh Samui: By Harry Bonning (interview)

Investing in Macau Real Estate: By JML Property (interview)

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juliet-risdon

Do you plan to buy property in Macau S.A.R.?
Click here to get in touch with an experienced agent

Formerly a Portuguese colony until 1999, Macau has the 3rd highest GDP per capita in the world, it’s also the most densely populated region.

Probably you already know that it’s famous for being a gambling mecca as well.

Often overshadowed by news telling about the frenzy in Hong Kong’s property market, many know little about what’s going on a stone’s throw away, in Macau.

Juliet Risdon works as a Designer and Director at JML Property, a leading real estate agency on Macau, founded in 1994. Their international team has helped many foreigners with services like buying and selling property, tenant property services, repair procedures and more.

Macau is interesting for sure, a reason why Juliet has been interviewed by newspapers like the NY Times, Reuters and Financial Times.

Let’s see what she has to say about the property market in Macau.

Juliet, what are the general regulations when buying a property in Macau as a foreigner?

The only areas where the Macau property market discriminates between foreign and local buyers is the additional 10% stamp duty that is applied to foreign buyers and the limitation on land ownership.

Foreign individuals and legal entities can invest in as many properties- residential, industrial or commercial- as they would like.

Most people hear about the property market in Hong Kong when reading the news, Macau is less mentioned. How has the property market performed in Macau the past decade? Have prices increased much like in Hong Kong?

Continue reading Investing in Macau Real Estate: By JML Property (interview)

A Solicitor’s Advice to Singapore Property Buyers: By Eben Ong (interview)

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solicitor-singapore

Buying property in a transparent market like Singapore’s is a relatively easy task.

But even if the buying process is straightforward, it’s important that you seek help from a Solicitor that understands the conveyancing process and foreign ownership regulations in and out.

Today, I have Eben Ong with me from Loh Eben Ong LLP, a reputable Singaporean law firm that works in a wide range of areas, providing services in Conveyancing & Property, Trademark, Deed Poll and more.

The firm was established in 1994 and has a long experience of helping foreigners buying property in Singapore.

Thanks for having you here Eben. First, can you please tell us more about yourself and your current business in Singapore?

I am a practicing lawyer in Singapore, and one of the founding partners of LOH EBEN ONG LLP, a boutique law practice in Singapore.

Our law practice has an established real estate legal practice for more than 20 years. More information about our law practice can be found on our website (see link above).

It gets increasingly popular for Singaporeans, and many other foreign buyers, to look for information themselves, relying less on services from agents. Is this something you’ve noticed while working in Singapore? How do you think the real estate industry will change in the coming years?

Continue reading A Solicitor’s Advice to Singapore Property Buyers: By Eben Ong (interview)