A newcomer to the world of investments in the notion of “Virtual Real Estate Investing“. What is meant by “Virtual Real Estate Investing” ranges from online games like SecondLife (where real profit can be made) to the use of internet technologies to make normal real estate investors more profitable.

In order to figure out the truth of the matter, I sought out Bryan Ellis, whose experience in the fledgling industry is truly impressive.

“I began using the term ‘virtual real estate investing’ in the late 1990’s when I realized the clear similiarities in profit strategies, regardless of whether the “real estate” is “virtual” or “physical” said Ellis.

One example of the parallels between virtual and physical real estate Bryan Ellis cites is the similarity between the monetization of domain names versus physical property. “There’s a huge difference between a website and a piece of real estate, but the ways you can profit from them are similar: ‘flipping’, rental/leasing, advertising sales, etc…all of these apply to both markets” he states.

The similarities really are obvious. Consider: A valuable piece of real estate is valuable largely due to the interest that other people have in that specific location. Similarly, ownership of a desirable domain name is valuable for the same reasons. Regardless of the type of asset, you can sell or lease or use any number of strategies to turn the assets into cash.

In our next installment of this series on virtual real estate investing., Bryan Ellis will share the internet analogies to the physical concept of real estate development.

With new destinations such as Bulgaria, Slovenia and Croatia offering two and three bedroom apartments for sale for £50,000, there was concern last year among some Malta estate agents that 2005 could see a drop in the number of UK and Irish buyers choosing to buy a holiday home on the island.

With good all year round temperatures enticing many buyers for the winter months as well as the summer, driving on the left and a warm welcome from the local population who nearly all speak English, Malta has been popular for some years among overseas property buyers.

“A home from home in the Med is often the comment we hear from overseas property buyers” comments Michael Johnson of Malta property specialists Tribune Properties.

“With countries such as Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia opening up their property markets to overseas buyers there is a chance that the Maltese property market could see a decline in sales this year.

But it hasn’t happened in the first quarter of 2005 at least. Malta has an appeal that never really attracted the bargain hunters in the past who tended to look more at rural France and Spain where the low cost airlines fly to, and it is these buyers who are now considering the new markets rather than the buyers we see in Malta.”

Risk Factor

Malta joined the EU last year, and this has helped maintain Malta’s popularity among overseas property buyers.

“Malta has economic, legal and political systems that are established, and might be viewed as less of a risk than countries where title deeds might be more questionable”, adds Johnson, “And we advise buyers wherever they ultimately decide upon to appoint an independent lawyer who can converse in the buyer’s own language to oversee any property transaction to help avoid any potentially expensive misunderstandings.”

For details of over seventy apartments and villas for sale in Malta visit http://www.maltaproperty.info where details are available by email.

Michael Johnson, Tribune Properties, Malta

Malta Estate Agent, domestic and overseas property buyers catered for.

With so many people entering the Buy to let market in the UK, Ireland, France, Spain and other countries it is very important get the rental price competitive. This applies just as much if it is a long-term letting or a self-catering holiday rental.

If you have just purchased a residential letting property and have a mortgage you naturally have to cover the payments, but regardless of a mortgage to service, if your property is over priced renters will not pay a higher price. The only time when this can happen is when there is a small supply of property and big demand for that that type of letting.

In the UK a tenant will still have to pay gas, electricity, water, Council tax, telephone and insurance on top of the monthly rent. In other words a rental of £650 per month means £900 per month of total outgoings. Many Landlords do not realise this and think that all the renters have to pay is the rent to them.

A landlord who insists that their property is “worth” £X per monthand in reality they have been advised by the professional agent it is only worth £-X can have problems. If it stays on the rental market for a while at a price that is too high they will never make up the lost rental (unless there is galloping inflation). It can of course be a totally different scenario with a property that is being sold; particularly if property prices are rising in the area or country.

With a self-catering holiday rental you have to offer the property on what the “market will pay”. Your property just might be located in area whereby there are seasonal or (one time) events when beds are at a premium and to be able achieve a much higher price. (Wimbledon- England for the tennis, Monaco for the Formula one Grand Prix, Cannes, France for the film festival, Cheltenham-England for the horse racing in March etc.) At other times unless your property’s price is competitive it will remain empty more often than full.

If you are using an agent, take advice from the agent. They are normally local to market conditions for long-term rentals and for holiday rentals a specialist agent will have studied your area and keep rental values up to date. If you are using the Internet as a guide spend some time researching. Use a search engine to find a rental agent in the area your property is located in or for a self-catering holiday rental get comparables from a site like jmlvillas.com.

Finally remember with the long term rentals market that although some people are prepared to make an offer, don’t pitch the price high so that you think you will get a Tenant wanting to make an offer. They don’t necessarily do that. Many people wanting to rent think that prices advertised are fixed and the owner won’t negotiate or they don’t even think to go down that route. They will look at the next available property in “their price bracket”. This is rather like shopping in the High Street. They will only pay the price the “goods” are being offered at in the window.

With a holiday rental,it is very rare for a holidaymaker to make an offer; they just purely search in their price bracket.

Philip Suter is a Director of JML Property Services http://www.jmlproperty.co.uk a UK based company offering Insurance products on line at http://www.jml-property-insurance.co.uk and a holiday home advertising service http://www.jmlvillas.com and management training within the uk. He is a very experienced property consultant with over 30 years work in the Residential letting business in the UK and served on the National Council of ARLA. He is a Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and a Member of The association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA)