http://www.reit.com Andrew Baum, professor of Land Management at the University of Reading’s Henley Business School and chairman of the investment committee for CBRE Investors’ global multi-manager team, spoke with REIT.com at the European Public Real Estate Association’s annual conference in London in early September about his outlook for the global listed property market. Baum started with his views on the European market.

“It looks like the wind is not going to blow everybody in the right direction,” Baum said. “The big cities, the high-quality assets in Europe are going to perform reasonably well. The peripheral assets are going to lose market share. Unfortunately it is going to be a market where the big get bigger and the small get smaller.”

Baum said as a global real estate investor the markets that truly fascinate him right now are those with strong demographics. He cited Turkey and Iran as two markets with young populations that could hold value.

“Iran is interesting if the political situation changes. A place like Pakistan has this huge, wonderful demographic,” he said. “You see the U.S. surviving with this huge market in Mexico on its doorstep, now Europe has these markets on its own doorstep. And it needs to unlock them sometime, and real estate is an essential first phase of unlocking those markets.”

With uncertain economic conditions still persisting in many parts of the globe, the commercial real estate landscape still faces many challenges. However, Baum said one of the biggest threats would be a scandal in the private real estate market. Baum, who invests in both public and private real estate, said a scandal is more likely to take place in the private market than the listed market. He said that is why it is important that the private real estate sector is as professional and transparent as possible.

Baum said he has changed his view regarding the role listed real estate securities should play in a portfolio alongside direct Real Estate Investments.

“I would have argued five or 10 years ago that listed real estate is volatile, it is correlated with the stock market and its not really real estate,” Baum said. “I’ve really changed my view because the collapse in 2008 showed that private real estate is clearly volatile and is capable of being leveraged even more than listed real estate. I think a wise real estate investor has listed and private in the same portfolio and has to find ways to arbitrage between the two on a continuing basis.”

By Matt Bechard

Duration : 0:3:24

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Technorati Tags: Andrew Baum, CBRE Investors, commercial real estate, direct real estate investment, EPRA, global real estate investing, Henley Business School, listed real estate, Matt Bechard, NAREIT, portfolio allocations, Real Estate Investment, Reit, REITS, University of Redding

At the mention of the word “investment”, some peoples’ mind, i.e. those that are not properly informed will go straight to equity investment. This is because of the popularity that equity investment has gained. There is no denying the fact that equity investment is a sure way to financial freedom, especially when you are informed on the principles of wealth creation through equities. Another reason for this popularity is the fact that you can start this investment with a very little amount of money, and still hope to climb to the top of the ladder in a short period of time if you have good investment ideas.

On the other hand, real estate investment is equally good. In fact, it can give you more money than equity investments. The price of stocks or shares may drop and take some time before picking up again, but in real estate, it is not so, rather, the price of land is constantly on the increase. It is good to the level that immediately you pay for a parcel of land, the price has automatically changed to a higher level that same day. The price of land hardly goes down. Another factor that is to the advantage of the real estate investment is the population figure. A country like Nigeria has a population of over 140 million, with an increase of 3-4 % annually, this makes the demand for land and houses to be very high, and government alone cannot meet up with this demand. This alone, makes investment in the real estate sector of the economy to be a gold mine.

Real estate investment simply means to purchase or manage land or landed properties. When we talk about landed property, we are referring to houses like residential, hotel, office accommodation etc. These are the ones that are very common in

Nigeria, but of recent, investors are now moving into setting up event centers development, shopping malls, etc and these are very rewarding in terms of return on investments. Just as some factors are responsible for the movement of the price of stocks, there are certain factors that drive or determine the demand and supply of Real Estate Investments. These are factors that make the price of the property to either move high or go down and this depends on people, place or environment and one of these factors is the geographical factor. This has to do with the location of the property. The economic, social or political activities in an environment have a lot of roles to play in determining the value of a property. Any property in the centre of core governmental or politically active areas, or the economic nerve center of a town or city, always attracts premium price tag. Even if the property is not aesthetically designed, the environment will still push up the price. On the other hand, a beautifully designed structure, with expensive sanitary fittings and well laid terrain, but is located in a poor or remote area will not attract a good price as it is supposed because of the environment where it is located.

There are many other factors that determine the value of a property, but that will come up in my next post. Keep a date with me here.

Invest wise.

Eze ThankGod ik

Orange County real estate investor and Realtor Gabe Cole presents two different investment strategies to take advantage of the opportunities in today’s real estate market. The long term buy and hold has been proven time and time again as a great long term wealth builder. The Fannie Mae Homepath program is a fabulous opportunity to purchase investment property with less money out of pocket.

The short term buy and flip model is still alive and well and Gabe shows you the strategy he is implementing with some of his clients to take advantage and profit in with this model.

Should you have any questions or would like more information about real estate and investing, feel free to contact Gabe Cole at 949.395.4223 or visit his website at www.gabecolerealestate.com.

Duration : 0:15:27

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Technorati Tags: costa mesa homes, fannie mae, flipping, homepath, investing, ladera ranch homes, laguna niguel homes, newport beach homes, Orange County, real estate

Real estate investment is an incredibly complicated process. Many people think that the only major part of the entire process is the money. While this leads to many of the complexities, it is not the only important aspect of the investment itself. Understanding all of the real estate investment tactics can help you to fully understand all of the different things that need to happen with one simple investment.  Knowing these tactics front and back, and matching them with experience, is the only way that you can be sure to be as successful as you dream of being.

One of the major tactics of real estate investment is the tactic of value added. Anyone who is investing in real estate will want to add value to the home. This value is something done to the home that adds to the overall value of the house. The trick of the trade is to figure out how much value can be added to a home, and how much must be spent to get that value. The best types of value added cost the least amount, but add the highest amount of value. This is a major tactic of Real Estate Investment, as it is a way to add to the profits that you are trying to make.

Fixing up the house that you have just invested in is easily one of the best tactics for those who are trying to make money through flipping homes. By fixing up the house that you have invested in, you will be able to sell it for a higher amount. This is crucial to those who are looking to make big profits; without adding to and fixing the house, you will not be able to gain on the house, unless you have purchased in a down market and are waiting for an upswing to sell the home.

One of the tactics in real estate investment involves working with an investment partner who has gone through the process before. By working with this investment partner, you can have the experience of someone who has gone through the ordeal. While you may bring your new ideas to the table, they can help you to understand exactly what is going to be successful and worth is, and what is not going to be able to help the profitability.

While these are some of the major tactics, they are not the only tactics. These tactics are also not listed in depth. The only actually way to make sure that you are getting all of the tactics down to a science is to work with someone who has managed to be successful before. By working with a coach or professional, you can be sure that you are working toward the end result in a way that has lead to a successful investment before. Without this coach or pro, you may wind up with lost money through a poor investment.

Peter Vekselman

http://www.reit.com Having spent six years with the company, David Sleath took over as chief executive officer of U.K. REIT SEGRO (LSE: SGRO) on April 28, 2011. In his first four-plus months at the helm, he told REIT.com that he has focused his time on taking a closer look at the company, its operations, customers, assets and staff.

“I really wanted to get a good feel for what the business is and where we can take it going forward,” Sleath said during an interview at the European Public Real Estate Association’s (EPRA) annual convention held in early September in London. “My main focus has been very much around operational delivery.”

He said first half earnings were very encouraging, adding that earnings were up 10 percent at the profit before tax level and 8 percent at the earnings per share level compared to last year.

“Those results were on the back of a real focus on leasing, customer and asset management, cost control and building the development pipeline,” Sleath said.

Sleath said the overall European industrial market has been in a slow recovery phase for the past 12 months. In particular, the bulk of SEGRO’s portfolio is in London and the southern U.K. which have been particularly strong economic zones.

He said he expects the steady growth to continue in the U.K. over the next 12 months.

“The overall trend has been a gradual recovery, and I think that will continue because there isn’t a lot of new space available and there are few people doing new development,” he said.

In continental Europe, most of SEGRO’s investments are in France, Germany and Poland. Most of the company’s French assets are in Paris, which is similar to London in that it is a different economy from other areas in its country, he said.

“Germany has been a strong market based on the manufacturing base that they have there. We are concentrated on the big five cities in the country,” Sleath said. “Whereas the rest of Europe went into recession in 2008 and 2009, Poland kept growing. It grew around 4 percent last year. While that market has been suffering from some oversupply due to over development in the last cycle, most of that oversupply has now been taken up and we have got a very low vacancy rate.”

Longer term, Sleath said he intends to focus on how to drive performance out of the portfolio going forward.

“I am having a good look at how we can build on the success that we have got,” he said.

By Matt Bechard

Duration : 0:4:38

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Technorati Tags: Alexander Otto, commercial real estate, David Sleath, EPRA, European property markets, European retail development, German real estate, inner-city shopping centers, international, NAREIT, Philip Charls, real estate investment trusts, Reit, REITS, SEGRO, sovereign debt crisis