Survey : Fractional Owenership

There has been increasing talk and interest in the idea of Fractional Ownership and we feel it is time we explained exactly what this entails. We have also created a survey so that you can give us your opinion on Fractional Ownership.

You can do our survey here:

http://www.quibblo.com/quiz/axaCU2X/Fractional-Ownership-Is-it-for-you

Euro Zone Mortgages and 3 Month Euribor Record!

3 Month Euribor rate at an all time low!

Last Tuesday, the 14th July 2009, the three-month Euribor bank-to-bank euro lending rate fell to a new record low, breaking through the 1% barrier for the first time ever.

This has a substantial impact on the cost of borrowing in popular destinations such as Spain and Portugal.

Portuguese and Spanish banks generally base borrowing on the “three month Euribor rate” which in turn is underpinned by the prevailing European central bank base rate. The three month Euribor rate is currently at 0.97% at the current time

The bank will then allocate a spread of anywhere between 0.4% to 1% on top of the Euribor rate for the duration of the mortgage, depending on the loan amount and the “loan to value” ratio.

What is a "spread" you might ask. The spread is the mark up the bank give you on top of Euribor. So a spread of 1% means, if Euribor is at 1%, your mortgage payments will be 2%.

To give an example of how the decline of the 3 month Euribor rate has impacted mortgage costs in Spain and Portugal, following is a comparative simulation based on borrowing Euro 200,000.00 in July 2008 against July 2009 on an interest only basis:-

In July 2008 with the 3 month Euribor at 4.25% plus the bank spread of 0.7% equals a total of 4.95%. Therefore, for a loan of Euro 200,000.00 at 4.95% this would equate to a monthly interest payment of Euro 825.00

In July 2009 with the 3 month Euribor at 1.00% plus the bank spread of 0.7% equals 1.7%. Therefore, for a loan amount of Euro 200,000.00 at 1.7% this would equate to a monthly interest payment sum of Euro 283.00

This comparison clearly shows an incredible saving of the same mortgage facility of Euro 542.00 per month!

What are you waiting for???

Albufeira, Portugal – a top worldwide tourist destination!

Trip Advisor, the travel expert site with more than 10 million members has recently undertaken a survey on the best worldwide destinations for holidays and Albufeira, Portugal came in third place. Albufeira beat off competition from Corfu (Greece), the French Riviera and Cyprus just to name a few and was only beaten by the Canary Isles and Amalfi in Italy. Trip Advisors members describe it as a “modern city resort” and together with the beauty and diversity of the beaches and exciting nightlife its easy to see why!

Amazing Resorts On the road!

This weekend marks the beginning of our summer road shows. Amazing Resorts, in partnership with Your Move will be travelling around the country offering advice and information on properties overseas.

The first weekend we will be in Coventry and Droitwich. For venues and times please click here.

This weekend, apart from the usual range of fantastic properties and great bargains overseas, we are presenting a unique opportunity in Portugal's beautiful Algarve - Eden Resort.

Close to Albufeira, and 30 minutes from Faro aiport, Eden Resort is at the forefront of modern resort development. Made up of apartments and townhouses set in marvelous grounds with 5 outdoor pools and one indoor pool with turkish bath and sauna.

The resort also has a chidren's club and infant park, poolside snack bar, top quality restaurant and clubhouse. Eden Resort also has its own private beach bar so if you feel you can drag yourself away from the extensive gardens and facilities, why not relax on your own private bit of beach?

We were very impressed with the quality and design of Eden Resort and that is why we have decided to place it as our first "Featured Devlopment" for our first weekend on the road.

Many people have asked us why we want to do these road shows, feeling the overseas property exhibition may have died. We understand the sentiments behind this but believe that the public have a genuine interest in receiving information from experts in a slightly more informal environment.

"It's much more reassuring for customers to meet in a well known high street real estate office," says Helen Smith from Amazing Resorts, "Here they can receive professional advice and information for their investment overseas".

If you wish to join us you can find all the details on our ads via the site or you can contact Your Move in Droitwich or in Coventry.

See you this weekend!

Where to buy 2009 - Spain

A recent survey by Global Edge has shown that Spain remains the most popular search for people looking for property abroad. Indeed the survey indicates that Spain is more than TWICE as popular with English speaking home seekers than France, the next most popula destination.

The study, published in December 2008, obtained data from Google searches in English and saw that Spain commanded more than 27% of the property search criteria.

So, although the Financial Times has been trying to compare Spain to Latvia we at Amazing Resorts know that the discerning property hunter wants to buy in Spain.

Let's go over some of the reasons for buying in Spain:

• 300 days of sunshine: Let's never forget that although we love our British climate we much prefer everyone elses!
• Affordable communications: It's so cheap to get to Spain and there are so many options. Every single UK airport serves Malaga airport for the Costa del Sol and Alicante for the Costa Blanca.
• House prices have dropped and allowed more people than ever to buy in this desireable market
• It's CLOSE. Let's face it, you're not going to spend a weekend in Dubai or Thailand. They are for the week long holds. Spain is still perfect for the Firday to Sunday getaway.
• Sangria (We had to mention the drinking, so this seemed the least offensive! Olé)
• 800,000 Brits have already bought there. They must know something. This gives you the ability to access all of the familiar aspects of UK culture, food, drink and companionship.
• The true Spain is still there for those that wish to immerse themselves in the Spanish culture.
• As we have mentioned previously, the slowing of the market has led to bargains and opportunities emerging for buyers to really get something spectacular

The list goes on.

See you in Spain?!

Driving the Dream!

The Autódromo Internacional do Algarve near Portimao has just launched its AIA Racing School offering instruction in Sporting and safety driving.

Choose from a range of high speed vehicles available including Porsche Cayman S, Porsche Boxter S, Nissan GT-R, Porsche 911 GT3, Porsche 911 Carrera, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, Ferrari 360 Challenge and BMW M3 in cars and Honda CBR 1000 RR in bikes.

The Racing School has several courses available for all levels of drivers and participants will be acquiring their skills from the best in the business: Pedro Lamy, Filipe Albuquerque, José Monroy, Tiago Monteiro, Pedro Couceiro and Manuel Gião will be the designated instructors of the courses.

Among the programmes available are the ‘Taxi Experiences’, where you will have a truly unforgettable experience sitting by the side of one of the professional drivers on a manic two lap race, in either a Ferrari Modena 360 or a BMW M3.

If you fancy a more hands on approach, then the ‘Driving Experiences’ are for you. These consist of four levels of driving courses (Classic, Silver, Gold or Platinum, including personal training) with prices ranging from €299 to €899. They are designed to test and improve your car handling with several different exercises.

Algarve Live Concerts

Don’t forget the following forthcoming live concerts in the Algarve:

Joss Stone will be playing in Loule on 31st July, Seal is live in concert in Albufeira on 1st August and 80’s pop star Rick Astley is playing live on 2nd August in Albufeira.