Even the bottom fishers are having difficulty turning around their properties. Says Pointon: “At the moment, our properties are taking too long to sell. We are increasingly moving towards the lease market.”
Auf Wiedersehen?
Compared to the British market, German real estate is doing just fine. While the residential market is essentially stagnating, commercial real estate is flourishing. According to analysts, contagion of the liquidity crisis is not likely to affect homebuyers.
Yet many Germans are selling their Florida properties, and Ino and Dolf Predmerski are about to join the exodus. The couple from Detmold, Germany, recently decided to sell their two-bedroom condo at El Conquistador in Bradenton after 10 years of spending every winter here.
“We bought the condo in 1997, at a moment when the dollar was similarly cheap for Germans,” says Dolf Predmerski, who owns a marketing consultancy in Germany. “Back then, prices in Florida were extremely low for us. It wasn’t a bad investment, but I wouldn’t do it again today. Taxes and maintenance costs have risen enormously. And higher real estate prices in Florida make buying not as interesting anymore.”
Add to that the increasing hassle of getting to and entering what feels like fortress America. “Airfares from Germany are fairly low and nonstop flights to Fort Myers are quite attractive,” Predmerski says. “But for quick trips to enjoy our condo, travel time is really long. And customs and immigration here have become a major drag since 9/11.”
Another British Invasion
Local builders and realtors owe a big thank you to British real estate investors, who more than doubled the number of properties they own in Sarasota-Bradenton to 1,685 between 1999 and 2007.
“They really like Florida,” says Carla Rayman of Cloud Nine Realty in Sarasota. “They’re looking for areas beyond Orlando. They’re investing in businesses and hotels, anything that can help them get a green card.”
A hefty 41 percent of all foreign buyers in Sarasota-Bradenton in 2006 hailed from the United Kingdom, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. Their share of foreign buying here was as high as in Orlando, the original British bridgehead in Florida. The British are joined by their recently prosperous neighbors, the Irish, whose holdings in Sarasota-Bradenton nearly doubled over the past eight years, to 62 properties.
Lynne and John Nichol are part of this British “invasion.” The postal worker and retired mining engineer from Newark, Nottinghamshire—not far from Sherwood Forest—bought a three-bedroom lakeside home in Bradenton in 2001, after vacationing in Florida three times.
“We originally decided to buy a property in Spain,” Lynne Nichol recalls. “However, the building policy over there is intense and overcrowded.” They chose Bradenton for the investment value, proximity to “all things Florida” and strong vacation rental market. Nichol says their vacation rentals, have been “very successful,” achieving 80 percent occupancy. High property taxes and insurance costs are concerns. But Bradenton has become a lifestyle destination for them.
“We visit our house four times per year,” she says. “We love [the area] more each time we go there. They’ve even thought about buying a second rental property..
As to travel, cost issues seem to be a bigger concern than stay limits, fingerprinting and other border hassles. “We try to catch cheap flights and come over off-peak as much as we can,” Nichol says. “We try to come into Tampa airport, usually via New York, although British Airways does a direct flight. We have also flown into Sanford Orlando Airport on a charter airline.”
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Posted By: Mrs. Rose Adams
From Mrs Rose Adams
20 Rue Avenue, Bouake,
Lome Togo
Email, mrsroseadams4jesus@yahoo.com
Dearest Beloved,
My letter to you may really come to you as a very big embarrassment but i
want you to see it as a desperate means of a dying mother to secure the
future of her only seed in life, my only son George .I personally searched
for these information concerning you because i want my son to have a very
far and distant area to stay considering the many fingers that are willing
to clamp him to death. As a matter of fact, I wish to let you know more
about me and the reason why i decided to communicate to you in this manner
and i hope you give a second and meaningful thought towards it. Thank you.
My name is Mrs Rose Adams a nationality of Kuwait. I am married to late
Dr.Mahdi Adams who worked with Kuwait embassy in Togo for nine years
before
He died in the year October 2007. We were married for twenty years with a
child. (George).
He died after an illness that lasted for long four days. Before his death
we were very good to people and we feared God. When my late husband was
alive we deposited the sum of $8Million (Eight Million U.S. Dollars) with
one of good banks here in TOGO. Presently, this money is still with the
bank. Recently my Doctor told me that I would not last for the next three
months due to my cancer problem. Though what disturbs me most is my
stroke. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to church
or better still an individual that will utilize this money the way I am
going to instruct here in.
I want a person that will use this fund to churches, Mosques, orphanages,
research centres and widows propagating the word of God and to ensure that
the house of God is maintained. God made us to understand that blessed is
the hand that giveth.I took this decision because I have a child that will
inherit this money but my son can not carry out this work only because i
and my late husband decided to use some of the money to work for God and
then leave some for our son to have a better live. Our son is just 17years
old now and been grow up in Africa, he have low maturity and my husbands
relatives are willing to kill him because he has no other person to call
his own and I don’t want my family hard earned money to be misused by
them.
I dont want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly
manner. Hence the reason for taking this bold decision.
I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going to. I want your
telephone communication in this regard because of my health and due to the
presence of my family relatives around me always call me or my son his
name is George Junior, with this our telephone number is 00228 089 1297,
immediately you received this message; I don’t want any of my husband
family relatives to receive this money because i greatly suspect the have
a hand in the death of my husband. With God all things are possible.
As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the
Finance/bank. And letter of authorization that will stand you as the
beneficiary of the fund and also letter that you will enable you adopt my
only son George as your son; I want you to always pray for me. My
happiness is that my contact with you.
Whoever that wants to serve the God must serve him in spirit and truth.
Please always be prayerful all through your life. Any delay in your reply
will give me room in sourcing for another individual for this same
purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated here,
send me all your complete contact information, Remain blessed.
Mrs. Rose Adams
00228 089 1297
Posted By: Louise H Jefferson
I want to sell my home in Orlando ( Central Florida). Do you
have listings in Orlando?
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