This rings particularly true when it comes to the property market. Below, Jerald Solis, Business Development and Acquisitions Director at Experience Invest, explains.

Naturally, those looking to purchase a home (or several) in the coming months are speculating what Brexit will mean for real estate as an asset class. And whether you’re a first-time buyer or seasoned investor, keeping a watchful eye on the property trends that are currently shaping the industry will offer a good indication of future prospects.

Importantly, despite doom and gloom predictions from some quarters of the property sector, there is still plenty of evidence to suggest that appetite for bricks and mortar investment remains strong. In December of last year, the average cost of a home rose by 2.2% – the highest monthly growth in prices in 2018. Meanwhile, the total value of the UK’s housing stock reached a record £7.29 trillion in 2018.

So, for those keen to jump on, or move up, the property ladder in 2019, here are a number of the key factors to keep in mind.

Types of real estate investment

There exist a variety of avenues for property investment, and it goes without saying that some will be more suited to a buyer’s circumstances than others.

There exist a variety of avenues for property investment, and it goes without saying that some will be more suited to a buyer’s circumstances than others.

Buy-to-let is a popular option for many, offering the advantage of a monthly rental income alongside prospective growth in the capital value of the property over time. And in line with growing demand for housing across the country, there is an increasing number of specialist Build to Rent (BTR) developments emerging across the country, offering investors a clear path into the lettings market.

In fact, an analysis by Savills released in January revealed that there are now 139,508 BTR homes complete, under construction or in planning across the UK – that’s an increase of 22% over the last year.

Whether a BTR property or simply a house or flat that the buyer intends to rent out, one of the advantages of a buy-to-let investment is the flexibility it offers investors when it comes to leasing options. Of these, the two most prominent are professional single lets and student lets.

Professional single lets can be thought of as the traditional buy-to-let path; it involves renting out a property as a single unit to a working individual or family. The benefits here include consistent and predictable returns (as long as there are adequate allowances in place for costs). What’s more, the process of acquiring a mortgage for the purpose of professional single lets investment is also typically simpler when compared to other types of buy-to-let.

The other popular route is student lets. The student market can be a great way of getting regular income from a property, particularly due to a predictable student cycle that falls in line with the academic calendar. Students generally sign up for a specified length of time, so your returns will generally be predictable.

Where to invest?

Regardless of whether you’re investing in a property for the sole purpose of owning your own home, or using it as part of an investment strategy, it’s vital that buyers are aware of regions that offer the best prospects for capital growth.

For those pursuing the buy-to-let option, the importance here is choosing an area that will attract strong, year-round interest from people looking for accommodation. Key areas to be mindful of are thus popular student cities like Newcastle and Liverpool, as well as hubs that attract young professionals looking for promising job prospects.

For instance, in January of this year data from Your Move revealed that investors in the North are enjoying some of the UK’s highest percentage returns for their investments – with the West Midlands witnessing the largest monthly rent rise at 0.4%.

More generally, property buyers will always want to see their asset appreciate in value as the months and years go by. And while the UK market as a whole has delivered very strong returns in this regard for many decades – average house prices rose by more than £60,000 between 2008 and 2018 – it is worth noting that some markets are growing at a far quicker rate than other.

Identifying up-and-coming markets will help improve the investor’s chances of higher capital growth.

Identifying up-and-coming markets will help improve the investor’s chances of higher capital growth.

How to plan and action investment

It’s good to be aware of certain factors that might potentially preclude a buyer from obtaining the finance he or she needs to secure a property quickly, and without unnecessary hassle.

Property investors should, for instance, be aware of the tightening restrictions on mortgage lending from traditional banks – particularly in light of Brexit uncertainty.

To provide some relief for homebuyers, certain agencies are able to manage the entire buy-to-let investment process from start to finish. These agencies can offer suggestions of where best to invest, while actioning everything on your behalf and managing the investment in the long-term.

And especially when it comes to buying a new-build property, leaving the financing and management in the hands of an experienced agency can be much more convenient than looking after it yourself.

Especially when it comes to buying a new-build property, leaving the financing and management in the hands of an experienced agency can be much more convenient than looking after it yourself.

Looking ahead

Naturally, there are challenges on the horizon as the UK prepares for Brexit. However, bricks and mortar investment options are certainly growing, particularly with councils and developers stepping up housebuilding efforts to cater to rising demand for property.

Being aware of the nuances and advantages of each type of property investment – as well as identifying regions set to undergo strong growth in the coming months and years – will ensure that prospective homebuyers are well-prepared to seize upcoming opportunities in 2019 and beyond.

Billions of dollars flow into the U.S. from China every year. CNBC’s Uptin Saiidi explores some of China’s biggest assets in New York and explains how the trend is shifting.

Experts at Bondora have uncovered the private investments of professional footballers across four countries.

Whether sports cars or SUVs, mansions by the lake or penthouse flats: the following research analyses the lifestyle of the highest-paid national football players on the basis of their salary, properties and vehicles, and compares these with the salary, vehicle and property value of the average citizen.

Table: Information on the annual income, property value, car model and car value of the British national team

Table: Information on the annual income, car value and property value of the average UK citizen and Football player

The top earners among the England national team are Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling, earning £9,735,785 from Tottenham Hotspur and £8,518,812 from Manchester City respectively - 95.9% more than the average UK citizen.

Despite Ashley Young having the smallest net worth from the Top 10 list, £6.23 million, his house is the most expensive. With a price tag of over £12 million, it’s forty times the property value of the average UK citizen.

The second most expensive house is owned by Phil Jones, right-defense for Manchester United. His home set him back a hefty £5 million - almost twice his annual salary.

Dele Alli from Tottenham Hotspur owns the most expensive car, a Rolls Royce worth over £370,000. However, the centre-right midfield player has one of the cheaper homes out of the Top 10 list, valued at just over £2 million. It’s 17% of the price of Ashley Young’s property, but almost seven times more expensive than the home of an average UK citizen.

Compared to his net worth of almost £49 million, John Stones from Manchester City has a fairly modest car. The centre defence player owns a Mini Cooper just double the price of a car owned by the average UK citizen.

The lowest paid star from the Top 10 is Marcus Rashford, earning £2,433,946 per annum. His property set him back just over £2 million, 83% of his annual salary. His car, a Mercedes CLA 45 Coupe, may be just 2.5% of his annual salary, but is over nine times the price of a car owned by the average UK citizen.

(Source: Bondora)

Of course, there's the deposit, mortgage payments and estate agents fees to think about, but what about finding out the boiler is broken once you move in? Or realising you need to pay just shy of £1,000 for a homebuyer's report? Once you add moving day costs, like hiring a van and buying sturdy cardboard boxes, it really does all add up.

So, before you get carried away putting in an offer on a home that could leave you out of pocket, here are five hidden costs first-time buyers should be aware of. And, if you want to find out exactly how much your new home could cost you, use Totally Money's new interactive home buying tool.

1. Stamp duty land tax

Stamp duty isn’t a problem for everyone – homes under £125,000 won’t incur it, and prices up to £500,000 for first-time buyers will be reduced or negated. But if you’re buying a more expensive home, or not your first, it can cost tens of thousands of pounds.

2. Fixing leaks, cracks and rewiring electrics

Small faults with a property are easy to overlook when you’re buying it. But once you’re in, it’s natural to want to get the place just right – but with average costs of £180 for fixing leaks and cracks, and as much as £2,750 for rewiring electrics, it can be a real shock.

3. Homebuyer's report

Even if you don’t want a full building survey, a homebuyer’s report can identify a lot of potential issues with a property – but it’ll still put you out a massive £786 on average.

4. Solicitor costs

When buying your home with the help of a solicitor, their costs can be between £850 - £1,500, which is a sizeable fee to pay as you enter your new property.

5. Moving day costs

Boxes, a removals company to help you pack up and shift your stuff, taking a day off work unpaid to wait for the broadband to be installed, moving day costs can often the most hidden of all. Plan ahead by asking family and friends to help you move, or buying boxes in bulk, and you could save yourself a small fortune.

Joe Gardiner, TotallyMoney’s Head of Brand and Communications, comments: “Buying your first home is an exciting step in your life, but it’s also an expensive one – and often more expensive than you initially estimate. We conducted this research to help first-time buyers make sure they are aware of all potential costs before they have to pay them.”

(Source: TotallyMoney)

If you owned land with the potential to rake in almost 900 million dollars, you would snap up the opportunity to make that eye-watering amount of cash… wouldn’t you? Compare the Market have conducted their analysis of wasted spaces around the world to reveal the countries and locations that are sitting on unused land, and letting the profits slip through their fingers.

Top 5 Countries Wasting Millions of Dollars on Property Potential

Ever considered venturing into the world of property development? It can be risky, but when the profits are this mind-bogglingly high, it can also be worth it. The Wasted Spaces study reveals the Housing

top five locations around the world with the potential to make the most cash if the owner, or countries, were to build houses on the land to sell on.

By analysing the cost of housing per square metre in each country, Compare the Market reveal the true figures to be made by selling property on these wasted spaces:

How Many Homes Could Be Created?

• The largest abandoned sports space, the 1936 Olympic Village, was built 82 years ago and remains disused. In that time, 1,600 homes could have been built on the land to house generations of families and 5,322 individuals at any given time
• Kolmanskop, a ghost town in Namibia is 989,384 square metres with enough space for 5,000 houses - meaning over 15,000 people could be housed
• Japan’s Nara Dreamland was left abandoned in 2006, and its eerie remains were demolished ten years later. The remaining space could have been used to build around 650 homes - housing around 1,257 people
• Malmo Stadion in Sweden is 60,288 square metres equating to around 8 football pitches. The now vacant space could house 807 people in 250 homes
• The Houston Astrodome, also the world’s first multi-purpose domed stadium, is now partially demolished but has the potential for 165 homes, housing 774 people

Country’s Debt

Germany tops the list as the country with the most amount of abandoned locations on the Wasted Spaces list. But, as the country with the fourth largest external debt - if they sold all of the land of wasted buildings they own in this study, they would have $994.3 million.

The US has the second highest amount of abandoned places on the list including Houston Astrodome, Pontiac Silverdome, Michigan Central Station, and Sterick Building. The total combined price of the land these derelict buildings are sitting on is $51.5 million -  out of their total external debt figure of $21 trillion.

With the ninth largest economy in the world, Brazil is renowned for their growing economy, they also have an excessive amount of debt. The country has one property on the wasted spaces list; the Olympic Aquatic Centre that is 13,269 square metres and an estimated land housing value of $14.8 million.

(Source: Compare the Market)

When it comes to buying a property, UK homebuyers may rely predominately on mortgages and cash payments, but their knowledge towards other financial products is limited, new research by Market Financial Solutions (MFS) has revealed.

The bridging lender commissioned an independent, nationally representative survey among more than 2,000 UK adults to uncover just how Brits have been financing their property purchases. Of those who have bought a property since 2007, 42% identified as cash buyers while a further 52% said they had used a mortgage or re-mortgage.

Taking into account the rise of the UK’s alternative finance industry – currently worth over £4.6 billion – the research also revealed a noticeable uptake in products outside of mainstream loans. Nearly one in five (19%) homeowners said they had used a form of alternative finance, ranging from crowdfunding to mezzanine finance and unregulated loans, with this figure rising to 29% among respondents aged between 18 and 34. Meanwhile, 13% of homebuyers said they had used a bridging loan – this number increased to 21% for those who were investing in a second home.

Deciding on how to finance a property purchase can seem overwhelming given the number of loans and products currently available in the UK. As a result, 37% of homebuyers have relied on a broker to help them find a financial product best suited to their needs.

However, MFS’s research also showed that the reliance on mortgages and cash payments was partly due to a lack of knowledge surrounding other available finance options. Reflecting the competitive nature of the country’s property market, nearly a quarter (24%) of buyers said they would have liked to have considered other financial products but feared they would lose out on their property purchase if they delayed their credit decision. Delving into awareness of specific alternative finance products, nearly half (49%) did not have a strong enough understanding of bridging loans or the situations in which they can be used.

Paresh Raja, CEO of MFS, commented on the findings: “Mortgages have long been the go-to method for financing a house purchase in the UK. But over the past decade, a range of new alternative finance products has arisen to give buyers different options that might be better suited to their needs. However, today’s research demonstrates that there remains a lack of understanding about what these options are and how to use them.

“From crowdfunding platforms to raise a deposit, through to bridging loans to buy a property at auction, there are many opportunities now accessible for those needing to access credit, and to remain reliant on the mortgage market could restrict an individual’s ability to get the funds they need. Indeed, in the UK’s competitive property market, it is essential that buyers are aware of the financial products they can choose from, in turn putting themselves in the best position to progress with a purchase quickly and efficiently.”

(Source: Market Financial Solutions)

In a recent study into Britain’s largest landowners, ABC Finance Ltd has uncovered who really owns the UK.

Owning a lucrative property portfolio has become a dream for many people in the UK. This is unsurprising as the returns on savvy investments can be substantial. As of the start of 2018, there were upwards of 750,000 property millionaires in Britain but even they can’t hold a candle to the largest overall landholders.

The UK is made up of approximately 60 million acres. The top 50 landowners currently own 7.3 million acres combined which equates to over 12% of Britain’s landmass.

So, who are these people and companies that own so much of the UK?

While many people assume that the Royal Family have the largest land holdings, in reality, charitable organizations like the Forestry Commission and National Trust own the most land in the UK.

To put this in perspective, land owned by charitable organizations makes up 5.4% of Britain’s entire area. The Forestry Commission alone owns 4x the landmass of the Lake District while the National Trust’s land could comfortably fit the entire island of Tenerife.

This isn’t to say that the Royals are stuck for space. The Crown Estate owns more land in the UK than makes up the nation of Luxembourg and the holdings in Queen Elizabeth’s personal portfolio could fit Buckingham Palace 1,000x over.

Then we have the British Military, who own a substantial amount of land, set aside for the “defence of the realm”. Both the MOD and the Royal Artillery Company made the top 50 landowner list with combined holdings of almost 1.2 million acres – around 2% of the UK.

Interestingly, the group that claims fourth place in the land ownership leaderboard is made up of foreign business moguls and royalty, such as retail mogul Anders Holch Povlsen and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum. In fact, the amount of land owned by foreign interests (562,285 acres) could be used to construct 23 million average-sized UK homes.

Further down the list sit the UK’s utility companies including Severn Trent and United Utilities. The companies that have made the property rich list are involved in water supply and mining, with enough land between them to fit Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham twice.

These are followed by British entrepreneurs and large business owners, such as Sir James Dyson, who personally owns enough land to fit 3,000 Wembley Stadiums. Altogether, these captains of industry control an equivalent amount of real estate to The Channel Islands and The Isle of Man combined.

At the bottom of the land ownership rankings sits a selection of property developers, with Homes England, Taylor Wimpey and the Haworth Group making an appearance in the top 50 with overall holdings of 55,003 acres.

The remaining notable landowners include the Church of England (105,000 acres) and Oxford University’s Merton College which, as a stand-alone campus, owns enough land to fit the entire city of Oxford.

Barclays has announced that it has teamed up with the UK Government to provide £1bn of development finance to help build thousands of new homes across England to help increase the pace and volume of housing provision.

Loans ranging from £5 million to £100 million, which will be competitively priced, are available for developers and house builders who are able to demonstrate the necessary experience and track record to undertake and complete their proposed project.   Funding is open to new clients as well as existing Barclays clients, and will put greater emphasis on diversifying the housing market, as at present, almost two-thirds of homes are built by just ten companies.

A key priority of The Housing Delivery Fund is to support small and medium sized businesses to develop homes for rent or sale including social housing, retirement living and the private rented sector, whilst also supporting innovation in the model of delivery such as brownfield land and urban regeneration projects.

Launching the fund, John McFarlane, Barclays’ Chairman, said: “There is a vital need to build more good quality homes across the country.  This £1bn fund is about helping to do exactly that by showing firms in the business of house building that the right finance is available for projects that help meet this urgent need.

“We are very pleased to be working with government to get the country building more homes, more quickly.”

Housing Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, said: “My priority as Housing Secretary is to get Britain building the homes our country needs.  This new fund - partnering Homes England with Barclays - is a further important step by giving smaller builders access to the finance they need to get housing developments off the ground.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to not only get more homes built but also promote new and innovative approaches to construction and design that exist across the housing market.”

Chairman of Homes England, Sir Ed Lister, said: “Homes England has been established to play a more active role in the housing market and do things differently to increase the pace, scale and quality of delivering new homes.

“The Housing Delivery Fund demonstrates Barclays’ commitment to the residential sector and will provide a new funding stream for SME developers to help progress sites and deliver more affordable homes across England.”

Today’s agreement with Barclays forms part of the Government’s wider commitment to increase the pace of housing delivery in England. Ministers have been clear on their ambition to achieve 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s, which follows 217,000 homes built last year, the biggest increase in housing supply in England for almost a decade.

(Source: Barclays)

The disparity in wealth of the world’s political leaders and their country’s citizens varies greatly around the world. Research from credit broker Moneypod has uncovered just how big the political pay gap contrasts with the national average wage of their country.

Due to public anger over income equality, the Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently took a 36% pay cut to ease tensions. Despite this, he is still the highest paid world leader, with a $1.7 million yearly salary in comparison to the average wage of a Singaporean sitting at $52,000.

Controversial US President, Donald Trump’s wealth is valued at $3.1bn due to his large portfolio of hotels, resorts and real estate. He earns $400,000 per year for his role as President. However, he donates all but $1 of his salary to charity as the American constitution states that a sitting President must be compensated for his services. This is comparable to the average US citizen earns a relatively comfortable $57,000 per year.

When it comes to the world’s wealthiest world leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin is the clear frontrunner. Worth a reported $40bn due to his holdings in a secret portfolio of companies in real estate, utilities and banking, Putin is often accused of corruption and enriching is friends. Compared to the average Russian salary of $7,000 per year, Putin lives a lavish life owning a $1bn palace located on the coast line of the Black Sea.

Discover the wages and net worth’s of the top 20 richest paid world leaders, and how this compares to the average wage of their citizens.

The top 5 biggest real estate companies in the world. We take a look at the top 5 biggest real estate companies in the world, and compare figures such as profit, sales, market value and assets.

In this guide, experts at ABC Finance help Finance Monthly break down what commercial mortgages are, how they work, how the application process works and how much you’re likely to pay.

What is a commercial mortgage?

Commercial mortgages are, much like residential mortgages, a long-term long which is used to purchase or refinance a property. As with residential mortgages, the lender takes security over the property or land in question and allows you to borrow money against it.

Commercial mortgages aren’t just used to raise money against commercial or semi-commercial property, usually almost any security can be considered. It’s common to see a commercial mortgage used to fund land or even predominantly residential security, such as large HMOs, large buy to let portfolios and holiday lets.

Commercial mortgage uses

Funding can be arranged for one of two main reasons:

• To purchase or refinance a property for your business to trade from;
• To purchase or refinance a property as an investment.

Although almost all applications will come down to one of these two reasons, each application will have its own intricacies and lenders will be flexible in understanding your circumstances.

As mentioned above, unlike residential mortgages, commercial mortgage lenders are generally quite flexible in the security offered. Commercial mortgages can be an ideal option for unusual properties, or even to raise finance against land.

The documents needed to apply for a commercial mortgage

When you apply for a commercial mortgage, the lender will usually want to see a number of supporting documents to help them assess your application. Although the exact documents required will vary from lender to lender, there are a number of documents that are commonly requested.

Firstly, the lender will want to check that the proposed mortgage is affordable. To do this, they will request a copy of the latest two years accounts for owner-occupied applications, or a copy of the lease, or leases for investment properties.

These documents are used to assess the proposed repayment against the money coming in.

In addition to the accounts or leases, the lender will also request 3-6 months bank statements, which will be used to check your account conduct. This gives the lender an understanding of how much of that income is left at the end of each month, and how well the account is managed.

For investment properties, only personal bank statements are required. For owner-occupied properties, the lender will also request your business bank statements.

The final document that is requested on almost every application is an assets, liability, income and expenditure summary. This gives the lender a breakdown of your personal cash flow and net worth positions.

This document provides a simple insight into your personal finances and alerts them to any potential future problems.

How are commercial mortgages assessed by lenders?

The processing of commercial mortgage applications is more of a manual process than residential mortgages, which are largely assessed by a computer.

Lenders will often take a common-sense approach to situations and will look at the bigger picture to fully understand the circumstances surrounding the application.

The other big difference between residential and commercial mortgages is that the valuation is undertaken later in the process. A surveyor is not usually instructed until after the mortgage offer is issued.

As a result, applications tend to take longer than standard mortgages, with applications usually taking 6-8 weeks to complete on average.

Commercial mortgage rates and terms

Commercial mortgage rates can vary widely between lenders. For an owner-occupied application, rates of between 2.75% and 3.75% are average for high street lenders.

Commercial investment rates range from 2.85% to 4% on average from the high street banks.

Challenger banks will usually charge a little bit more but will be more flexible in their lending criteria. Rates start from 4.29% and tend to hit around 7% for higher risk, higher loan to value applications.

In addition to the interest charged, lenders will usually charge an arrangement fee of between 1.5-2%. This is usually paid on completion and can be added to the loan in most cases.

Owning a home is one of the biggest dreams for many, yet the process of buying any property can be laborious and flooded with additional fees, delays and disappointments. Blockchain may just be able to chain that. Below Finance Monthly benefits from expert insight from Kai Peeters, the Founder and CEO of HiP, on the implementation of blockchain in the real estate sector.

We are now bearing witness to blockchain based technology coming out of its infancy, and showing how it can be applied to vastly improve multiple markets - including the archaic property market. With a few established businesses and technology giants warming to blockchain, we have to start asking more profound questions about/around how it could improve the situation for a buyer/ buyers and the real estate market as a whole.

The current housing market simply does not work for the majority of first-time buyers. Working exclusively with traditional financial institutions, real estate markets around the globe confine first-time buyers in long-term unmovable loans that put enormous pressure on young people looking to buy a home. This is why, despite interest rates being reasonably low, the number of new mortgages has been declining since the 1990s. Meanwhile, the minimum deposit is largely unaffordable for people who earn average wages, and without help from their family it is virtually impossible for them to get on the property ladder. Technology can transform the way we buy and sell real estate by eliminating additional costs and disorganization of our housing market, Smart contracts that can handle that aspect more efficiently.

Having a decentralized real estate platform addresses current market issues, and introduces the individual investors who can fill the void left by traditional financial institutions and inject more life into the market. This can also allow property to become a more valuable asset in itself, where each buyer is able to release equity without losing ownership, and raise money free of debt. Being able to turn equity into currency and have control over debt levels brings the choice back to the buyers, owners and investors.

The upcoming platform HiP was designed with all those benefits in mind, especially for first time buyers, who can use an inbuilt calculator to enter the price of the property they want to purchase as well as the down payment and monthly payments they can afford. HiP will then calculate the remaining amount needed to buy the property and this outstanding amount is offered out to investors. This means that the first-time buyer will own a percentage of the property whilst also being entitled to a proportional percentage of profit and capitals gains when sold. Investors on the HiP Exchange who have co-financed the property will also receive return on their percentage of the real estate equity they own.

This is a new world of opportunity for first time buyers who now have access to other financing options that were previously unattainable to them. With HiP focusing on the way we fund properties, and other innovative minds using blockchain based technology in other areas of the real estate sector, it is only a matter of time until the array of problems within the real estate markets becomes a thing of the past.