Hi Dave,
All fair comments to which I would respond below. However, I just want to make it clear that the purpose of my commenting on this thread is not to plug the resort - I'm sick of seeing posts which effectively amount to advertising, or agents for one resort slagging off another. My only intention was the debate the possibility that areas away from Hurgada and Sharm have something to offer in their own right. This is a competitive market but nothing is ever "a great deal" or "too good to be true" unless you don't do your research and don't fully understand what you are buying.
Personal use: You are correct, there are restrictions on usage but I thought that was the norm with any development offering guaranteed rentals - otherwise how would they rent it out to cover their costs? I certainly looked at quite a few which were restricted to 4 weeks and only allowed private use at specific times of year. I must admit that we didn't look that closely at the package offered on the 2 beds as the numbers worked out better on the 1 bed apartments but I don't think it is compulsory to take the rental guarantee. With the 1 bed's you can have as much private use as you like, you just take a share of the pooled rental income in proportion to the time your apartment is available. The 1 bed's also have air-con included.
Furniture package: Again, is this not common? Surely the management company want to be able to guarantee a uniform style and standard if they are taking responsibility for letting. Apart from anything else I really don't fancy the prospect of hunting for my own furniture out there or buying it here and shipping it out - I'm quite happy to buy the package and the 1 bed package was reasonably priced.
Rental returns: Yes, a bit hit and miss but there are 2 factors at play and the lower the initial investment the easier this will be to achieve. Obviously the other factor depends on the popularity of the resort and that is the unknown quantity - to get a net return of 14% ours (i.e. after mgmt charges) we would need 80% occupancy. We will just have to wait and see.
£40 transfer fee: This is the charge to vista for an inspection trip, there will be a proper shuttle service once the resort is open.
Payment upfront: No, not ideal but it seems to be closely monitored both by the Escrow agent and a UK lawyer. Again, this needs to be factored into the risk and the cost of your total investment (i.e. 12 months lost interest). On the
plus side it means the developer is less likely to run out of funds half way through.
The Airport: Yes, they are using it as a marketing point but IPI make it clear that it is planned. Granted, some agents are putting their own twist on things and this is not always clear. However, any investor with half a brain cell should have done some minimal research and found out the facts, if they haven't then they are either far too trusting or have more money than sense. We came to the conclusion the project was still perfectly viable even without the airport. There are plenty of popular holiday destinations more than 180km from the nearest airport.
I'm afraid I have rambled on longer than I intended so apologies. Zafarana is one of many investment opportunities in Egypt at the moment, all of which have their merits depending on your investment profile. I do have a vested interest because I have invested but I'm not trying to sell anyone on the resort, there are more than enough agents out there to do that. When I buy shares I don't make it my mission to bore anyone who will listen on the merits of the company but neither do I set out to slag off the competition.
I hope this has clarified a few points without sounding too 'agenty' - I'm really not, buy what suits you!
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