Maltese Buyer

[custodian]

Dear All,

By way of introducing myself, I come from Malta and I am interested in buying a property in Morocco preferably near the region of Tangiers. Any of you can tell me if is it safe to buy a small piece of land in Morocco.
Currently I have my second home at Gozo which is Malta's sister island. I am ready to offer free lodging in my apartment at Gozo in exchange of free lodging at Morocco possibly near Tangiers


Thanks in Advance
Custodian

[Investy]

I used to like land but there are lot of pitfalls that would put me off, such as the mulitude of factors that influence when and whether utilities will be connected.

I prefer built property.

[custodian]

Dear Investy,

Thanks for your advice, at this stage I am doing my searches before taking the final decision. What about apart hotel? The ones I found are fully managed and give you between 7% to 9% p.a. rental income. Is it possible to sell them after a certain period if you see that you gained enough profits. I appreciate your advice.


Regards
Custodian

[Investy]

I've been around the block with this foreign property lark, and have founf the most important element has to be investor safety.

Morocco is an emmerging market with I think the best potential of any target, however I would not buy in small one off developments such as Paradise Beach or Tanjah. Why bother why I can get into a Plan Azure mega development where thwe Government is underpinning the drive to create supporting infrastruture and crucially ONGOING TOURISM delivery.

With the smaller developments you will find it more likely a developer will build and forget - there is no all encompassing Government apparatus attatched to such projects to ensure delivery of tourism numbers to those specific sites and an absence of a robust rental management programme again inspired and 'pushed' by the Government. You get this problem all over the Med where the owners get the keys and then they're very much on thier own.

Aparthotels I did consider, there is afterall one being developed by the lejardindefleur project in Saidia, the same project I bought into although I preferred a freehold villa.
I wasn't sure enough about capital growth prospects in these hotel investments, and also I had a perception I was merely just a cash cow to seed capital for a hotel operator.

I just prefer the flexibility and sense of ownership one enjoys with your own little property. Furthermore the risk of a hotel failing once its up and running is also something to consider - you could even end up owing creditors such as Banks money somewhere down the line.

Tangiers certainly could be a very shrewd investment as it has the potential to become a very desirible city given its strategic location and scenic qualities, if you like the next Cape Town.
I did'nt plump for it as I felt I was too out of my depth trying to guess which particular properties will do well. Furthermore I had concerns about over supply, the very same concerns that kept me away from Spain - well founded by the looks of whats happening there.

In summary I felt the Plan Azure Saidia development had little in the way of competition anywhere, and that once the properties were sold on that development, thats it, no more would be built there on that particular site with a massive marina etc.

As I say Tangiers could be a very decent investment if you can locate the right property and you could target local demand rather than tourist demand if you get the right place.

Good luck