For starters, they have both been to Albany House in the Bahamas. Being a secluded and magical estate, Albany House was chosen as the setting for the latest James Bond movie Casino Royale. Not only is the setting magical, but this has helped to put the place onto the world map with renewed acclaim for the Bahamas.

While Bond was sipping his Martini, Tiger Woods got busy buying into the brand new Albany development. His joint venture with fellow golfing buddy Ernie Els and the Tavistock Group (owned by Lyford Cay resident Joe Lewis) has created much speculation and interest from all around the world.

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We thought we’d share this video; it’s an exclusive interview with Tiger Woods about his investments outside of the golf course. He is a co-investor in a soon to be constructed $1.3 billion exclusive private golf residential community called Albany Golf & Beach Club in the Caribbean island, Bahamas.

He also talks about the Dubai property market & Tiger Woods Dubai, the first Tiger Woods-designed golf course and resort to be located in Dubailand.

Although he did not invest early, he is owns Google shares and is bent on holding.

He finally clarifies that he did not buy a $65 million New York, Hamptons seaside estate as this article suggests.

One of the most ambitious residential projects ever undertaken in the Caribbean, Cap Cana is on track to have it’s Jack Nicklaus signature golf course completed on schedule, by October 2008.

The $1.5 billion residential golf project bills itself as “the World’s Next Great Destination”: although Donald Trump might disagree if he manages to get his Scottish version underway.

The Las Iguanas golf course is an integral part of the development’s first phase with Frontier Golf supervising its construction. In executing Nicklaus’ plans for Los Iguanas, Frontier Golf joined a team of international professionals on the development, including club operator Troon Golf.

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Nuwire Investor spotlights five locations worth investigating for overseas property investments in the Caribbean:

• Trinidad & Tobago,
• Aruba,
• The Dominican Republic,
• Bonaire & Curacao,
• Roatan (Honduras) and The Corn Islands (Nicaragua)

The article pays particular attention to levels of prosperity and crime and whether or not locations are inside or outside the hurricane belt (Aruba, Bonaire & Curacao, Trinidad & Tobago).

^{Corn Island Islas del Maiz [photo credit to mixedeyes]}

These locations vary greatly, not least in size. The Corn Islands (Islas del Maiz), the first of the four we shall look at in more detail, have combined area of 13 square kilometres and a population of 8,000 people compared to the Dominican Republic’s 49,000 square kilometres (slightly larger than Denmark). Although the Corn Islands have undoubted attractions as holiday destinations, it seems that their size is going to limit marketability for serious property investment. Put simply, there aren’t miles and miles of beaches ‘like the one in the picture’. In their favour are a recent reduction in the crime rate and the direct air service from Managua to Great Corn.

^{The tranquility of the island of Roatan, Honduras [Photo credits VideoVik]}

Roatan is the largest of Honduras’s Islas de la Bahia islands (which include Utila and Guanaja) is a different proposition. The island has a permanent population of 30,000 but welcomes as many as eight times as many tourist visitors each year. The island is 50 km in length, has an area of about 100 square kilometres and is close to the world’s second largest coral reef. The island has a fully fledged real estate market with properties ranging from modest to extremely luxurious. Investors need to check on hurricane withstanding capability. The island is served by regular flights from San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa and a ferry service from La Ceiba. Honduras seems to have an extremely open policy towards foreign direct investment but Roatan is suffering the effects of pollution arising from inadequate sewage and water treatment facilities.

^{Beach on the Tobago Cays [Photo credits to Mjr.Phule]}

Trinidad & Tobago with an area of about 4,800 square kilometres and a population of 1.3 million is one of the world’s growth hot spots currently with GDP growing at 12%. However, inflation (8%) and interest rates (11.75%) are high. The government website provides useful information for those considering property investment in the country. As the Caribbean’s biggest oil producer and the links with other parts of the world, Trinidad and Tobago have extra property market strengths in addition to the tourism industry. Rental yields are good, around 4 to 6% in Trinidad and upwards of 10% on Tobago (which is more dependent on tourism. Licensing requirements have recently been introduced for foreign property investors on Tobago.

^{Beach at Divi Aruba Beach Resort [photo credits to Travelling Pooh]}

Finally, the a-typical Caribbean island of Aruba, an overseas territory of the Netherlands, which has an area of 193 sq km.. Like Trinidad (and Curacao and Bonaire) Aruba is close to the coast of Venezuela and also has important oil reserves. Unlike almost everywhere else in the Caribbean, the island has a very dry climate. The island is prosperous, law abiding and heavily dependent on tourism. Inflation at 4.7% is quite high. The island has well developed property and holiday rental markets. The local currency is tied to the US dollar and there is a good range of property at reasonable prices for those converting from sterling or euros. Despite the proximity of Venezuela and the Lesser Antilles, there are no scheduled ferry services. Several US and European cities (Gatwick & Heathrow included) have direct connections to Queen Beatrix airport at Oranjestad.

Nancy Mitford once wrote that Louis XIV, in rebuilding Versailles, avoided the mistake of destroying the attractions that had first drawn him to the place. But how can investors in property in the Caribbean save themselves from experiencing the allure the region has for them crumbling, whether they see themselves in following in the footsteps of Captain Morgan, Cliff Richard or the late Princess Margaret.

This part of the world has definitely opened up for property investments by the mass affluent as well as the super-rich. Property investors have to accept that the robustness of the property market depends upon the epithets such as ‘undiscovered’ or ‘exclusive’ becoming qualified although, hopefully not to such an extent that they become completely inapplicable.

Timesonline recently reported villa properties for sale on Barbados, Grand Cayman and Grenada for £350K or less and property in the Dominican Republic priced at £275K. As any viewer of TV documentaries should be aware, the Caribbean covers an area half the size of the United States and Caribbean Islands come in many shapes and sizes. While the Dominican Republic is slightly smaller than Scotland, the Grand Cayman is a high-lying reef (max. elevation 24 metres). There are big variations in development, wealth and tourist facilities. Read the rest of this entry »

• Malaysians investors agressively buying international property [The Star]
• Mortgage market growing in Jamaica as real estate sector booms [Jamaica Observer]
• Australia’s Property Fund industry now worth $356 billion [Financial Standard]
• Emaar ventures into Turkish real estate sector with launch $700m project [GoWealthy]
• As Condos Rise in Florida, Investors Try to Flee / Flippers in Trouble [NY Times]
• Syrian real estate: Local and foreign investors showing strong interest [Al Bawaba]
• Atlas International expands into Turkey [Voice]
• End of UK Housing boom in sight [Times Online]

Property investment for many in the UK has become a central part of planning for the future and the European market is understandably attracting much of the interest.

While there is of course a natural attraction to the basic idea of investing in property overseas, experts point out that the returns can also be exceptional.

In an assessment of some of the legal aspects of foreign property investment, Legal Week Global concludes that UK investors perceive “an expanding European investment horizon” where the outlook for European property investment is brighter than in the UK and stronger than other asset classes in Europe.

Among Europe’s established property investment markets, the report lists Paris in France as well as Madrid and Barcelona in Spain.

A secondary tier of investment popularity is also identified, however, with Cyprus and Bulgaria named among the key hotspots. While much of the interest is in commercial property in the form of retail parks and office space, residential property investment is also singled out, with Bulgaria one of the most notable examples for this kind of project.

Investors going into the European property market without any guidance from property experts are inevitably exposing themselves to unnecessary risk, but the Legal Week report concludes that despite “spectacular” performance during the last year or two, it is generally imagined that the market is capable of delivering further profit growth.

Purchasing an investment property overseas inevitably involves a degree of risk and it is an issue that all investors need to weigh up before making a decision.

Until very recently, Bulgarian property was seen as one of the high risk options, but steady growth in Sofia, the Black Sea resorts and in the ski towns such as Bansko, has convinced many that the market is becoming a much safer bet.

EU accession remains one of the key issues for many, however, and it is certainly a development that will reassure many of the country’s potential for growth.

In terms of rental potential, investors are much more likely to opt for France or Spain and buy-to-let investment is indeed becoming one of the most popular strategies for UK buyers.

Deciding whether a buy-to-let investment will be worthwhile is perhaps a more complex process than many appreciate, as it involves a consideration of not only rental income but also long-term capital growth.

Writing for the Scotsman, Steven Currie has recalled an incident in which he was asked whether a particular property would be a good residential letting investment.

Mr Currie estimated that rental income would be in the region of £650 per month or £7,800 a year, which would produce an unspectacular gross annual return of less than five per cent. Despite this, he concluded that the property was very much worthwhile because capital growth was ultimately a more important factor in terms of the end value.

Buy-to-let investment abroad can be particularly subtle in this respect and investors need to evaluate the respective benefits of potential rental income and capital appreciation before making a final decision.

Source: Assetz Property News Service

Five Reasons to Buy Cayman Real Estate Cayman Net News - grand cayman,Cayman Islands … on the property. There are also no time deadlines for foreign investors to build on raw land; it can be held undeveloped indefinitely. Many British Overseas …