Manage Property Asset as Business: Tips for Beginner

If you choose property as your investment (portfolio), and want to buy property that bundled (land and building), the price value will have lots variation. There is land price same as building price, there is land price higher that building that stand on it, or land price lower that the building.

You have to make a diversification, so you do not get high risk, and can get more gain. Diversification in property use location and genre concept, for example office complex, home complex, or ware house area.



If you want resort as investment portfolio, build it at mountain or beach area, or place where people go for vacation or take a rest in weekend. And also warehouse, if it built at the middle of city, it will not prospect. Several experienced investors made ware house n area that close to toll road or highways.

Hotel as investment usually built in the middle of city or vacation area. Hotel has two functions, as overnight staying and also as discussion area. For personal dwelling, it can be built anywhere. But the chosen location should be near transportation center.

Hold and Sell

Manage property as business or become investment its mean that there is a period when the property hold otherwise sell. During the hold period, as business, you can rent it to others. Just make sure that your property located in strategies location. Property location determines how much that you can get money rent. Beautiful location result more money.

If the property not for rent, but hold until the “big day”, that property’s return on investment will low, because the property will damage or maybe the value smaller in the future. Property will always taken care if there are people whom become dweller.

In this case, investor has to have calculation of value increasing. You can use this formula: minimum interest rate at deposit plus tolerable risk of property investment. So, if average interest rate in hold period is 8%, then investor must have return on investment rate higher than 8% and the premium 4%-6%.

Property Cycles

To get maximum sell result and give result as expectation, you have to know property cycle. Usually, property price low when interest rate is high, and economical situation is not good. Property price will high if interest rates low and there are high fund exceed in the bank.

You also must understand how the property business works to get maximal return. For example, you have to understand about property taxation and property law.

Base on several research, property have to hold until three years to get maximum return.

Ban Talks to Students

As a noted architectural experimenter, Japanese architect Shigeru Ban was a natural choice as keynote speaker to open the student-run HOPES (Holistic Options for Planet Earth Sustainability) conference for 2006 in April. Now in its 12th year, the conference weaves together a mix of architectural scholars, practitioners, and students to promote a deeper understanding of sustainable design issues.

The conference theme this year was "permanence/ impermanence" — the dynamic inherent between things built to last and things built for the moment.

Traditional Japanese architecture relates to the passage of time differently than modern western architecture. Instead of seen as static and fixed in time, traditional Japanese buildings manifest the passage of time as an integral element — being enriched by it as they age.

Yet many of Ban's buildings have short lives. His paper-tube structures have given him a reputation for innovating with an unusual palette. The Japanese Pavilion for the 2000 Expo in Hanover, Germany, for instance, enclosed an expansive space under a spectacular, undulating vault of lashed-together cardboard tubes. The buildings for that expo were temporary, and Ban saw to it that his structure was recycled after disassembly.

With self-effacing grace during his presentation, he rejected the label of "sustainable architect" — insisting that his goal was to "simply save materials." He is obviously an architect with a conscience, as is evident in his work on emergency housing after the Kobe earthquake and the human-caused catastrophe in Rwanda. His paper-tube structures made temporary housing quick to assemble and beautifully simple.

Virtual Construction of the Home

The new wave of design programs to hit the market has shifted their focus towards the construction of a 3D digital building model. A virtual three-dimensional model is created that contains intelligent information which in turn can be used for not only visualization of the house but also for manufacturing purposes.

This technology delivers the ability to visualize and walk through the home in 3D, giving an accurate representation of how the home will appear before construction ever begins. The advantage here is that the homeowner has less surprises than would have occurred if they were just looking at a paper set of plans.

Moreover, the latest technology allows 3D building models to carry with it behavior, rather than just the appearance of the element. Software developers now give their objects relationships with each other. An example of this would be the moving of a window in a framed wall which causes the stud framing to update and re-apply itself, using a defined set of rules that associate spacing and sizing options.

Technology for the consumer retail market
You don't have to purchase a high-end CAD system to utilize object-oriented technology in the building industry. Talk a walk through your local business supply or stationary store and you may see up to 10 different examples of "design your own home" or "landscaping" software.

A best-known example is 3D Home Design Suite by Broderbund and is one of the leading publishers of home and landscape design. This program provides the ability to quickly and easily design your own home, virtually walk through the interior and create a photo-realistic rendering in minutes. This model can then be exported via DXF to AutoCAD or other CAD packages for the creation of professional working drawings. Although limited in feature functionality, these easy- to-use retail packages raise the ever increasing bar for ease-of-use for the novice user, allowing them to create sellable designs that are beginning to approach the quality of those found in real-estate sales offices.

CAD Technology used in Residential Sales Offices.
The residential building industry revolves around the sale of the home and previously, model homes or expensive artist's renderings had to be created. While this is still prominent, models and digital renderings are now quickly replacing the traditional methods and it is becoming faster and easier to create better quality images. It is also becoming more desirable to actually walk your clients through their home giving "what if" scenarios with options that tie back to a central purchasing systems. As this technology becomes more adopted, it can be conceived that the construction of a model home will eventually become obsolete.

Technology for the Manufactured Home Industry
The manufactured home industry is generally thought of to be broken up into three categories: Modular, Panelized and HUD. Computer technology can arguably benefit this industry more than any other because of the large degree of automation required. These types of manufactures now have the ability to attach large amounts of data to their model homes ranging from the exact cut lists and wall panel diagram information, to a complete bill of materials that link to a purchase ordering system and estimating package.

KML Homes in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, is an example of a cutting edge manufacturing plant that are using design software to automate their panelized process. Focussing on a light-gauge steel framing system, they currently receive custom plans from Architects electronically (usually in AutoCAD format) and convert them to create a 3D AutoCAD model using a third party add-on product. Once the model is created, KML can now completely frame the walls, floors and roofs and divide them into an efficient panelizing system. This panel data is then electronically transferred to the production floor, where the panels are assembled and shipped to site where they are assembled onto a waiting foundation.

KML estimates that within the past eight months, they have increased productivity by 100% and future implementation will increase that by another 60%.

Conclusion
From some of the above examples, we can observe how computers have definitely changed, and are continuing to change the way we design houses, ranging from the consumer retail market, real-estate offices, to the manufactured home industry.

While the actual finished home product has not drastically changed, the computer technology is increasingly being accepted across many aspects of the residential building industry to change the way we design homes. As the industry continues to evolve, we can expect the changes that computer designs give us to rapidly increase as well.

All About Adjustable-Rate Mortgages

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) differ from fixed-rate mortgages in that the interest rate and monthly payment can change over the life of the loan. ARMs also generally have lower introductory interest rates vs. fixed-rate mortgages. Before deciding on an ARM, key factors to consider include how long you plan to own the property, and how frequently your monthly payment may change.

Why choose an adjustable-rate mortgage?
The low initial interest rates offered by ARMs make them attractive during periods when interest rates are high, or when homeowners only plan to stay in their home for a relatively short period. Similarly, homebuyers may find it easier to qualify for an ARM than a traditional loan. However, ARMs are not for everyone. If you plan to stay in your home long-term or are hesitant about having loan payments that shift from year-to-year, then you may prefer the stability of a fixed-rate mortagage.

Components of adjustable-rate mortgages
Adjustable-rate mortgages have three primary components: an index, margin, and calculated interest rate.

* Index
The interest rate for an ARM is based on an index that measures the lender's ability to borrow money. While the specific index used may vary depending on the lender, some common indexes include U.S. Treasury Bills and the Federal Housing Finance Board's Contract Mortgage Rate. One thing all indexes have in common, however, is that they cannot be controlled by the lender.

* Margin
The margin (also called the "spread") is a percentage added to the index in order to cover the lender's administrative costs and profit. Though the index may rise and fall over time, the margin usually remains constant over the life of the loan.

* Calculated interest rate
By adding the index and margin together, you arrive at the calculated interest rate, which is the rate the homeowner pays. It is also the rate to which any future rate adjustments will apply (rather than the "teaser rate," explained below).

Adjustment periods and teaser rates
Because the interest rate for an ARM may change due to economic conditions, a key feature to ask your lender about is the adjustment period--or how often your interest rate may change. Many ARMS have one-year adjustment periods, which means the interest rate and monthly payment is recalculated (based on the index) every year. Depending on the lender, longer adjustment periods are also available.

An ARM can also have an initial adjustment period based on a "teaser rate," which is an artificially low introductory interest rate offered by a lender to attract homebuyers. Usually, teaser rates are good for 6 months or a year, at which point the loan reverts back to the calculated interest rate. Remember, too, that most lender will not use the teaser rate to qualify you for the loan, but instead use a 7.5% interest rate (or calculated interest rate if it is lower).

Rate caps
To protect homebuyers from dramatic rises in the interest rate, most ARMs have "caps" that govern how much the interest rate may rise between adjustment periods, as well as how much the rate may rise (or fall) over the life of the loan. For example, an ARM may be said to have a 2% periodic cap, and a 6% lifetime cap. This means that the rate can rise no more than 2% during an adjustment period, and no more than 6% over the life of the loan. The lifetime cap almost always applies to the calculated interest rate and not the introductory teaser rate.

Payment caps and negative amortization
Some ARMs also have payment caps. These differ from rate caps by placing a ceiling on how much your payment may rise during an adjustment period. While this may sound like a good thing, it can sometimes lead to real trouble.

For example, if the interest rate rises during an adjustment period, the additional interest due on the loan payment may exceed the amount allowed by the payment cap--leading to negative amortization. This means the balance due on the loan is actually growing, even though the homeowner is still making the minimum monthly payment. Many lenders limit the amount of negative amortization that may occur before the loan must be restructured, but it's always wise to speak with your lender about payment caps and how negative amortization will be handled.

King of the castle

The idea of conserving ancient estates that would otherwise have languished by allowing a relatively small number of people to buy their new homes in converted mansions seems to make sense.

Owners can enjoy the estate with all its open land and spacious interiors, without the vast expenses that would be faced by a single owner, and the estate retains much the same profile.

Wall Hall, Aldenham, Hertfordshire

One such estate is Wall Hall, the former home of John Pierpont Morgan, son of the founder of the American banking dynasty JP Morgan (which, until now, at least, has managed to survive the global money markets meltdown).

Wall Hall, a “gothic revival” mansion near the medieval village of Aldenham, Hertfordshire, was bought in 1910 by Morgan Jr, a keen sportsman and socialite who hosted hunting parties for royalty, politicians and magnates during the eight-week shooting season.

A philanthropist, like his father, he managed the estate in a paternalistic way, building homes for local workers and involving himself in parish matters. During the Second World War, Morgan Jr loaned the house to Joseph Kennedy, then American Ambassador to London, who used it as a weekend family retreat (former US president John F Kennedy spent some time there).
'Old barns and stables have been converted into homes, and impressive new family houses built'


When Morgan died in 1942, Wall Hall was acquired by Hertfordshire County Council and it later became a maternity hospital, then a teacher-training college. Five years ago, the estate was purchased by developer Octagon, which set about creating a prestige new address - but with a heritage look - in this prosperous part of the commuter belt.

Old barns and stables have been converted into homes, and impressive new family houses built - 125 in total. Fifty-five acres of parkland, originally laid out by Victorian landscape architect Humphry Repton, have been restored. The grounds include follies, an Italian garden and lake, as well as refurbished tennis courts.

Conversion of the listed mansion is the final part of the jigsaw. This castellated pile has been divided into seven grand homes - “residences rather than apartments, with names not numbers”, stresses David Smith, Octagon sales director.

The Windsor show home is a 4,000sq ft baronial-style space with a magnificent 45ft-high barrel-vaulted ceiling, stained-glass windows, oak panelling and minstrels’ gallery. It is a complete one-off, with eclectic interior design flourishes, including a suit of armour and a bespoke horseshoe-shaped dining table.

The biggest flat is 6,000sq ft, occupying a two-storey wing of the house. Another home features a silver vault, essential for bankers still in receipt of a bonus. Interiors are tasteful and good quality but not architecturally cutting edge. Octagon says the show home is likely to appeal to an unorthodox person with a sense of fun. For more information on Wall Hall, call 01923 850680.

INVEST YOUR WAY TO RICHES

by Lim Lay Ying
Property Times, New Straits Times
10th September 2005

arren Buffett, the world’s richest and most successful investor, has this message for those who want to be rich : “Don’t think you have to be wealthy before you can be an investor. You have to learn to be an investor if you want to become wealthy”.

Investment – in any form, is after all about making your money grow for you. Whether they are in paper assets such as, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, fixed deposits, and investment-linked insurance policies, or in the form of real estate where income is derived from rents collected, or gains from capital appreciation, investing wisely will help support the lifestyle you would like to live over the long term.

Investing in real estate is an option that should be seriously considered because it does not necessarily call for large initial capital outlay. A RM100,000 piece of property for example, can be acquired with a fraction of the consideration sum (or less, if you can convince the bank to extend you a larger margin).

A RM10,000 to RM20,000 down payment today will steadily grow into an equity of RM50,000 to RM100,000 over a period of ten to twenty years. And during this same period, your rent collections could possibly increase by 50 percent or more if you’ve picked an emerging hot location. The property is also likely to appreciate substantially over time.

Be Market Savvy

Even in bouts of down cycles and recessions, rents have seldom fallen drastically. During such periods in fact, with less people buying properties and new supply cut-back, the rental market is usually quite well sustained.

When good times come round, rents are pushed up by rising employment, income levels, and heightened prosperity. In addition, those who have earlier held back property purchase and were either renting homes or shops, or involuntarily living with others, would start to look to buy.

Therefore, owning a piece of real estate – particularly one that is in a fast appreciating location, offers an investor the opportunity to increase his or her wealth by trading up to larger or more expensive properties. In the process, this enlarges his or her wealth and at a faster rate too.

By putting in some effort, and having same basic knowledge so that you can be market savvy, will open up a wide array of real estate opportunities to help your investments grow:

* Buy properties at bargain prices, especially if they are acquired in a recession.
* Acquire properties with little, or sometimes even none of your own cash through creative financing.
* Improve properties so that they can command higher values.
* Boost rents and retain tenants through attractive furnishings and prompt response to complaints and requests.
* Trade up, or convert the use of the property to generate more profits.
* Treat your properties like ATM machines by refinancing them to pull out cash for other investments.

To profit from this list of opportunities, just take note of the following:

1. Select the right location
The old adage ‘location, location, location’ will never fade as far as real estate investment is concerned. Properties located in established and preferred localities will always perform. Prices of residential properties especially, will usually move up when land close to offices becomes scarce as most people tend to congregate nearer to their jobs. Thus, capital appreciation will be more assured in such areas where job growth is fast and land availabity is limited.
2. Check out the developer
The ability to complete and hand over a project on time does not entirely guarantee that a developer is reliable and responsible. The track record of the developer should be critically assessed in terms of quality of construction, promptness in service – in particular for repair and maintenance tasks, and quality of property management of the premises. Well managed and maintained properties have greater appreciation potential.
3. Scrutinize the designs
Attractive and functional designs or properties determine the future potential gains from the investments. Details such as the density of the scheme, sufficient car parking facilities, the type and level of security services, privacy, and views, are some of the pertinent criteria that need to be checked out prior to investing in the property.
4. Gather market information
Information on current rent levels, values, tenant profiles, and vacancy rates, will help determine whether the investment can yield attractive returns, generate positive cash flow, and potential capital gains.

Today, there are still bargains around – bargain prices, bargain deals packaged with complete furnishings and fittings, and bargain financing. And you don’t need to be wealthy to be an investor. But you can become wealthy if you start investing.

Building A Custom Home The Process from Start to Finish

For some, the thought of building a luxury custom home can be overwhelming, but by hiring the right builder, everything falls into place. Building a sound foundation based on trust is the most important piece of the puzzle. The other pieces automatically fall into place when the general protocol described below is followed.
According to John McGarvey, president of McGarvey Custom Homes, “Each step in the schedule is a ‘mile-stone’ and a key point of communication between the builder and client. With innumerable decision points along the way, a qualified builder needs to guide and educate the client making sure the process goes as smoothly as possible with no surprises.”
First things first – choose a reputable builder who is qualified to handle the complexity of building a luxury home. Everything else pivots around this decision. Make sure you trust the builder 100 percent and that there’s chemistry from the start.
The builder needs to be involved from day one. Hiring the builder before the architect is easier and more economical for the simple reason that the builder has lots of experience and technical insight into the building process. Don’t put the cart ahead of the horse.
Choosing an architect who can translate the client’s visions into reality is the next critical step. Just as each project is different, and different builders fit with different clients, the same goes for choosing an architect, landscape designer, pool and hardscape designer and interior designer.
“Architects have different architectural strengths and styles. Choosing an architect goes beyond ability and style,” says McGarvey. “Personality and compatibility are an important part of the formula. We give our clients a few suggestions, but ultimately, it’s their home and it’s up to them who they choose.”
Once the players are in place, it’s time for the first meeting between the client, builder and architect to establish the premise for the home and the initial budget. “Preliminary drawings” of the floor plan are drawn up with the size and flow of the home designed in correlation to the client’s needs. These hand-drawn drawings go through several revisions before being made into architectural Computer Aided Design & Drafting (CADD) drawings.
The next milestone is for the builder, architect, client and interior designer to layout the standard furniture pieces onto the CADD-generated floor plan taking into account furnishings for particular rooms, varying proportions of furniture in relation to the room and any existing pieces the client wants incorporated into their home. Based on the furniture layout, adjustments – expanding or adding space – are made to the original CADD drawings.
Subsequently, the revised CADD drawings go to the “60 percent” phase detailing the exterior elevations, roof design and window placement.
The builder now plans the roof truss lines and the landscape, pool and hardscape designers are brought in.
At the 60 percent stage, a preliminary take-off of the hard surfaces – carpet, stone, wood and tile – is planned in order to make slab projections. At this stage, based on the projected square footage for windows and doors and flooring selections, the builder breaks down all the numbers and is able to prepare a more definitive budget. The fee structure for 90 percent of custom homes is based on “cost plus builder’s fees.” This way, the client sees updated invoices on a monthly basis and is always in the loop when the budget is adjusted.
After the take-offs are done, interior architectural detailing and structural planning, such as niches, ceiling details, floor tile diagrams, columns, kitchen and bath plans, built-ins, HVAC, electrical and plumbing, etc., are planned. If the client is using an interior designer, now’s the time that they get involved.
After the truss detailing and take-off drawings are done, it’s time for the architect to generate what are known as “100 percent” drawings. These drawings are essential for the structural engineer, HVAC, electrical and plumbing subcontractors and land survey team to work off of to complete the structural planning for the home and to certify the plans for permitting.
If the home is being built in a private community, the builder will get the exterior elevations and materials approved by the community architectural review board before obtaining county and state permits.
People often cringe when they hear the word “permitting,” but it’s a breeze for the builder who is meticulously prepared and organized. The more complete the drawings – structural, HVAC, roof truss, driveway curve cuts, pool and fence, to name a few – the easier the permitting process. Manufacturer’s data, including window and door specs, paint colors, roof tiles and hurricane-compliance plans, should also be included in the packet, as well as the builder’s notice of commencement.
With permits signed and ready to go, it’s time to start placing orders, finalize construction schedules and build a house! For the next 12 months, with hundreds of different activities incorporated, the client can choose to what degree to be involved or not.What is important is that the builder has a pulse on the entire project and that the company oversees every step of the construction progression.
Different environments present different challenges. In Florida, it is imperative that the builder be proactive and knowledgeable about mold and water infiltration and what to do to prevent them.
“Waterproofing and properly installed ‘vapor barriers’ to prevent moisture from entering the home are key factors to building a sound home and safe environment,” said McGarvey. “We use rigid insulation, like isonene, on the inside and an elastic, flexible waterproofing paint on the exterior of the home to fight the elements of nature.

“In all of our homes, the HVAC is an important component in the fight against mold. We make sure that the air is dehumidified before it enters the home by increasing the pressure of the inside air to reduce the overall humidity.”
The house is built, but before it becomes a home, there are a series of extensive quality checks and assurances to ensure that everything is operational and that all the pieces of the puzzle fit together perfectly. “Ten years down the road, the home we build today may have had more than one owner, but it will always be a ‘McGarvey’ home. We are perfectionists and have unparallel standards of excellence, and it’s our responsibility to make sure the job is done right,” said McGarvey.
Building a luxury custom home doesn’t end after the client takes their final walk-through. Customer service and care is what sets one company apart from the others. At McGarvey, they understand that builder service after completion is the key to building a long lasting, trusting relationship with their homeowners.
They have benchmarked the parameters for excellence in customer service by introducing the “McGarvey Custom Care” program where a customer-care technician visits the homeowner for one year on a once-a-month basis, for an eight-hour “honey-do” project day. Picture hanging, minor plumbing and electrical tasks, power-washing, light furniture moving, light painting, whatever the homeowner wants, the homeowner gets is the McGarvey promise.
“Our goal is that every custom home has its own personality and that it’s delivered on time and on budget,” says Dan Gerner, executive vice president of McGarvey Custom Homes. “We strive to build a home that will exceed our customers’ expectations, a home of the highest quality that delivers long-lasting value and wonderful memories for many years.”
by Marla J. Ottenstein

For information on building a custom home call:

McGARVEY CUSTOM HOMES
27599 Riverview Center Blvd., #105
Bonita Springs, FL 34134
239 992-8940
www.mcgarveycustomhomes.com

Building A Custom Home The Process from Start to Finish