Real Estate Articles

Investing in land has proven to be one of the best ways to create personal wealth over the years.

It’s not surprising that over 20% of the UK’s top 100 richest people are landowners and have made substantial profits from land banking.

Until recently though, it was hard for the smaller investor to take advantage of land banking, now a number of companies have opened up this investment to a wider audience.

What is Land Banking?

Land banking simply involves the acquisition of land, which does not enjoy planning consent, in advance of expanding urbanization. The price of an open space plot, not immediately subject to urban development pressures is low. When urban expansion occurs the land rises in value when planning consent is granted.

The way to make big capital gains in land banking, involves buying land in specific areas in the hope of future development.

Advantages of Investing in Land

Land is real. Unlike shares, land for sale is tangible - it can be visited, seen and walked upon.

Land is a finite resource. The key to land investing is to buy in countries with a shortage of land and a growing economy and population that will make prime land locations rise in price as they are developed.

Land is a cheap method of investment in comparison with other forms of investment such as property.

Land increases in value consistently year after year in many countries, due to demand outstripping supply and from land gaining planning permission to have houses built on it.

Land Location is the Key to Profits

To make money in land banking, investors need to invest in the right location at the right time. One of the best locations in the world is the UK, with an average growth rate of 926% over 20 years. This is the average increase in land prices, but with careful selection, many investors have made much more.

The equity markets, banks, bonds, precious metals, antiques, art and foreign currency have all had their highs and lows, but land has continued to rise in value, and nothing shows that this will slow down.

The Government’s independent research has highlighted that the UK is suffering from an acute housing shortage primarily caused by immigration, life expectancy and the rise of single person households.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, has responded by changing planning policy, allowing the promotion of more land for residential development.

Keep in mind 926% is an average of all land, but with careful plot selection much bigger gains can be made.

How you can Benefit from Land Banking

The way to make big capital gains in land banking, involves buying land in specific areas in the hope of future development and many companies are offering the following services:

1. They aim to identify prime undeveloped land that can be used for future development, and buy strategically placed land that has not yet received planning permission.

2. These plots are then sub-divided into affordable plots and offered to investors.

3. The company then promotes the site to gain planning permission.

4. Once planning is achieved, all parties are contractually bound to sell their plots at full market value, and within a set timeframe, giving a maximum return to all investors.

If you want solid long term capital gains then you need to know more about land banking.

To learn more about investing in UK land and other low risk high return land investments please visit our web site: http://www.lpgroupinternational.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Todd

In July 2005, London en masse celebrated winning the right to host the 2012 Olympics. Since then, the hosting of the games has been much discussed: this article is concerned not with the wider issues but with the ODA’s need to buy land to deliver the infrastructure.

The bid team identified a 306 hectare zone of UK land in east London to host the Olympic village and the main stadia. This was not in the traditional sense land for sale so upon winning the games, the London Development Agency (LDA) invoked compulsory purchase orders on some of the relevant UK land sites in the zone.

Through a combination of existing ownership and buying land, ninety percent of the required 306 hectare zone of UK land in east London is now in public hands primed for Olympics infrastructure. The cost of buying land was not included in the original budget (the talents of the bid team did not apparently extend to basic financial forecasting), and it is not only land for sale in the Olympics zone which has been acquired.

Additional UK land sites have been purchased in order to relocate businesses which operated in the Olympic zone: to some there is an irony that one of the main intended legacies of the Olympics is job creation whilst simultaneously displacing businesses onto UK land sites in other parts of the country. The total cost of acquiring all the necessary UK land is thought to be around £1 billion.

There have however been objections, not only to the perceived UK ‘land grab’ from powerless businesses and individuals, but also to alleged profiteering through buying land on the periphery of the zone by the LDA to benefit from future rises in the value of that development land.

The fact that this is not land for sale on the open market means that prices may not reflect the true value of the development land. The allegation, then, is that the Olympics have become a Trojan horse for companies involved in property development: there is a huge opportunity to acquire investment land with huge property and development potential at bargain prices.

The mayor’s Olympics adviser Neale Coleman disputes this claim: “…it would be absurd to be trying to buy land that is not absolutely necessary to deliver the Olympics”. A spokesman for the LDA insisted it was offering market value when buying land in the zone.

It has not at all times been plain sailing for the LDA when buying land. In February 2007 the LDA’s efforts to buy land used for allotments in the Manor Gardens area of Waltham Forest was rejected by land use planning officers at Waltham Forest Town Hall. Campaigners argued that buying land from individuals was unlike buying land from companies: the former have an emotional attachment to UK land sites which they have long used, unlike the latter (which are concerned with profit maximisation).

The 2008 Beijing Olympics has attracted negative publicity for buying land and displacing local people. As with London, this was not land for sale purchased at open market prices and it has been suggested that private property developers have made lucrative land investments in the run-up to the games in China.

Olympic Delivery Authorities are powerful agents and there is no doubt that the political will is firmly behind the on-schedule delivery of the 2012 Olympics. This means in all but the most extreme cases the LDA will be empowered to buy land in the areas it deems necessary.

So does this represent a UK land grab? Well, perhaps it does, but it was to be expected. In some cases it has caused anguish but the bulk of the 306 hectare zone of UK land earmarked for the Olympics is industrial development land. However what is certainly true is that the cost of buying land has risen substantially since the bid was won, which has contributed to the swollen Olympic budget.

Dietrich Elliot is a Land Investment exert who generously shares his expertise with novice UK Land investors. For more information about the opportunities and pitfalls in UK Land investment please visit http://www.land-investment-uk.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dietrich_Elliot

When a buyer invests in a plot of land he has different questions in mind like, whether my title will get cleared? Is the piece of land disputed? Am I being victimized of any fraudulent activity? and others…

There have been London Land Scams, Kent Land Scams and Sussex Land Scams in the past but land scams are no more common than other types of real estate fraud. Where there is money to be made fleecing the greedy, the ignorant, or the just plain lazy, con men are sure to follow.

This isn’t what is commonly meant by land fraud. Here are some real examples:

- Selling worthless land, in other words land without development potential, and claiming it has great value, the classic being land underwater but also land on the sides of cliff faces, under bridge abutments, and in the medians of highways.

- Promising land buyers development amenities like golf courses, community centers, and tennis courts that will never be built.

- Promising land buyers subdivision improvements like sewers, street lights, sidewalks, even roads knowing none will ever be built.

- Making false representations to buyers about the value of their land, especially claiming that lots bought today will skyrocket in value.

- Vague descriptions on deeds which allow the land promoter to sell the same land to multiple buyers at the same time.

- Illegal or unapproved subdivisions, especially where land has not been properly platted and permits granted.

- Selling land where clear title cannot be transferred, for example, selling land you don’t own and masquerading as the real owner through the use of forged documents and fake IDs.

- Reserving mineral, water, and other land rights without disclosing this important fact to buyers at the time of sale.

- Using high pressure and unscrupulous tactics to sell land, especially misrepresenting a buyer’s legal rights to cancel an agreed upon sale.

- Selling land of marginal value for excessive prices, especially through the use of easy credit terms ($5 down, $50 a month).

- Selling land where defects such as environmental contamination are known but not disclosed or failing to tell buyers material facts which would ultimately diminish the sale price of the land.

http://kentlandscams.rediffblogs.com/, http://kentlandscams.wordpress.com, http://www.sulekha.com/blogs/blogdisplay.aspx?contributor=KentLandScams

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Smithh