Published: 16th October 2009
Industry Millionaire: Roman Carel
Roman Carel’s journey into overseas property is
unusual. After an internship with Pierre & Vacances, he went on to set up his own internet price
comparison service. The gamble paid
off. He sold out to Price Runner a few years later for a tidy profit.
After investing some of the profits in overseas property and
then moving to London, he managed to secure from P&V, the master agent agreement to sell their property portfolio internationally from London. Roman now runs Athena Advisors which represents P&V property sales, Athena Mortgages and Probis, the CRM solutions provider. . I caught
up with him to offer him a million pounds of fictional money to see where in
world he’d invest it.
Ashley Rigg: Hi
Roman. Good to see you again. How’s business?
Roman Carel: Pretty
good, things are picking up a little right now. We’ve hit our targets for September and we’ve just launched our new
website which is keeping us busy.
AR: How’s the French market?
RC: It’s not that
bad. The market has not been affected so
much by the virus of the credit crunch like the UK. Lending has always been tighter with
restrictions on how much you can borrow based on your income so people have not
extended themselves so much. It’s quite
common for example to be offered 90% loan-to-value mortgages.
AR: Let’s kick off
with Industry Millionaire. You know the
drill. I give you a fictional investment
pot of £25k, £100k and £1 million and you spend it for me. I wish it was real money but things a bit
tight, you know how it is!
RC: For sure, it’s
more fun with fictional money anyway. You
can take more risks!
AR: How would you
invest the first £25k?
RC: What is the
criteria? Are you looking for return on
investment or lifestyle?
AR: Let’s start with
investment.
RC: I’d go where the
rail system is developing. The TGV is a
fast rail network that is expanding into a number of areas. The region that springs to mind is North East
France, particularly the city of Reims in the Champagne region. It’s now only 42 minutes from Paris and is a
popular destination for Parisians looking for a quieter life.
AR: What would you
get for £25k?
RC: I’d have to
leverage but I could finance around £220k which would buy an 80 – 120 square
foot apartment in the city centre or something a little bigger with three to
four bedrooms within 20 minutes drive of the station.
AR: What are the prospects for France relative to those of
other countries in Europe?
RC: Not many people know this but France has the highest
birth rate in Europe. It is mainly
because of the economic incentives to have a large family. The highest rate of tax is around 50% but
this goes down by around 10% for each child you have, up to three children I
think. It’s difficult to say how France
compares to other countries in Europe. France is certainly a good long term bet and offers solid opportunities
for investors who buy in the right locations. Don’t forget it is also the most visited country in the world, with more
than 70 million tourists every year.
AR: Thanks Roman,
let’s take it up to £100,000. Where
would you invest? Let’s take it from a
lifestyle perspective this time.
RC: For the quality
of life it has to be the South of France. The food, the countryside, everything!
AR: Whereabouts?
RC: In terms of value
for money, the south west is generally better than South East France. The triangle than runs from Montpellier, Carcassonne to Perpignan
would be where I’d choose. You are close to The Pyrennees and the new railway line which will run from Nice down to Barcelona will boost the economy in this area.
AR: How about if you
had to invest outside of France?
RC: From a return on
investment perspective, I would put £100k cash in the Spanish market. If you are clever enough you can get two
apartments for £50k each if you know where to look. The best investment strategy is to look for
locations with traffic, with demand and negotiate below-market-value
deals. If you are investing in a holiday
home location, a good tip is to look to where the rich people go on holiday in
that country. In Brazil for example, the middle classes in
the south tend to holiday in the North East.
AR: Would you tip
Brazil? How well do you know the market?
RC: Brazil has lots
of potential. It’s a spectacular country
and the mortgage market is set to mature which means growth prospects are
good. I bought a place there in 2002,
just north of Fortaleza. I speak
Portuguese which really helps. The
biggest thing buyers underestimate is the amount of time it takes to manage an
overseas property. I use an agency for maintenance
and rentals; I made sure this was in place before purchasing.
AR: What could you
get for £100k in North East Brazil?
RC: It depends where obviously but in many areas within 45-60
minutes of an international airport you can get around 7,000 square meters of
beach front land for example.
AR: Thanks Roman, Let’s
make it more interesting and take it up to a million. Where would you invest?
RC: From both an investment and a lifestyle perspective I
would buy in central London. It’s always
a safe bet over the long term and it’s a fantastic city, I love it. If I was being more adventurous I’d look to
Lamu, an island in Kenya or Jose Ignacio in Uruguay for luxurious living at
reasonable prices.
Another interesting destination is Libya. It’s not often mentioned as an overseas
property location but it has one of the most beautiful coastlines on the Mediterranean. There are political risks but it has huge
potential.
If I was playing it safe, I would go a little closer to
home. I went to a conference by Intelligence
Squared recently called The World in 2050. Speakers were predicting global warming would raise temperatures by
between 3 and 5 degrees by 2050. Even
with rises at the lower end of the spectrum, it will change the dynamics of
where people buy overseas property. The
South of Sweden may one day become a popular destination for example. At any rate, people will be much more focused
on the weather when making a decision. So why not Scotland?
AR: Roman, it’s been a
pleasure. You gave some really interesting
answers.
Thanks for spending our fictional cash.
RC: My pleasure,
speak to you soon.
About Athena Advisors:
Athena Advisors provides consulting for all key Resort & Leisure real estate players. With three domain of expertise - Market Research - Marketing - IT sales tools.
Being an expert in the resort property market and its characteristics, we believe in the simplicity and the efficiency of having only one interlocutor.