UK People - High Interest Bank Accounts

5.5% per year?
isnt that just average interest rate?

anyone from the UK know about investments? What would u reccomend investing 20k pounds in. Have to be able to access it whenever i want. Or atleast have less then a 2 year locked period.

Premium Bonds? You can get your money back any time and with £20k youll win a lot of prizes, all tax free and have a shot at the two £1 million prizes every month. In fact, if youre quick you might get entered into the five £1 million prizes draw for June (celebrating 50 yrs of premium bonds).

Its not my kind of thing but a mate of mine has won £25k off those.

Something to think about - tho this is not suitable where you need to access cash periodically.

Instead of dumping money into what is a relatively low interest rate with UK banks etc - think about buying some kind of property or land in a high development area/country.

There are a few regions which have been and will continue to be very good for some time yet and if property or land happens to be valued in what is a low currency dollar at the moment - that is an added benefit if purchasing in GBP (currency exchange is good).

Can think of a few regions where capital appreciation on property assets is between 25% - 60% per annum. There is no way any bank would pay this level of interest and the investment is secured in property title. For a good few years now we have had these type of investments increasing at around 50%/annum. One annual set of govt stats for this type of investment have averaged capital appreciation at between 40-60% depending on the specific area.

Worth a thought

care to elaborate on those regions??!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?

Hey Webby, any way to get in touch with you? I'm interesting in investing in some emerging property markets, already have looked into Dubai but want to diversify.

OK.. Usually these regions, least from the one's I know of, are "exotic" in nature and the main reason for the high appreciation is the numbers of people wanting homes or second homes in these locations (apart from a quota of "mobile" people like webmasters).

If we forget the middle of the Pacific Ocean and similar places (tho they are very good), - can use prime example of where I am now - Costa Rica.

The govt stats I quoted for capital appreciation (40-60%) apply to Costa Rica. Can't remember the exact stats, but eg construction permits have been increasing around 70% each year and likely to continue like that for a good few years ahead yet. If I were to guess - would think for at least 10 years tho after that it's hard to predict (tho makes little difference since there is little chance of property decreasing in value in these areas).

Can't remember all the countries listed, but Biz Weekly did a listing of the top real estate investment opps in the world a while back and Costa Rica was in the top three.

The same can probably be applied to much of the Caribbean area tho, simply because they are islands and little space available, the entry level is inclined to be higher, but they still show very good results. A similar country to Costa Rica, and in some ways better, is Panama where real estate is prob a couple of years behind CR, but following the same pattern.

Got a few friends here doing the same thing as us, but actually making a biz out of it - one bought a largish land area for.. around $4.5 mill, got a surveyor in and plotted it out into "home plots" and sold them all within 11 months with a sale value of $48 mill. Been doing the same thing, but specialising in more eco-orientated property - can think of one land investment that cost just under $2 mill about 4 years ago and it's worth approx $13-14 mill now and still appears to be doubling each year.

This type of investment is nothing like that in "industrialised countries" - seriously don't think I could have done the same in the UK or US. It's more "niche" with high appreciation. Another factor is it does not involved more work or expense - just sit on it and it earns - not the same as renting out property and having the hassle of dealing with people (tho there is money in that, but just don't have the time).

Basically, it's a matter of knowing the market - tho this familiarity can be gained as a "hobby" and there are some clues on the net - tho net prices are inclined to be over-stated and local prices somewhat lower.

Think it was early March - we did an exhibition at Earls Court on property here which was more from an investment angle than actual property sales - that resulted in a hell of a lot of people in the UK wanting to have a look at CR. Will prob do the next two exhibitions in Amsterdam and Frankfurt next - but need to deal with current backlog first.

From our angle, we need to find more large properties here with "features" and at a good price - that is a full time job and got two people working on it. We can then offer smaller investment plots out to anyone who wants them.

The market here was mainly from the US and Canada, but that is changing and more Euro folks are interested now - especially with GDP and Euro values against the dollar (btw - all property here is priced in US $). There are also new airfights started from the UK and EU direct to CR - so makes it easier to travel.

It's prob worth having a look around the net and checking out ... mainly the Caribbean and Latin America regions and getting a clue from that. There is another country which appears to be going upwards, but have never really looked hard at it - Morocco. There are plenty eyes on Morocco now and some very substantial development underway or planned.

Can't say I've studied Dubai, but that "appears" to be a "constructed" scenario where the people involved know the true value of real estate - and suspect this may not be quite as profitable?

Basically if islands are being constructed - that costs money and there is going to be a masterplan where they already know the expected return on investment in the creation of these artificial islands. Tho kinda sounds like it's like entering a market at the retail end?? It's nicer to get in at the more development/investment end

Sure... you on ICQ? Tho can't actually offer much specific at the moment on this - we are trying to clear a backlog of folks and this may take most of this year yet - but can give some clues of CR, Panama and other areas no problem

Yes please - 243159417

K! Hitting you up

Damn error! .. just noticed a load of crap in this part of the post vendot...

The investment in that plot is not "doubling" - it's increasing at 50%/year - tho be nice if it was doubling *lol*

Yeah thats all well and good but what bank is offering the highest interest rates etc etc?

Not a bank account, but you might want to check out zopa.com

If you guys hold off on buying properties in Cosat and Even here in Baja Mexico, you will see the prices slip some. as things in the US have fallen, the sales are starting to slow in other places. Which means the prices will drop another 10 to 15% and that can make a HUGE differnece. Then you grab something up, but be prepared to sit on it till the markets go back up.

you can get 10% a year in argentina..

Check this page:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings

Or try picking up a phone and make a few calls to Lloyds TSB, HSBC, etc.

Can't say for Baja pornguy - that may be more tied to the US just due to geographical location.

As far as CR and the Caribbean area goes, there has been no falling of property values following reductions in the US real estate market. In fact, it has been the reverse so far and prob due to these areas not really relying totally on the US market. Example, - it's kinda surprising that since the Caribbean is just south of the US - there is more Canadian investment there than from the US and this has been the case for decades now (forgetting that land on islands never seems to drop in price irrespective of external factors - prob due to the lack of space)

At the moment in CR, there is just not enough properties or land and much the same on the islands. One of my partners here has had a separate biz in real estate for the last 20 years and several regional offices - she was just commenting that she has no actual land/property for sale in a number of areas - it has all been sold, tho she still has plenty potential buyers waiting. (OK.. You can get property, but it's crazy money or impractical - eg view land with no water in certain areas at $100/sq meter etc - $2.2 mill for 2000 sq ft condo with a view etc. Oddly, these condos are actually selling - two were sold from our exhibition in London earlier this year.)

In theory there "should" be a minor reduction in prices to reflect the weakening US market, tho can't say for sure - demand would appear to be outstripping supply, especially from countries where there is no real estate slump - eg Canada and the EU (the latter is a joke and increasing annually for years now).

Another factor is where real estate is priced in dollars and where the dollar is lower in value - this makes property very appealing to folks from other countries who would not be paying in dollars. Example, - for a individual paying in UK Pounds, a $300K home would currently cost in real terms 150K UK pounds. That same home in the UK would cost, at a minimum, at least 300 GBP ($600K) and more likely around the 400K GBP/$800K level. The same principle applies to folks buying in Euro's etc and this alone is inclined to dwarf any 10-15% elements in property blips.

Would predict the US real estate market will go down a lot further yet for many reasons, but strongly suspect you will not see more than a blip on the screen, if that, where you are - then a constant annual appreciation

send your quids to me and I'll stick them in my hsbc offshore