All Forum Posts by: Mike Jordan

I am a civil engineer (structural and environmental), the good thing about my education and experience that i could get better prices and solutions for the construction cost. and I could know how much the construction cost in the real estate deals, which is a key point in the real estate investment.  

N.B. anyone who has better practical experience could be better than any civil engineers on the aforementioned points

 Supply and demand is the key factor for profit, and less business barriers generate further supply,which eventually decrease the profit of any business/assets/ investment.

Disadvantages of real estate investment

1)There is no business barrier, it easy o get capital from the banks, so many competitors/people could do it, which means more supply. Hence,this reduce the profit margin

2) The procedure of real estate investment is simple, it is the oldest investment in the world, there is no technological secert or patent or business barrier for it. Again, so many competitors/people can do it, which means more supply. Hence,this reduce the profit margin.

3) Supply of real estate cannot be reduced, it is hard to destroy a property. Meanwhile, other investment like a backery, could be closed easily and the number of backerys ( supply) could be reduced. Thus, the supply of realestate will always increase or at least it will be constant, even if there is no demand for real estate. Please bear in mind that more supply means less profit.

This is not the case for other investments/businesses.

Therefore, these challenges shall be noted by any real estate investor.

Thanks, i will search more for the LNG, i am always concerned about the macroeconomic factors, this what i found as the below links, they suggest there will be a small increase, but no one could know for sure

https://knoema.com/ncszerf/nat...

https://www.statista.com/stati...

I agree with you about income diversity,  it is a must, not for nations only, even for an individual investors, do not put your eggs in one basket. 

Thank you for your feedback

Laws are now more friendly to overseas investors nowadays and there is a trend to be more friendly, and you are right, the economy is not very diversified as the USA , this is a fact no one could deny it. There is a Qatar investment authority which has oversea assets to generate income besides the main income(oil/gas), there are plans to diversify more and more. Recently Mircosoft and UBS and other well-known companies invested in Qatar, there are plans and trend to make international companies to invest more. As a matter of fact, overseas companies are investing since 1970s in Qatar, I do not think they are stupid to invest in high-risky country.  Just google American and British companies in Qatar. There are many international companies invested  heavily in Qatar since 1970s and they are still here.

Please check the LNG price and the real GDP within 10 and 15 years, as per my information the LNGprice will not be decreased, if you have a source deny this information, please point it out, it will be great, i am in the same shoes as you, i want to know further information about the macroeconomic factors which affect investment and real estate

For the safety issue, currently, Qatar is the safest country in the world, check the below link, for the political issues, there are many good allies(USA, Gemany ,Britian. etc.) to stop any illegal acts by others. Qatar has an official security agreement with NATO.

I agree with you, if one find better real estate high roi with more advantages and less risk, he/she should select the maximum roi with low risk, please point out the best town for real estate investment and predicted roi and the tax legislation, so i might consider it as well. I know Brandon Turner is generating more than 16% net ROI but i do not know the secret :) . I could generate 20% net but it will be very rare deals

https://foreignaffairsnews.com...

If invest in any town outside my country, I will consider both the macroeconomic factors and microeconomic factors

Many investors like to invest oversea because they like to diversify the risk (do not put all your eggs in one basket)

Since 1910s my grandfather and father invested heavilyy in the real estate locally,  it is not paradise, there is a good time and bad times, but in the long run they succeeded financially, and i hope i could be like them. I am sure this story is not unique, I am pretty sure in almost all countries this story is repeated in history since the babylion.

There is no income tax for foreigners or local, there is not capial gain tax. The only taxes are for corporate taxes which is 10% flat of the income. The below links provide some information about investment in Qatar

https://qa.usembassy.gov/busin...

https://2016.export.gov/qatar/...

Please find my answers below

Can foreigners buy property? 

Yes

If you can are they friendly to non-citizens buying property or do you have to do risky work around? 

no, it is 100% legal (and friendly) for non-local to purchase in many areas, and foreigners might obtain a visa permit to live

, in other areas it is illegal, but some non-local do it anyway, they use some laws which is risky and the law is grey in these areas.

Are both the rent profits and capital gains tax free?

yes, if you are an individual it is free, there is rent profit taxes, but if you own a company, the rent profit might be taxed ( i am not sure about this), but i am  sure 100% there is no capital gain tax for everyone

What are rents vs purchase price? Can you hit the 1% rule?

Yes you could, but it is hard to get this yield in houses or flats. However, in commercial or logistic real estate, the net roi could be between 8% 15%, but this not very common in housing and flats investment

Is there appreciation?

yes, there is appreciation, but in the last 5 years there is a correction period for many reasons, mainly because oversupply in some areas, check the below official website for the real estate index, you could check in the long run there is appreciation. 

http://www.qcb.gov.qa/English/...

Is there reliable property management?

yes and they are very professional, there are international/western companies for this, and also there are very good  local companies

Who is your target renter? 

depends on the real estate setcor, there many types of renters, blue collar, white collar, commercial, storage, admin. etc. Blue collar worker are important player in the real estate industry

Do things change if US reduces forces there or changes off base housing policies?

 Americans in Qatar are not the major players in the local real estate industry, their population is less1% of the total population,  the major players are the governmental project and private sector projects. 

How is the country doing on adding job base?

There are always trends to achieve this, the real GDP will be increased within 5 years, as I read in many international websites

Is the currency stable?

The Qatari Ryal is  very stable because it depends solely on the USD from 40 or 50 years

Hello

I am a real estate investor, i have extensive experience in the aforementioned market, and I would start with the prons

1) tax free

2) high yield in some Area

Cons

1) lack of data and reports related to real estate, in the USA, there are many reports. In Qatar, there are some report but it is not like the USA and the western world

2) foreigners cannot buy in certain areas

I am choosing to invest here, because I have the data and experience, for me, it is too hard to invest outside because i have to learn everything from zero. Who is willing to invest in Qatar, he/she shall study the market carefully, If i want to purchase any real estate outside Qatar, I will study the market for at least 3 months.

Please don't hesitate to ask me any related question of this subject

First of all, I like this book, it is one of the fundamental books for every investor. However, it has some disadvantages.

1) it does not encourage investors to invest in intangible assets, such as education, training, R&D. etc Many of the developed countries and high ranking companies (AMAZON and APPLE)  invest heavily in R&D. Please read the Capitalisation without Capital book, it is elaborating these points

2) Most countries in the world, do not have enough technical staff(IT staff, programmers and engineers), and welcome these engineers to their country. They do not do this because they are kind government/people, they do this because it will improver their economy/GDP. Technology/education indeed improves any assets/country in the world.