This web site will give you articles mainly about Real Estate and related topics. Here you will find articles about home mortgaging, refinancing, home loans and even tips on how to deal with real estate agents. This site will also give you tips on real estate investments.

A Guide to Sri Lanka Real Estate

by: Shan Kumarage

Sri Lanka is a country with a population of about 20 Million and is one of the most important places in South Asia because of its geographical location. It is situated right below India which was used by thousands of traders few centuries back.

Sri Lanka is very much popular among European Tourists because of it’s scenic beauty and golden sand beaches. Still Sri Lanka holds it’s reputation for having one of the best beaches in the world called “Unawatuna Beach”.

When Sri Lanka was hit by Tsunami in 2004, it did a great deal to decrease the economic growth of the country. But now after about four years, it seems that the country is again rising to its original position.

However, when it comes to Real Estate, there is a huge growth in the market. Compared to the last decade, the country seems to have had much more investments going on in the city of “Colombo” which is the capital of Sri Lanka. Still, only Colombo is notices by the investors due to the lack of facilities in other districts in the country. Since Colombo is the most popular city of Sri Lanka and it’s the most nearest city to the “Bandaranaika International Airport”, people are still investing in Colombo, since there’s a huge market and a potential.

There had been a huge growth in High Rising Condominium Apartments and in the city itself there are more than 20 condominium apartment complexes. Half already completed and half under construction. Below are some of the major apartment projects going on in Colombo.

• “Monarch @ Crescat, Colombo 03
• Celestial Residencies, Colombo 03
• Ocean Edge Apartments, Colombo 03
• Fairmount Apartments, Rajagiriya
• Wimbledon Court, Dehiwala
• Dawson Grand, Colombo 2
• Iceland Residencies, Colombo 03
• Lumiere Resisencies, Colombo 05.
• Havelock City apartments with Shopping mall, Colombo 05
• Trillium Residencies, Colombo 08
• Star Residencies, Dehiwala





However, there are many more high rise condominium apartment projects are going on in the city of Colombo and also there’s a trend for Apartment Complexes with major shopping malls & office complexes such as Havelock City (http://www.havelockcity.lk). There are eight towers of apartments, with four towers of 22 stories, two towers of 27 stories and two towers of 29 stories.

Even though the ongoing war is doing a major impact on discouraging all these development projects and overall development in they country’s economy.

A Real Estate Formula

by: Steve Gillman

It was a simple real estate formula. The ads ran in our small-town newspaper for years before I realized exactly what was going on. They were always the same: A house for sale with 5% down and payments of 1% of the purchase price. Maybe a three bedroom home for $90,000, for example, with $4,500 down and $900 per month payments.

When a friend started doing the same thing he explained the process to me. It was a way to get a great return on capital, and it was the opposite of buying with no money down. There is no down payment at all when you buy, because you buy for cash.

The Simple Real Estate Formula

You probably know that when you buy for cash, you can often get a much better price. With no financing contingencies in the offer, and the promise of a faster closing, sellers are willing to sell for less. You can offer $95,000, for example, on a house that might be worth $108,000. If you can't get it for less than, say, $99,000, you walk away - there are always other opportunities.

Once you buy the house, you put few thousand into high-return repairs and improvements. These might include paint, carpet, and maybe asphalt for a dirt driveway. For our example, we'll say you spend $5,000. Let's suppose the house is worth $116,000 now. You're ready for the next important step in this real estate formula.

You put it up for sale, targeting buyers who can't get financing easily. You provide the financing. Because you are making it easy for the buyer, you can get more than the $116,000 value for the home - and do it without paying a realtor's commission. Let's say you sell it for 123,000. The buyer needs a down payment of just 5%, or $6,150, and makes monthly payments of $1230 per month. You charge higher interest than the going rates at the banks, of course.

This is a win-win situation. Your buyer is able to buy a home instead of renting, and you get a capital gain of perhaps $16,000 after expenses, plus good interest. Your total rate of return will often be over 20%!

In our town, the first to do this consistently were a father and son team of lawyers. They saved money by doing their own foreclosures when necessary. Once they foreclosed, they raised the price and sold the home all over again.

They made millions. Did you know that if you can get an average return of 18% on your money, you'll turn $75,000 into more than one million dollars in about fifteen years? That's the power of a good real estate formula.