Cullen's latest idea

Some time ago we had a rental property which we’d bought in a moment of madness and regretted forever after. According to the wisdom of the person who advised us that buying the property was a good idea, we would not only earn a profit on the rent paid, but be able to claim against our taxes for a number of things, including depreciation, rates, insurance and the like.

For us it was never much of a deal. We came into the property market at the wrong time, and eventually sold at a loss. That’s the way it goes in some businesses.

But I see now that Michael Cullen, our esteemed Minister of Finance, is considering removing many of the tax breaks landlords receive. That would be scary for an awful lot of people who rely on that extra income at tax return time. It’ll be particularly scary for those who own only one or two rental properties. (The only way to make big money in the rental business is to own a number of properties, so that the losses in rent are compensated for by the gains.) And I suspect there’ll be a sudden rash of rental property sales on the market, which will possibly reduce the value of housing, and will also decrease the number of rental properties available.

No doubt Mr Cullen in his wisdom knows what he’s doing, but I for one am glad I’m well and truly out of the rental market.

Buying up in Bulgaria

Rightly or wrongly, when I think of Bulgarians, I think of comic characters in operas, violent villains in movies, and other such negative pictures.
But Bulgaria, now that it’s been freed from Communism, is on the rise. You might even say it’s on the high rise, considering the number of apartment buildings that have been going up. And the image of the Bulgarians is altogether different to my stereotype.
Furthermore, a large number of Brits are buying up in Bulgaria, seeing it as the place to go for holidays. It’s still relatively cheap to live there, the air fares are good, and, most of all, the property values, though they’ve risen, are still economic by British standards. A few years ago you could buy a rural property for £5000. Though the price has tripled, by comparison with many other holiday spots, this is still a bargain.
There’s even a British real estate firm that specialises in Bulgaria Property. Someone got in on the act pretty smartly there!
And of course there are lovely coastlines and sunny beaches. Bit far for me to travel, but maybe one day….just like that maybe one day…Hawaii.

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