Thread: Iraq Real Estate

Investing in Iraq Real Estate

http://www.iraqrealestateinvestments.com/

An Iraq investment has the similarities of a Middle-Eastern real estate investment--a great chance at making money--but also hold the dangerous similarities of investing in Baghdad's real estate. That leads me back to two valuable objectives: timing and location. These two aspects are key in any business deal and are what real estate investors looking abroad should commit the greatest amount of research into.

Again, there is good news and bad news. For Americans, Iraqi investments are more scarce than wearing summer clothes in Antarctica. Europeans and Asians are jumping on a fast money opportunity that many Americans have yet to get a cut of. This includes the real estate industry. If you get your fresh start now, a cut of the much deserved profits foes to you, profits many Americans don't entirely know much about. The media is leaking bits and pieces of the so-called irony in the fact that Asians and Europeans are profiting off of Iraq, and yet Americans are not. Still, with these small articles from major newsfeeds isn't enough, and people of the U.S. are still blind to how great an Iraqi investment can be. Baghdad is the real estate hotspot many people are talking about, and while most know Baghdad is climbing up financially due to homes being bought at alarming rates, not many realize the profits they can earn once getting a piece of the action.

How to find a Real Estate agent in Iraq

http://iraqrealestateinvestments.com...gent-iraq.html

In most countries, you can find a real estate agent online, where there are thousands of listings available. You may not get the best real estate agent, but you've still got one. In Iraq, the problems Iraqis are facing have started to effect those who sell property. These problems do not fall in the financial category. The fall under the category listed 'Life or Death.'

Turkey, Iran battle for clout, deals in Iraq
http://af.reuters.com/article/energy...101208?sp=true

* Iraq battleground for Turkey, Iran in markets, diplomacy

* Neighbours using investment to secure influence

By Rania El Gamal

BAGHDAD, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Turkish clothing and beer are hot sellers in the streets of Arbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdish north. Far to the south, Iranian cars roam the streets of Basra and Iranian pilgrims flock to Iraq's holy sites.

Sunni Ankara and Shi'ite Tehran, old rivals turned friends, are vying for post-war economic clout in neighbouring Iraq to capitalise on an expected oil boom, and have been flexing their muscles in Baghdad's government formation talks, diplomats and politicians said.

Already one of Iraq's main trade partners, Turkey wants a bigger foothold in its southern neighbour through increased investment to counter Iran's growing influence and to boost its stature as a regional economic and political power.

Turkish companies are top investors in hotels, real estate, industry and energy in Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, and increasingly in the Shi'ite south where Iranian influence had been almost unchallenged.

Iran is Iraq's main trading partner and has been one of the largest investors in its construction and industrial sectors since the fall of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.

"It is clear that they are competing, specifically in Turkey's effort to dam in Iranian influence. Iran has undoubtedly gained a significant role in Iraq since 2003, and from about 2007 on, Turkey has started to push back," said Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group.

"They are holding each other in balance."

Ankara, which spent years focusing its diplomacy on Europe, has turned its attention to the Middle East and an emerging role as a neutral mediator and economic power. It has lobbied for an inclusive Iraq government that does not exclude minority Sunnis.

Tehran, a regional Shi'ite power, made sure Iraq's majority Shi'ites tightened their grip on power by backing a merger between the country's main Shi'ite blocs, guaranteeing incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki another term, politicians said.

Maliki, a Shi'ite, visited Turkey and Iran in October as part of a tour to gain regional backing for his bid to form Iraq' new government in exchange for investment deals.

Iraq's Arab neighbours and the United States are worried about Iran's growing clout in Iraq, particularly as U.S. forces prepare to withdraw by end of 2011, tempting anxious neighbours to vie for influence in Baghdad.

"They (Turkey) are doing this throughout Iraq, in Kurdistan as well as in Baghdad and even Basra, which is not usually an area of Turkish influence," said Hiltermann. "The presence of a Turkish consulate in Basra is very much part of a strategy to dam in Iranian influence in Iraq through investments and trade."

ENERGY, INVESTMENT DEALS

A day before Maliki's visit to Ankara, Turkish oil company TPAO won deals to develop two Iraqi gas fields, a sign of Ankara's ambitions to become an energy bridge between Europe and the Middle East.

TPAO also has small stakes in two Iraqi oilfields, among a series of deals Iraq signed with global firms in a bid to quadruple its crude output capacity to Saudi levels.

As Baghdad embarks on unprecedented energy development, foreign investors also are eyeing opportunities in industry and infrastructure. War-damaged Iraq is starving for housing and electricity investments.

Turkish construction firms are building houses in Arbil, Turkish goods flood the malls and many young Kurds spend holidays in Istanbul, where some learn to speak the language.

About 55 percent of the foreign firms in Iraqi Kurdistan - 640 of 1,170 - are from Turkey, which expects bilateral trade of about $6 billion last year to grow to $20 billion in four years.

Iran has invested in power plants, schools and factories in Iraq, and expects exports to rise to more than $8 billion in 2010 from $6 billion a year ago despite Western-backed economic sanctions aimed at curbing business with the Islamic Republic.

Iranian-made Saipa and Peugeot cars are common on the roads and some Iraqis favour an illegally imported Iranian liquor.

"It is best described as the latest manifestation of a latent and sometimes overt Iranian-Turkish rivalry that has existed in the region for decades and centuries," said Gala Riani, Middle East Analyst at IHS Global Insight.

"Iran and Turkey have each historically considered themselves as being the bigger political, economic and military power of the region. In Iraq, both sides are capitalizing on the vast economic opportunities that are present in both the south and the north."

KURDISH FEARS

Turkey and Iran also have an interest in a stable Iraq as they seek a solution to their decades-long conflict with separatist Kurdish rebels, who fight for an ethnic homeland for Kurds. Like Iraq, Turkey and Iran have large Kurdish minorities.

"Turkey remains justifiably somewhat wary of Iran and, to some degree, still a rival. However, Ankara's AKP-dominated government has sought to improve relations with Tehran, in part to reduce the likelihood of regional conflict," said Wayne White, a scholar at the Middle East Institute.

"In Iraq, both Turks and Iranians have no desire for greater Kurdish autonomy. Both seek greater influence in Baghdad, although Iran clearly holds the upper hand in that respect."

But Iraqi political analyst Ibrahim al-Sumaidaie said Turkey may win growing influence in Iraq, at least in the short term, as a more neutral party that can win acceptance from all sides.

"With the rising pressure of the international community and increase of sanctions and hints of military actions against Iran, the near future will witness a rise for the Turkish role," he said.

"The Turkish role has the blessing of the international community and is backed by Arab countries. It has not met any Iraqi objection, as happened with the Saudis, who faced objections from the Shi'ites, or with the Iranians, who faced objections from the Sunnis," he said.

Real Estate Company Looks to Iraq for Business
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/...n6480315.shtml


AP) In a high-rise apartment building in Minnesota's capital city, two 23-year-old men roll out of bed every morning, convene on a living room futon and fire up their laptops to check on a couple dozen properties they've listed for sale in Iraq.

Half a world away, their colleague, also 23, is already on the move in Baghdad: Showing houses and appraising properties as he navigates around concrete blast walls and police checkpoints.

The three men are part of a unique real estate venture that connects expatriate Iraqi property owners in the U.S. with buyers in Iraq. Though still a fledging business, they've already sold several properties, taking advantage of the war-torn country's booming real estate market.

"What we are aiming to do is create a name for our business," said Ali al-Robaie, the Iraqi who teamed up with Americans Ishraf Ahmad and Derrick Turner to establish Forex Realty Consultants. "We know Iraq has a bright future, so we have a really big optimism in the Iraqi market."

Ahmad and Turner, who've yet to visit Iraq themselves, were undergrads at Minnesota's Carleton College when they hatched a plan to get a piece of Iraq's real estate market. They recruited equal partner al-Robaie through a Craigslist ad, and less than two years later, they've sold five residential and business properties and done appraisals and other services for another 15 or so clients.

Currently, Forex has about 35 listings ranging from a mansion with views of the Tigris River to a twin home near the University of Baghdad touted on the company's website as "great for two brothers."

Seven years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq and less than six months from the promised pullout of U.S. combat operations, the three young entrepreneurs are treading where many, much larger U.S. companies are still reluctant to venture.

"We need to get more Americans out there taking advantage of the investment opportunities," said Yasmin Motamedi, executive director of Middle East initiatives for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Real estate prices, in particular, have risen considerably in recent years in Iraq, due to a lack of housing in Baghdad, improved security and the expected influx of cash from increased oil production, said Gavin Jones, co-founder of Upper Quartile, an Edinburgh, Scotland-based advisory firm that has worked extensively in Iraq.

Yet, investing in Iraq is still considered risky business thanks to red tape and rampant corruption. Transparency International ranked Iraq 176 out of 180 countries in its latest index of corruption, with only Sudan, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Somalia scoring worse.

"If I were looking at buying stuff there, I'd be very, very careful. ... A lot of the laws and systems in Iraq are still based on the Saddam-era regulations," Jones said.

For the three partners, Forex is less about politics and more about opportunity. "Coming out of college and looking at this economy, both of us knew that we wanted to do something a little different than just a nine to five job," Ahmad said.

In May 2008, Turner was studying in Europe when he read an article about skyrocketing property values in Iraq. When he returned home, he and Ahmad spent many late nights discussing how they might capitalize on it.

There was one problem. Neither knew a whole lot about real estate.

"We both read 'Real Estate for Dummies,"' Ahmad said. They researched, drew up a business plan and recruited al-Robaie, an Iraqi native who was living in Sweden at the time.

While Ahmad and Turner recruit expatriate customers, operate the business website and manage paperwork, it's al-Robaie who's on the ground. On a recent spin through the Jadriyah neighborhood, he showed off a listing - a mansion he said was once owned by an ambassador. Thick, vine-covered walls surround the sprawling, 46,285-square-foot parcel of land.

The main entrance is guarded by a bulletproof gate and a pop-up barrier to stop cars from getting too close. For an asking price of $8.6 million, the next resident can enjoy a swimming pool, a renovated American-style kitchen, and a view of the Green Zone across the Tigris River.

"This is a pretty safe area because a lot of state people live here," al-Robaie said.

So far, sellers have found Forex mainly through Google searches - though they hope to soon begin physical advertising in heavily Arab parts of Michigan and California. Ahmad and Turner, who are based in St. Paul, also talk of opening a U.S. office, possibly in Michigan.

One customer - Basil Fayadh - said he found Forex by searching "Iraqi real estate" on Google, after his expatriate parents decided last summer to sell a house they still owned in Baghdad more than 40 years after leaving Iraq.

As a child, Fayadh remembered his parents occasionally mentioning the place. But he thought little of it until a visit with his parents in Cleveland, when his father dug out a faded copy of the deed.

"I said, if this thing is still standing, we ought to sell it," said Fayadh, 35, a currency trader in New York City. He said Forex was the only firm he could find offering a link between U.S. sellers and Iraqi buyers.

To Fayadh's shock, al-Robaie quickly found the house, which had been occupied the entire time by the same man.

For weeks, Fayadh said, he spoke on the phone every day to Ahmad, as they navigated what Turner has dubbed the "Iraq-cracy" - the cumbersome bureaucracy that permeates daily life in the country. Fayadh finally sold it to the long-time occupant for more than $400,000; he and his father traveled to Amman, Jordan, where they met al-Robaie and the buyer to finalize the deal.

"These guys were pros," Fayadh said. "You know, I knew they were young and there were a few times when their inexperience showed, but they really stuck with it."

Economic stirrings in Iraq with new multi-million building scheme
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-07-02/w...nt?_s=PM:WORLD

Work will soon begin on one of the biggest real-estate projects in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, which some say is a sign things are looking up for the country's economy.

Iraqi-Jordanian real estate company Amwaj International is behind the ambitious Baghdad development, called Baghdad Gates.

The scheme will cost $238 million and will include 3,500 residential apartments, a five-star hotel, an office tower and an upscale shopping mall. Work is due to begin in a couple of months and could be completed in four years.

Namir el Akabi, CEO of Amwaj parent company Almco, told CNN, "We are targeting the educated, the doctors, the professors, the lawyers. We are targeting the middle class really."

He said Iraq has had no major construction developments for the last 30 to 40 years, leaving it with a chronic housing shortage. He added that as Iraq's security situation improves and refugees are returning home, the demand for housing is increasing.

"In Baghdad, and in Iraq generally, families are living with their father and mother in the same house, even after they get married," Akabi said.

"There is no space available and prices are very high. There is a major shortage and no major development."

That shortage, coupled with an increasing standard of living, makes Iraq's real estate a growth area, according to Akabi. And he's not the only one who thinks so -- in 2008 UAE real-estate company Al-Maabar announced plans for a $10-billion residential and commercial development in Baghdad.

What's more, Akabi is confident the country's oil resources will soon fuel a powerhouse economy.

"To be honest, I expect Iraq to overtake the Gulf in seven years, because international oil companies are committed by contract to make oil production in Iraq reach 12 million barrels a day within seven years," he said.

"Production today is under two million barrels, so our budget will be six times what it is today. Today it's $60 billion, so you're talking about $360 billion income for the Iraqi government per year."

But some small businesses feel left out as Iraq is flooded with cheap goods from Asia and Iran. Thabit Al-Baldawi owns a small aluminum factory and says the government has done nothing to protect businesses.

"There is moral support but no financial support," he told CNN. "There is understanding for the role of private sector and calls to support the private sectors but so far it is just words."