Buying property on a golf course can be an above par investment
Look to the States or Morocco for a sporting second home, writes Alex Delmar-Morgan
As the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale reached its nail-biting conclusion recently, with Irishman Padraig Harrington pipping veteran Aussie Greg Norman to win the claret jug, many around the country were surely visualising themselves ambling round a gold-course, driver in hand, with a nice cool beer waiting for them in the clubhouse.
Some golf-lovers, though, are less inclined than the pros to brave the sort of British weather that bedevilled the Open – driving rain and gale-force winds are not to everybody’s taste. If you prefer to drive, chip and putt your way round a course in sunnier climes, you might be tempted to combine your golfing with a crafty property investment abroad.
Portugal’s Algarve is still the most famous golfing territory, with plenty of courses, and also miles of stunning coast. But there are options further afield as well. Florida in particular offers the same investment opportunities with quality courses – some of the world’s top golfers live there – swanky properties and a cheap US dollar.
There has been an upsurge of golf resorts in the last few years, where an entire golfing community grows up around a private residential estate complete with facilities including swimming pools, tennis courts, and fitness centres, which have whetted investors’ appetites.
Ideal Investment
As Les Calvert says, founder of PropertyAbroad.com, a company which runs a online portal service where developers can advertise, property and golf make an ideal investment.
“You can’t go wrong with a golf property investment. It provides good rental returns and capital growth. Typically you buy somewhere that overlooks the course or is very close to it. Buying a property can often give you reduced membership and entry fees in the club and preferential tee times,” Calvert says.
Spanish developer Polaris World specialises in building golf resorts in the south-eastern Murcia region of Spain. Such resorts have seen a boom in recent years. Polaris will manage the rental of the property throughout the year for between 12 per cent and 20 per cent commission.
One such project is the fast-growing resort of the Hacienda del Alamo in Murcia, a 574 hectare, 10-year scheme, that has planning permission for 4,700 new homes, although just over a tenth of the land will be built on.
The project began in 1999 when Procam, the property arm of Spanish bank Caixa Catalunya, formed a partnership with developer Armilar. Spanish golf star Miguel Angel Jimenez is promoting the latest championship course at the resort, which is 7,400 yards long, and is designed by Dave Thomas, who together with his son Paul, were also the brains behind The Belfry and La Manga.
Properties are rapidly selling out. You might be lucky to catch one of the last few one-bed apartments at £131,000 in the Spanish Village. You may have more of a chance of snapping something up in the latest development, the Hacienda Hills, where prices start at £373,700 and go up to £532,00 for more luxurious villas.
Good Enough for Tiger
Away from Europe, Florida has the well-known Lake Nona and Isleworth golf resorts, bought by British billionaire entrepreneur Joe Lewis’s development company Tavistock in the mid 1990s. Now the Tavistock Cup, a respected PGA Tour Event, is attracting some of the sport’s biggest names. It is no surprise that the popularity of owning properties at both are on the up, especially since Tiger Woods lives at Isleworth.
Julian Cunningham, senior negotiator at Knight Frank’s international residential department, says that despite the problems in America’s sub-prime housing market, as in Britain, top end properties have not been affected.
“These are very high-end, well managed resorts that operate outside the usual real estate market. There has been huge demand in the last few months because of the weakness of the dollar to the pound. From an investment perspective, the quality of the build and golf courses makes properties here very attractive to a high net worth individual,” he says.
Splashing Out
Knight Frank is the only agent in Britain and Ireland marketing units in the two resorts. Prices at Lake Nona range from $1.05m (£528,000) to $7.7m (£3.9m) whereas Isleworth is more expensive. Here a three bedroom house will set you back $3m and if you are not afraid of splashing out (and have a lot of friends) then you can spend $11.5m on a seven-bedroom pad. A leisure complex with a golf simulator, plasma screen televisions, an indoor putting green together with a Mediterranean style clubhouse with a ball-room are all featured at Isleworth.
Or, you may want to consider Morocco for a more exotic getaway. The Assoufid development in Marrakesh, in the foothills of the snow-capped Atlas mountains, has an 18-hole course and a golf academy. Villas come in a range of architectural styles and sizes and start at €1.5m rising to €2.7m. They all have landscaped irrigated gardens of about one hectare.
In times like these, the battered state of the British property market may add to the lure of overseas investment, especially if you are prepared to root out some of the best deals, that often include guaranteed rental income at a good rate. If it means you get that handicap down by a few strokes too, then all the better.