Let’s take a look at the process of booking a flight to give you some of the best travel tips to get cheap hotels and flights. Nowadays everything is set very efficiently in order to allow you to book a flight through the Internet instead of using real persons that earn a salary over the phone. That makes things very easy from the very beginning, as a fare that appears on the Internet will always be cheaper than the one you can get over the phone, as the company will not need to pay any employee for the telephone services.From this point and on, many possibilities are open to you. There are some companies that have no longer real persons on the phone and the only way in which you can get your tickets or reservations is on the net. These companies will normally be cheaper than others that offer the service over the phone, but of course the level of customer service that you can receive if any problems arise is lower. This is the case of low cost carriers such as Ryanair, EasyJet, German Wings, Jet4You, etc.If any of these companies covers your itinerary, one of the best travel tips I can give to you is to always book with them. The only thing you need to check is how much baggage allowance do they have and how far the airport they fly from and to is from the main city you depart from and visit. In the case of a hotel, this does not make sense, and simply if a hotel can be booked online it will be always less expensive than the one you book over the phone.Another of the best travel tips I can give to you is to never book through travel engines such as Expedia, Travelocity and similars. They always charge more than the airlines or hotels booked directly from the web-page or over the phone.For the following best travel tips, we consider that there is no possibility to book a flight or a hotel only over the Internet. Let’s consider the possibility where all the companies that supply travel to your destination offer the both possibilities. Which one to take?Bookings over the Internet may be cheaper, but only 15 Euros per person cheaper in many occasions. What I mean with that is that you are saving, yes, but under which conditions? Many of the times booking through the Internet and getting the best e-deals will mean that this tickets are not changeable or that you will receive no refund if booked in this way. It all depend on you. Probably for a cheap trip you will prefer to risk and in the worst of cases you will not lose a lot of money. In any case, one of the best travel tips for long trips or expensive hotels is to book over the phone. This will offer tickets with the possibility to be changed applying a determined fee and even 50% or full refund cancellation policies and you will be paying just a little more.There is another thing involved with booking online. Sometimes, even if not many, the tickets booked online will be able to be collected only from an office in a determined country. For example, if you book on the Internet from FlightCentre.co.uk, a great company to travel from Europe to the South Pacific, you will need to get the tickets in a UK office, while if you book on the phone you will be paying just 13 Euros more but you will have e-tickets that you can print. Of course this is saving you a lot of money if you are not UK resident, at same time that you get cancellation refunds and changeable flights and passenger names.To summarize, I think that a good strategy is to take the short flights or inexpensive hotels and hostels on the Internet and get your longer trips on the phone. In any case, I would never give a call to an agent before checking all the offers they have on their web-page. The agent will never introduce you to all discounts, but will try to make you get the most expensive deal for his or her company. If you go directly to him and you tell him which flight or hotel you want, then he will have nothing left to do than to give that one to you.In any case, and being this one the best of all my best travel tips, it is the one of getting free travel certificates. I just can’t understand why many people pays a lot for 4 or 5 star hotel stays while I pay 10 times less for the same stay. But there is a reason why they do it. Because they don’t know that travel certificates can be taken for free in certain places, and most of them that will never be lucky enough as to read this article will never know.
Monthly Archives: July 2020
Property Development Due Diligence – Steps To Doing It Right
Property development due diligence involves many steps. When done correctly the risk involved with land development are greatly reduced and the odds for profit are increased considerably.The first step before signing your contract with the Seller is to clearly negotiate all terms that you require. If you and the seller understand all that is expected of both parties, in particular during the due diligence period, you will avoid potential problems down the road. This is where your attorney comes into place. I highly recommend hiring an experienced real estate attorney that is familiar with negotiating land purchase contracts and working with developers. Purchasing land is risky and it is best to minimize your risk from the onset. Typically land purchase contracts go through numerous negotiations and revisions. It is much more difficult after the contract has been signed to get the parties to agree to contract amendments, although contract amendments and addendum are prepared quite frequently based upon inspection report findings and other events that occur during the due diligence period.Requesting in the contract that the seller provide inspection reports or other documents you require during the due diligence period is crucial in evaluating whether you are able to achieve your development goals with this particular piece of property. Be sure to provide a time period for the due diligence that all parties must comply with. 30 to 60 days is the minimum due diligence period for the buyer to conduct his due diligence but 120 days or longer is not uncommon with complicated acquisitions or parcels that require rezoning or are contingent on permit approvals.There are many factors that you should consider which influence purchasing unimproved land. Since purchasing raw land has risks, I suggest you keep in mind the following (Please Note: Much of this information was gathered from the website Property Development Source):1. Title Issues.Are there any clouds on the title? In other words, does the seller have clear title to the property? Review of all title reports and underlying documents affecting the property is crucial. Having a real estate attorney review the documentation on your behalf is recommended whether you are a novice or experienced investor/developer. However, you should review the documents yourself too. Ask questions if you do not understand something or it looks odd to you. The main concern is to make sure the seller does in fact have legal and clear title so that you will not have any legal issues later on. Title insurance protects you in this regard, but you do not want to have to be litigating title issues when they can be discovered early on before you close the deal.2. Survey Issues.Are there any encroachments from adjoining properties on your land or vice a versa? Encroachments could be neighboring buildings, utilities, easements, fences, water, etc. Are the property boundaries clearly marked and surveyed? If there are encroachments, you and the seller will need to be able to resolve the issues prior to closing. Some issues may not be able to be resolved or resolved in a timely manner and you must decide if you still want to purchase the land despite the unresolved issue. You may need the seller to obtain what is called an easement from an adjoining property. An easement is a written document allowing one party use of another party’s water, road, utility lines, parking spaces, driveway, etc. An easement is typically drawn up by the seller’s attorney and reviewed by your attorney. Title companies will exclude encroachment issues from your coverage so it is important to resolve these issues immediately.3. Land Use Approvals.Zoning regulations, site plan approvals, building permit and approvals, lot size, setback issues, fire safety issues, environmental and health issues such as sewer, septic disposal, storm water management, streams, rivers, wetlands, etc. Recommend obtaining an environmental report to determine if there are any problems with chemicals, pesticides, pollution, etc.4. Availability and Access of Utilities.Access to utilities, water, electricity, gas and sewer/septic systems, telephone, cable and internet is another concern that needs to be investigated. If access is not readily available, it can be costly to get basic utilities to the site.5. Accessibility of roads.Are there roads already in place or will you need to build them? You also need to consider the cost of maintaining the roads.6. Topography, drainage and flood zones.Recommend obtaining a soils report and geology report. Is the property in a flood zone? There are designations of flood zones areas and insurance availability is conditioned upon what flood or fire zone properties are located in. Slope issues, stability.During the due diligence period, the seller must provide you with certain past or current reports that he has in his possession such as geology, soils reports, environmental reports. It is best to request these in your contract so that all parties are clear about what they need to deliver to each other. Depending on how old the reports are you can then decide if you want to rely on the seller’s reports or obtain new ones. Also, be sure your contract states the seller will assist with any permitting or regulatory actions that may be required during due diligence. (Often local permitting agencies won’t release information or accept rezoning or permit applications without the present owner’s signature. This clause in the contract states the seller will sign these type of documents as needed.)It is also important to remember that the seller cannot legally sell the land to someone else. He can take back-up offers, however. A back-up offer is another offer contingent upon the first offering not going through and the first buyer canceling the deal. It is totally legal and ethical for a seller to take backup offers and this practice is done frequently in a seller’s market [where demand is high and inventory of available properties is low]. The seller cannot legally disclose to the second backup buyer the purchase price or terms of your offer unless all parties agree to the disclosure nor can he disclose to you the amount of the backup offer and terms without the other party’s consent.By doing your due diligence you minimize your risk. It is impossible to anticipate every source of delay or risk. Conducting due diligence will cost you money and time. The customary way of conducting due diligence is to hire professionals to assist you. Attorneys, surveyors, engineers, environmental experts, zoning and land use specialists who will review documents, do inspections and make inquiries on your behalf during the due diligence inspection periods negotiated between you and the seller in your purchase contract.