Why did I choose the Universal Land Palm Springs project
I came into contact with Wanguo Land for the first time because I attended Wanguo Land master lectures for many times. Although each master had his or her own speech theme and style, each expert had a common view: overseas asset allocation is urgent, and the relative income of real estate in overseas asset allocation is stable and safe.
This is also the first time for me to get involved in overseas real estate. At that time, I directly bought the hotel project of Wanguo Land in Palm Springs. The main starting point was that the Palm Springs project could return a fixed annual income of 12% each year, and there was real estate as a guarantee, which was unimaginable in China. Even more valuable is the dollar asset allocation.
I made up my mind to buy the house, but I was not sure what it looked like because I had never bought a house overseas before. That was until a recent field trip to All Nations Properties in Los Angeles and Palm Springs convinced me. Here I would like to share with you my observations:
Although I had been to the United States before, I had never been to California before. Fortunately, Xiao Zhang from Wanguo Land not only helped us book a hotel, but also arranged a complete tour. This is one of the reasons why I choose Wanguo Land. From top to bottom, the employees are very enthusiastic and can meet even the very small requirements of customers.
What exactly is the Los Angeles office of Universal Land?
When we arrived at Los Angeles International Airport, Amanda, an employee of International Land, was waiting for us at the airport. Our first stop was our Los Angeles office. The Los Angeles office is located in Beverly Hills, next to the famous Hollywood. When I entered the Los Angeles office, the atmosphere was very low-key, but elegant and dignified. What's more, every employee warmly greeted us and welcomed us. At that moment, I had an illusion that I was going home.
What does Palm Springs really look like?
The second stop I focused on was downtown Palm Springs. Compared to Beijing, Palm Springs is not a big city, but it is very busy. Most of them looked like they were on holiday. The outlet I was most impressed with was Desert Hill Premium Outlets, which our host said was the largest on the West Coast. There were more than 100 outlets for famous products at deep discounts, and many tourists drove more than a dozen miles to shop there. Besides, there are many famous attractions in Palm Springs. For those of us who want to visit both attractions and shopping malls, it is impossible to do it all in one day, which is probably why the hotel business here is so hot.
In terms of travel, the Palm Springs area also has an international airport, although there is no direct domestic flights, but also very convenient. Asked the local reception staff, the annual number of visitors to the city is close to 2 million, in 2014 has reached 1.91 million. Amanda also said that most of the visitors to Palm Springs are road trips, and that the number of visitors is growing rapidly.
Whether the project pricing is reasonable
We arrived at the project site, can't wait to see the project site. Although construction has not started yet, the land around the project has been cleared and all surrounding areas have been enclosed. As for the house price I care most about, we also asked the local broker, who said that the land price in Palm Springs has been soaring, like the recent project land price has been conservatively estimated at more than 20 million dollars. The other thing I'm concerned about is what are the housing prices in the neighborhood? There is no relevant house around the project. The agent told me that the nearby residential area is rancho mirage in Palm Springs, but the housing price is ridiculously high, almost above 700,000 dollars. I heard that many Hollywood stars live in this residential area on vacation. So even though projects haven't started yet, lots and prices are starting to grow. Given the growing number of tourists, there must be more room for appreciation.
Can the occupancy rate be guaranteed?
Much to my surprise, even though I arrived on a Monday, there was hardly any space in the parking lot of the Spotlight Casino on the south side of the project. To the casino, all kinds of gambling games, gathered everywhere, very busy. But I was still concerned about the return on the property I bought, so I asked the casino attendant, what would be the accommodation arrangement for these guests? I was surprised by the response: the casino doesn't offer lodging, and the closest one is the Dream Springs (my hotel today, right next to the project site), but it's definitely full today, and it's a 20-minute drive to a high-end hotel. You know, it's Monday
In order to confirm the waiter's words, I specially checked with the Dream Hot Spring Hotel when I checked in. The same reply: there are no rooms available today, and it will take two weeks to book a room. It's normal for a hotel to be full on weekends, but it was completely out of my expectation that it would be full every day. In the end, my doubts were solved because so many people came to enjoy the holiday and booked rooms for more than a week at a time. I probably wouldn't have been able to stay at the hotel if it hadn't been for Universal Land. And even now, reservations are pricey -- $230 per night. At the nearby five-star hotels we drove by today, it was a whopping $559 a day.
Although the scenery around the Dream Hot Spring Hotel is very beautiful, the actual living experience is not good because the hotel has been in operation for a long time. And because the management of the hotel belongs to local management, there is no great feeling in the service. In the same way, considering that the Wanguo Land hotel project I bought is also under brand management, but the supporting facilities are better than those surrounding hotels, and the star level is higher, from this logic, the competitiveness must be as good as the Dream hot Spring Hotel.
After checking out early the next day, I went to the surrounding golf course, the Coachella Music Festival venue, and the world-class tennis court as advertised, etc. The overall feeling was that the site of the Palm Springs project of Universal Land was chosen in a very core location, and I believed that I could get a good return on my investment.
The above are some of my experiences in this investigation, which also completely eliminated my doubts about the project. Indeed, for our overseas property owners, it is very important to choose a trusted partner. It is very important not to rely on hearsay and their own judgment.
