Parking Mad - Investment or traffic stopper?

It's a hot sunny day and whilst browsing around for some inspiration, what should pop up? a report from PropertyWire about the idea that car parks and marinas are a good idea for investment!

OK, I can understand the asset point of view, the old adage of you "you cant make more land" and all that, but what is the reality, and is there any sense?

Well the report does specifically talk of Australia and says "We have had a higher than normal number of inquiries about car parks and marinas,' said Geoff Blaze of Melbourne based property company Blaze and Jenkins."

"As far as car parks go, it is the land that is of interest. Investors are interested because they can see future possibilities with the land and they want to explore the chances of developing these sites in the future,' he added."

This is all well and good, buy a lump of land, turn it into a car park, hope that one day someone wants to build on it, then hope you can get planning permission, and finally, all involved are bazillionaires at the end!

Nice thought! BUT, notice the number of "hopes" for a start, the article does go on to say

"There seems little doubt that car parks can be a lucrative investment. But university lecturer and property book author Peter Koulizos said because the car park market was so small compared with the broader real estate market; it was difficult to get reliable figures for growth. On the positive side, car parks are pretty maintenance-free,"

So do these car parks magically run themselves? hardly! The fact that no real figures seem to exist on the subject as far as growth, gain, CGT and so on does somewhat make you wonder how exactly the proposition is worthwhile. Granted there is money in the car park industry, no question about that in the major cities and tourist destinations, but to begin publishing willy-nilly to the public that this is a good idea?

Aside from the lack of figures, the unknown as to whether you might be able to develop later and so on, one major thing that is not mentioned is the restriction of foreigners buying property in Australia in the first place. There are numerous regulations and restrictions preventing Johnny foreigner from buying in Australia, right down to the fact that unless you are Australian, you can only buy off plan property, and only a certain percentage of a development can be owned by foreigners. There is no immediate sign of change to this ruling at the moment.

So, car park indeed, if you can buy a few spaces in a tourist destination and rent them to the locals year round, great idea! You will be liable for tax on your rental gains. There is some discussion on the Propertyinvesting.com forum, but admittedly no definitive answers. The other thing to consider is maintenance. I am sure like I, most will think "How much maintenance can a car park need?" According to Teignbridge Council in the UK, about £1.5 million should do the trick! Obviously they are responsible for a number of car parks, but it does still illustrate that no investment is ever really what it seems.

The truth about Martinsa-Fadesa.

Having spoken to and been contacted by agents, promoters and the public alike, here is our take on what is happening to Martinsa-Fadesa, one of Spain and Morocco's largest development companies.

Rumour:
Martinsa-Fadesa has gone bust and everyones money has been "stolen".

Fact:
Martinsa-Fadesa has actually filed for voluntary liquidation to protect itself and hopefully trade out of it's situation. Commonly done when businesses run heavily projected cash flow with little or no forethought that "booms" can actually end.

Rumour:
This situation effects all Martinsa-Fadesa construction.

Fact:
Not true, The Moroccan arm of Martinsa-Fadesa is a separate company, Fadesa-Maroc. As unwise as the Spanish arm has been in over exposing itself to vast debt it cannot even begin to manage, the Moroccan is independently owned and is incorporated as a separate company as a subsidiary. In layman terms, the Moroccan side can use the Fadesa name and resources, and the Moroccan side likely pays something in some form or another, whether that be a franchise type deal to use the name, of stock or what have you.

What this means to purchasers of Fadesa product is straight forward. If you have purchased property in Morocco on a Fadesa resort, your investment is safe for the time being, and there is no reason to panic.

If you have bought in Spain, a very different matter. Whilst Martinsa-Fadesa are assuring people they are looking for solutions to trade out of predicament they are in, It is all in limbo at the moment. Projects will get finished somehow, but it could be that the projects are sold on by the banks to new developers to finish. If this is the case, expect delays and specification changes. What is highly unlikely to happen is no resolve at all. This would not be in the interest of the government, local or national in Spain due to the number of properties involved, and the killing that any new developer will inevitably make to complete the project in the current climate.

A particularly misleading article was published in the Times back in July,
"Britons fear for deposits as Spanish property firm Martinsa-Fadesa folds"

The opening to the article is true to a point, it is possible that buyers of Fadesa product could lose their deposits. What it doesn't say is the steps that Fadesa are taking in a bid to get out of its situation. Fadesa also constructs in Hungary, which is also believed to be unaffected by this.

The Times also goes on very sharply to talk of the "Land Grab" situation in Valencia. This has absolutely nothing to do with the situation. "Land Grab" as it been termed by the media hacks in the UK is an alternative way for people to say "I need to complain because I am stupid and didn't read the small print" and "I thought it was just like home"


As a result, many people are in fear of having lost their deposits on Moroccan properties, as of this moment this is not the case and is unlikely to be either. As and when more news arises on this situation we will publish it.

Coming soon! Land Grab, What is it? What does it mean? and, How can I avoid it?

Turkish Ministry Talking Turkey About Titles, Tax and General Tattle Tails!

Well after spending half an hour on the title, Here is a hot one for you!

In an article released today by OPP (Overseas Property Professional) we have been informed of the following.

"The Revenue Administration department of the Turkish Ministry of Finance has launched a two-prong investigation into the financial behaviour of both buyers and agents in areas popular with international investors.The Ministry is believed to have contacted all relevant banks and financiers in Turkey for a list of private individuals and corporations that were given finance to buy in the country and are cross checking these details with title deed records to obtain accurate information on what was sold at what price to international buyers. The Ministry has revealed that it is looking for discrepancies in agents and developers accounts after conducting an initial investigation last year that is believed to have turned up many irregularities."

Now there is a surprise! Who would have thought it? This news as far as the industry is concerned is not all that new, it has been well known that investigations were going on, and the Turkish Government could do with the money in its bid to get inflation under control to finally get into Euroland so it can have some kind of financial base.

The article goes on to say that they have contacted the equivalent of the land registry to see how many foreigners have registered property, and whether they are declaring tax on them.

For some reason unknown, the Turkish Government do appear to be hell bent on ruining their own tourism business, entrance into financial stability, and any chance of expatriate business communities flourishing. Only earlier this year were mortgages made available under fairly heavy conditions, and still no real resolution has been passed as to whether you can actually buy property for investment or otherwise in the country as a foreigner.

Just a thought, but Turkey, if you are listening, (and not busy working on your Eurovision entry for next year) here's an idea.

Make a decision as to whether you want to allow foreigners to buy first or not.

If you decide you don't, fine, we'll all move on.

If you do, then sort your act out! Create a proper property registry, and not one on the back of a fag packet in bar, and make everyone register in the first place!

A couple of quotes were also made in the article about the regulation of agents, or rather the complete lack of it, claiming that;

“There are hundreds of barman, waiters, jewellers and sweetshop owners selling property who are just out to earn a fast buck, with no concern for the protection of the clients interests let alone the legalities and procedures."

Hmm, I seem to remember we have come across exactly this kind of thing before, not so far away on the other side of the Mediterranean and the pieces are still being picked up now.

I must state that I would have linked to the entire article, But OPP have a big shiny login page in the way.

Dodgy Dealings in Dubai!

Less than 2 weeks ago we wrote about the situations one is faced with when buying in Dubai, the various main developers there, and the suspicions of their competence and thought into their projects and abilities as construction companies in their own right.

Now we see the headlines of "Nakheel exec in bribery scandal name" on Arabianbusiness.com published by Reuters. Basically, whilst no-one is really prepared to comment other than that "No money has been embezzled from within Nakheel" It goes to show that it is obviously high profile for it to be kept this quiet, investigations like this don't just suddenly "pop up" from no where!

In an additional quote it was stated "The allegation of financial irregularities is in relation to the acceptance of sums paid to an employee by third parties." Now what does that tell you? Well, it does clarify somewhat that no embezzlement has gone on, sure, but how about telling us what has not happened and actually getting on with what everyone wants to know which is what HAS happened!

Personal opinion here would be inclined to conclude that someone has been greasing some palms somewhere to get where they are in the business and make things run more smoothly for them, i.e. someone in Nakheel taking backhanders for something, and Nakheel may or may not have known about it.

The key thing to remember here is that Nakheel belong with the other developers we wrote about before in "Tax Free Sand Castles in the Sun" they weren't added to the article at the time because this news was inevitable sooner or later.

If you have bought or are buying in Dubai, ask yourself a few questions.

Can you remember the numerous cases, some as recently this year about developers and officials in Spain taking backhanders, and the subsequent problems it has caused owners later down the line, sometimes 10 or 15 years on?

Can you trust a company that allows this to go on? How many more "irregularities" are there, and on what scale?

Rumour mongery this might be to a degree, but if you think for an instance that all is good, and you are still rushing off to buy in Dubai, We'll happily go on the record now and say "I told you so" when you are looking for a lawyer, sat in the desert, drinking warm Guinness in your timeshare tent because your building has no licence.

Investment Property Bargains in the USA?

With the US dollar looking like it will soon compete with the Mugabe Zim dollar for the "Most number of zeros on my currency award", What are the realities, dangers and prospects of buying into US Real Estate?

It isn't as easy as it used to be for foreigners to get a US mortgage any more, and only a few companies will provide quotes for anywhere outside Florida, one particularly efficient company for this is Fidentia. They cover most of the states although they do need specifics and don't offer an online quote engine due to the extensive variables.

Buying property itself? Well this is another mine field altogether. In the USA they have various collaboration tools and schemes. REALTOR.com is the arguably the largest, it is a tool enabling agents to share all their listings all over the place, the draw back to this though is that it can be very out of date, and whilst there is a lot of legislation on the USA for being an agent or realtor, it still would appear that anyone can sell a house if they want to. REALTOR.com has some 3 million listings country wide, what they don't tell you is that these listings are supplied by over 1 million agents. What that means to you and I is a lot of people that don't update the system!

There are a few other techno systems for site owners, one being IDX and a few others under construction at the moment, the key thing is though is that as much as every agent can say they have access to millions of listings for sale, there is a good chance only 3 are actually theirs, which may well be out of date!

There is though a new breed of agent outside the USA selling property there now. Admittedly only for investors, but nonetheless, they are supplying a well researched source of US properties that do actually make investment sense.

Colossal Property Investments

When you first enter their site, it all seems just a little too good to be true. A 3 bed detached house in New York for 12k Euro? Freehold? With rental income? And a Profit? sounds like madness! After roaming through the site though it is clear to see these guys are doing their homework and leaving no stone unturned, calculating every last little thing down to the nickle

American Dream Investments

Admittedly the site could do with a tidy up, but here we see a similar set up, with properties also in New York at fantastic prices (Starting from around £20k) The site quotes gross rental yield in this case, so would suggest calculating all the net figures to ensure their is a profit in place, but all in all, both companies whilst niche in their fields seem to have found the point in the market place where even the smallest of investors can make money relatively easily in a struggling market.

There are some developers out there also that have decided to walk away from developing at the moment if they can and diverting their efforts into buying up the last 25% or so of other developments at a discount, repackaging and moving on. It makes use of their cash, ensures a discount in the first place, and keeps the money working for them whilst making a profit in the process.

There are those of course still pushing out deals direct from developer, beware! Ask yourself, will the developer be able to finish the project? Do they have the money to get through? It might be next to Sea World but I don't see Shamu the Killer Whale helping out developers or Mickey Mouse paying any mortgages.

With the exchange rate the way it is, there are some serious bargains to be found in the US, just look very carefully. The exchange rate is likely to get worse before it gets better, so either keep your cash gained in the US, or at least in USD.

An old adage that so often rings true, "The first profit is always the best, regardless of the size."

Still Selling, or Sold Out?

With the credit crunch and fears of recession, fact or otherwise continually being written about in the press, one has to ask "Is there any money to be made in selling property anymore?"

Well, on the golf course, in the pub and according to the industry, yes there is, but on closer inspection of the market place, no-one seems to be buying except the heavily cash rich. So which is it?

Granted it can be argued that there are some bargains out there, but how much of a bargain are they really? We see agents purporting to advertise property and land for "less than 10K" only to find upon closer inspection that that is just the deposit, and the seem to have conveniently forgotten about the other several hundred thousand that's involved at some point!

Just nipping into Google and entering "cheap investment property", and what do we find? The second site in is claiming to promote "Free Property" in London! Now I am sure if it was all that simple, we would all be lazing around in Utopia without a care in the world, putting our £3k down and then getting £3k cashback, how simple is that?

On not very much closer inspection however with an "example property(This one is £5000 down, prices from £199,950)" we find that whilst the deposit is "paid", along with the Stamp Duty, Legal fees and a bunch of cash back on a different property than the banner ad on the front, the "average rental is apparently £725 per month.

So OK, sounds great! where can I get one? in fact I'll take 2! But hold on a moment, what about the mortgage?, So, off I pootle again to Google, and this time type in "UK Mortgage Quote" and take a top 3 site from there and very carefully enter in the numbers. Property cost (not "value")
and take into account the 10% down already in the deal.

After calculating very carefully using the days interest rate, and working on 25 years, interest only is £990 per month, and interest plus capital is £1241.12 per month!

Given this, the property that is apparently £3000, that I also cannot live in, because I need to rent it out, has just bought me £516.12 per month worth of debt, so all in, over 25 years and hoping that the interest rates don't go any higher, this "£5000" property has actually cost me £154,836 even if I rent it out for 25 years!!!!!

There is no claim or statement about commissions being included, or the percentage or charge involved, and as much as this is property for sale, is it really any wonder at all that no-one is buying with figures like that?

What I would like to know, and this is just one example I came across, but how much money is there in this business, and how do I get some of the action if there is that much?

Anyone wanting to buy £150k of debt for £5k, please do let me know.....

COMING SOON! Bargains in the USA?

Panama - Just a short ride in a Canoe?

The biggest rave in the industry in recent times during the demise of the European market has been Panama. Made famous more recently by the "Reggie Perrin" incident by a husband and wife team Anne and John Darwin who thought it might be a good idea to have a picture taken even though one of them was "dead" (Good call!) Then Anne deciding she would go back to the UK, somehow under the illusion that no wrong had been done. (Ask her that in 6 years)

In the real estate world though we saw a surge in developers arrive in Europe with all their dog and pony shows at the trade exhibitions, many with their amusingly miss-spelled brochures and charming good looks, especially at the 2007 SIMA exhibition in Madrid.

2008 though was a different story. Less Panamanians had made the trip, more western agencies were there though with the same product, literally! Whilst at the exhibition I stumbled across no less than 4 stands selling the exact same product from the very same developer, and then found the developer themselves also there, offering exclusivity to anyone wandering by! In 2007 the developer stands did appear to be busy, but 2008 saw less stands, most were not developers but agents, and there appeared to be less traffic all round.

Generally the SIMA exhibitions are a pretty good indicator for what is likely to be a popular seller for the coming year, not necessarily because it's good value, or a great investment, but simply because if the developers sign enough agents, they know the agents will advertise, the press will pick up on it and will make it popular for them. As a result, public being what they are and the sheep mentality that exists, the product will sell one way or another.

Panama now though as a seller? Not a lot seems to be happening there, I speak to agents on a regular basis that sell there, either in Panama itself, or remotely and it doesn't sound like it's moving all that fast.

The big question here has to be why? You would think Panama being a tax haven, low extradition laws, and limited space that prices would be off to the moon, and it would be the greatest thing since sliced bread!

The reasons are few and simple. Donald Trump, Resale Market (Or lack of it) and the inexperience of agents and Realtors there.
Just because Donald Trump buys or develops a building somewhere, it doesn't make it a good investment!

Donald Trump is a Bazillionaire, has an outrageous syrup, and most well known for saying "Your Fired". These are not reasons to base the largest investment you are likely to make in your life upon. Why not? He has the money and the name to manipulate the market, and he has the "sheep factor" behind him. If he buys somewhere and then tells everyone, you will buy too, push up the price, he will then let some company sell it to you at an exorbitant mark up, and then run away giggling. Just like Warren Buffet does with silver, and George Soros does with the UK stock market.

The Resale Market? There hasn't been one! Ask your friends, go to the pub, go on the Internet and see if you can find someone who bought a house before the arrival of all the developers. We saw a similar thing happen in Cape Verde. When the market started there any re-sale price or procedure was purely guess work, now though 5 or 6 years on, there is a steadily growing market, and ex pat agents are thriving.

Inexperienced Agents/Realtors? With no re-sale market to begin with there wouldn't be, so any agents there are ones that have fled Spain before the crash, or are some of the few Americans with a passport and/or a tax problem. I tried on many occasion to list and display Panamanian re-sale property on European websites, several companies touting to be Panamas largest, oldest and so on. Not one could come up with anything!

What now? If you have bought, sit tight. Personally I think the market is there, just not in the "get rich quick boom" that everyone was told, the weak dollar is still making it a value play for those with Sterling in their pocket. As to whether quite all of the developments will get built or not is another matter. The transition from what Panama was (Basically a tax haven) to a tourist destination for all to enjoy is a large one to say the least, and is certainly not a 5 minute job.

Spain - Will the last one turn the lights out?

Well Spain indeed! What is going on there? We have to be a little careful with this one on the account of a certain company that likes to sue, So we will ask that you read between the lines on this one!

The Costas have long been an investment hotbed for the Brits, all being cajoled into jumping on planes, leaving their brains at home, and then badgered in to buying way more than they can afford with the temptation of cheap mortgages and the "certainty" that it will all continue to rise in price, everyone will sell the 3 extra villas they bought using the equity in there family home and all will be good.

Now if you said that to a prospective buyer now, they would know you are on drugs, and probably beat you half to death.

You only have to stroll down any one of a number of streets on any of the Spanish Costas and you will see the empty agencies, and not just the small ones, some of the monsters of days gone by, Viva Estates, Ocean Estates and numerous Spanish ones too.

Where have they gone? Pretty simple, bankrupt or liquidation! Not all is doom and gloom though, and it isn't just the "Credit Crunch" that has bought this on, the reality is straight forward when you look at it.

Many of these companies were set up at the beginning of the boom, around 10 or 15 years ago, bear in mind Spain has almost no legislation in the real estate industry, even now. The government has tightened up the local laws, and insisted that anyone listing property now, must have the escritura for it. (the legal paperwork basically) This has meant the larger agents with thousands of listings have been facing 4000€ fines if they don't have them, and a mass of expense to get them.

Then we saw every company, their mother and their dog going to the UK every weekend to host exhibitions and property seminars, advertised to death as "independent" when all along every company is connected. Exhibitions aren't cheap especially when you have to fly all the staff from Spain put them up, move them around and so on.

On top of all of that, there are massive overheads in offices, admin, phone bills, fancy cars, advertising ad so on, as well as paying for the clients to come over, wine and dine them.

The novelty wore off last year, and everyone had been to one of these exhibitions purely because you literally couldn't go out for the Sunday paper without falling into one, and then the demise of the US economy started (Like no-one thought that would happen?) then we saw the rise of oil prices, rising interest rates and shaky stock market.

The major turning point? the moment that the developer shares started to dive after low profits. From there the people at the top started to get concerned.

Once upon a time, getting a mortgage in Spain was easier than getting sunburn in the Sahara, if one bank wouldn't lend to you, they would simply have another bank underwrite it for you, basically the banks would all just borrow from each other. Once the developers weren't making the big money any more, that stopped. All the over valuations and dodgy paperwork in the world won't get you a mortgage in Spain now.

On from there came the dive of the Pound, as much as selling all the gold off through the Bank of England seemed like a good idea at the time, bet you wish you had that now Britain!

Will it recover in Spain? and what of the enormous "Investment Property" agents?

Spain will recover, but it will take time, it certainly isn't going to get back to the growth it once saw, but we have gone past a very critical point that places like Cyprus and Portugal are still suffering from. The point in question is the local market. The Spanish are finally taking less than the "Bank Valuation" and pricing their properties sensibly and have finally realised that jonney foreigner isn't as gullible as they once were.

The Property agents?

Well this remains to be seen, some as I said have already gone and those in liquidation don't seem to be likely to return, even of they do, it won't be on the scale of before. Many of the smaller agents have upped sticks and moved to Brazil or Dubai to get on that bandwagon.

What should you do? and how can you take advantage of it?

If you have cash, hunt around, compare prices on the internet. There are a lot of portals around these days, just check to see that things are up to date. When you do find an agent, go for one that isn't too big that is well established, you can usually find these through portals. Niche agents are generally very good, usually with no more than 100 or so listings. Companies like this will normally give you a far better service, and be a lot more honest with you because they don't have corporate crap to hide behind, and they don't have massive overheads to support.

If you need a mortgage, get one offshore. Japan at present will give out mortgages between 3% and 3.5%, a serious saving when you look at it over the life of it, and if Japan suddenly spikes, you can always move it.

Bottom line, there are some serious bargains to be had in Spain right now, they wont make you a millionaire in a week, but they will rise solidly over the next few years. Avoid off plan that isn't built, many may well not get built, and most developers are having some serious sales right now. For example, 2 bed, 2 bath, 150,000€ key ready today if you know where to look on the Costa del Sol.

Dubai - Tax Free Sand Castles in the Sun?

The hype for Dubai and the surrounding Emirates has been going on for some time now, but little seems to be known by the public as to what really goes on, and quite how it all works. With a completely different culture to the west, and a country that made its living very quickly from "Black Gold"

The problems that arise from this though is a large amount of belligerence from the developers themselves, with huge belief that people will just throw money and whatever they build, and all is good!

There are only a few main "authorized" developers (I guess the ones with the largest pockets, or those that know a prince) the top 3 are Damac, Profile and Emaar.

There are what would appear to be 100's of companies developing and selling there, but these are the big guys, the ones that pretty much control everything.

Emaar. Once revered as the highest quality, has decided to enter the timeshare market, "Emaar Hospitality Group plans to enter timeshare market" as much as timeshare has had a bad name over the years, it is trying to clean up its act, but as we all know, where there is timeshare, there are timeshare salesmen. I dont know about you, but something I cant stand. Emaar, as fancy as your developments are, you just cheaped out buy a vast amount, pulling down the quality in a country where you pride yourselves on delivering the best. I don't care what anyone says, timeshare is not an investment. It might save you money long term, but there is a vast difference between saving and investing.

Profile. Responsible for "The World" and most noteably the "Island of Ireland" built entirely on reclaimed "land" (I'm sorry but a heap of sludge you dredged out of the sea and sprayed about the place with a few rocks around it doesn't constitute land in the real world) One has to wonder how long this will last, I mean it's all very nice, and aimed at the uber riche and so on, but we have all seen the discovery channel documentry about the race against the storms and trying to fix it as the build and hoping it won't sink. On top of all that, who in their right mind wants to drink Guiness in 50 degree heat surrounded by a bunch of Irish timeshare salesmen? I'd rather lick the path.

Damac. Now this is an interesting one, Damac have started to sell a great many projects, and been doing so many u-turns on them they appear to be spinning like a fairground ride, with unbelievable things going on as a result. Their latest ploy was their annoucement to build a multi billion dollar project in the Kurdish region of Iraq. Now I'm no historian by any stretch of the imagination, but was there not a war going on in Iraq? didn't some bloke called George W Bush decide he wanted a new sand pit? I am all for investing early, but do you really think this is going to happen? show us your "entrance strategy" never mind the exit!

What few people realise is that Damac actually started as a catering company http://www.zawya.com/cm/profile.cfm?companyid=1003214 and runs many restaurants. With the number of clients out there that have bought there properties, only having been told that the odd project here and there is being cancelled, one should ask should they have made the transition? With numerous projects delayed or cancelled, many investors have "flipped" their properties. For those that manged it and got their money, all is good, but those that bought at the flip end are left holding fresh air!

The Emirates in general?

Well, going direct to the developer is one thing, but you have no idea what wonderful new scheme they could bring in before they finish, in some cases even if they finish at all. Buy through an agent and you end up with even more confusion and higher prices. In a land as unstable as it is, both physically and politically one really should be wary. VAT will be introduced soon which removes a large chunk of profit, the developers aren't advertising that! The other thing to consider is the desperation factor, the Emirates have gone about as far as they can on their oil, do you really think they can sustain the same financial status on tourism?

Welcome to the Investment Property Rumour Mill

Welcome to the investment property rumour mill.

This blog is here to inform you of what is really going on the the world of overseas real estate.

Over the past few years an insane fever has been thrust upon the public with regards to buying property overseas, here you can find out what is really happening, who is still in business, whether your property will be delivered on time, and if there is ever any chance that you can really buy to let like the salesman said, or even sell at all at completion.

Real estate agents are going under at a rapid rate of knots, many leaving no contact for the clients, and no support. Developers are filing for voluntary liquidation right left and center, and the only people left to hold the baby are the confused lawyers (many also filing for protection) and the agents who have sold and are not getting paid.

The aim here is to enlighten public as to what is going on, provide some insight as to what might happen, but also shed some light on what the future of the property investment world holds.

There will be some doom and gloom here, and we will attempt to keep it as balanced as possible. Feel free to make a comment, we do read them, and where suitable we will publish, but please respect that we have to be careful and reserve the right to edit. there are certain companies out there with cult mafia type attitudes that just either throw money at their lawyers, or threaten to come and see you with a bat. They know who they are, I am sure they will comment, but if the cap fits!