Iraq Real Estate - An Introduction
In many parts of Iraq, real estate isn't like that. There is a happy
ending in the real estate industry--but unlike most people know.
Homes in the safest parts of Iraq are selling like hot cakes. Realtors
can savor the sweet taste of business and house investors can relax
in the comforts of their new home. But why is Iraq's real estate doing
so well? The answer is that Iraq is slowly, but surely, becoming safer.
These days, people who lived in shanties want to return to their palace.
People who fled their
city want to go back. As of yet, this may seem
like the real estate industry most westernized countries know and either
love or hate, but after you change a few minor details. One major difference
is that when realtors sell homes in Iraq, "a minor leak" is the least
of a home buyer's problems. "A few stray bullets and the chance of getting
kidnapped" is among the greatest.
To outsiders, "Safe" is an overstatement. "Tolerable" would be the term
best used for the conditions in the safer parts of Iraq. People who
are heading back to their country have many problems to face, and the
real estate industry may not seem kind to them in their time of need.
Homes are selling in the millions, but they're not exactly top-notch.
With holes in the floors to suffice as toilets and murder right outside
their front door, 500 USD a month for a home should be reduced to 20.
For many people in Westernized civilization, these conditions are intolerable.
But for Iraqis, it's a sweet deal.
Baghdad, Iraq is seeing the greatest real estate explosion in years.
People are coming back and are dropping millions of dollars on a home
that once cost a few hundred thousand. Realtors are getting more money
with the houses they're selling than ever before, but with the increase
in money, many can tell you that danger comes along with the profits.
Some have been found dead in the streets, or in their homes, forcing
many to covertly go about continuing their work, selling their homes
and clever, disguised ways. Thankfully, profit outnumbers danger, and
although there is a global economic slump, Iraqi estate agents aren't
seeing many of the bad effects. But to be an Iraqi real estate agent,
you have to have two very important things: a canny mind and an ability
to think fast. If it weren't for a savvy realtor, with the way things
are looking, about every 1 in 7 Iraqis will find a home due to people
returning to Iraq from all across the globe. Because of a lack of development,
people are not always finding homes. So realtors take a large home,
introduce to maybe three our four families, and sell it to all of them.
For either party, the real estate industry may not seem acceptable,
but it's a small price to pay for those to be in the home they love,
and others to make money doing the job they love.