Overseas Exchange Bond: key to riding the credit crunch

According to experts at CM Real Estate, the Exchange Bond has become a lifeline for intermediaries and property advisers keen to help clients continue buying in spite of the gloomy financial climate.

Tony Mantle, Senior Partner, CM Real Estate says: "The Overseas Exchange Bond has been a Godsend for us, particularly in the first quarter of this year, as the credit crunch has placed its heavy hand on the property market. It works fantastically well when our buyers are purchasing off-plan as well as providing a valuable sales incentive for our developers."

He continues: "We are delighted to have been able to recommend the Overseas Exchange Bond to the developers we work with, who are mainly based in the Caribbean, Canada, South Africa and Portugal. The product is flexible and can be sandwiched anywhere throughout the staged payment process as a replacement to the cash that is normally required. This provides great advantages to the buyer and developer alike, and for us as the marketing agents we have happy clients on both sides!"

The Exchange Bond is now accepted by over 200 developers in the UK - including Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and Crosby Lend Lease - and is also being adopted by a rapidly growing list of developers abroad. Employable for property transactions almost anywhere in the world, the Overseas Exchange Bond is already being accepted across developments in Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, Cape Verde, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Canada, UAE and the Caribbean.

Lucas Zachara, Head of Overseas Development for the Exchange Bond, comments: "The Exchange Bond was designed to make the property buying process easier, faster and more secure for all parties. While bond sales and numbers of partnering developers have increased exponentially as expected with a new product, in the past few weeks there has been a notable uptake of the Exchange Bond from developers increasingly aware of the need to maintain healthy sales despite the effects of the credit crunch."

For more information, visit exchangebond.com.