OCTOBER 2007 NEWSLETTER.

Welcome to the inaugural newsletter from Albania Estate, your monthly guide to the best property bargains and investments in Europe's hottest emerging market. If you do not wish to receive further newsletters, please repy to this email and enter 'Unsubscribe' in the subject line. Albania is starting to grab the property headlines in the British and Irish press with recent positive articles featuring Albania Estate in the Sunday Times, Financial Times and Sunday Express. With its unspoilt coastine and extremely cheap entry prices, as well as the availability of bank financing, there has never been a more affordable opportunity in Europe to enter an emerging market in Europe at the beginning of a property boom.

A cursory look at what has happened at neighbouring markets in Croatia and Montenegro will give an indication of what will happen in Albania. Both these countries have better infrastructure and a more established tourism market, but all three share the same coastline and a rise in prices that will be mirrored in Albania. In Croatia in 2003, it was still possible to pick up an apartment with sea view for 1000€/m2. Prices have rocketed since then and an apartment with sea view in a good location is hard to find for under 2000€/m2. Prices in prime areas such as Dubrovnik, are averaging about 4,000€/m2, with the highest recorded sale being a staggering 10,000€/m2. Montenegro has seen similar growth from a lower starting point, with average prices in places like Kotor typically reaching 4,000€/m2.

Albania neighbours Montenegro and Greece and has 360km of almost virgin coastline with glorious sandy beaches to offer. It has three distinct advantages over Croatia and Montenegro for the early investor. The first is

price: nobody is suggesting that Albania will hit 4000€/m2 in a few years (but then nobody predicted that for Croatia or Montenegro), but the 2007 entry level for Albanian coastal property - about 600€/m2 is much cheaper than its neighbours four years ago. The Brits and Irish are already buying with our first featured coastal development of 103 apartments in Orikum selling out in weeks. Secondly, Albania offers much better options in terms of financing; whereas the rise in Croatia and Montenegro happened without bank financing options for most buyers, we are pleased to announce financing options of up to 80% of loan to value on a number of properties in Albania, including land, which is great news for all you developers.

With prices of new apartments starting at about 25,000€, this means you really can buy your Albanian home with a credit card pruchase. The third major advantage of buying now in Albania is the early mover advantage. Things are cheap partly due to the fact that the infrastructure is poor and also due to the fact that the foreign market has not yet fully discovered the country. Both of these are set to change, with major efforts on infrastructure already under

way: a new 50€ million airport terminal opened in Tirana in March 2007; another 40€ million is being pumped into upgrading the port of Durres, a major trade artery for the likes of Bulgaria and other Black Sea countries; and two new motorways are planned - one linking Albania with Macedonia, Kosovo and the Black Sea, and, more interestingly for property investors, the construction of the so-called Dalmatian corridor, which will link Greece to Croatia through Montenegro and Albania. It does not take a genius to work out the positive impact this will have on property prices on the Albanian coast.

As mentioned above, one of the advantages Albania has over its neighbours is the ready availability of bank financing. Albania Estate has been negotiating on your behalf with a leading foreign bank in Tirana to be able to offer mortgages to non-resident foreigners. In principle, a mortgage of up to 80% loan to value is available on any finished property and plot of land, with the value being determined by the bank valuation. The process is relatively strightforward, with the Albanian property taken as collateral, and UK credit checks (including P60) required for British buyers. A decision is promised in ten days.

This product is very new to the market and we at Albania Estate are excited at the doors this will open to our buyers. For more information on mortgage requirements, please contact us at info@albania-estate.com Bank financing for off-plan developments is also available in certain cases where the developer is prepared to give the bank guarantees, and Albania Estate is in negotiations with developers in Tirana and we expect to be launching 3-4 new developments in Albania in the next month, all with bank financing. If you would like to be informed of these developments as soon as they come in, please contact us as we will be releasing a pre-launch brochure for interested parties.

Many of you have enquired about property in the south of the country, particularly Saranda, which is connected by daily 30 minute catamaran from Corfu. We are delighted to release our first listings in Saranda, the highlights of which are a stunning first row development (finance option not available at present but we are working on it) just 300m from the Corfu ferry, with uninterrupted views of the Greek island (RICHARD, please supply the link) for just 850€/m2. The other gem is a small building plot with more excellent sea views to Corfu, which will be sold with building permit. Most coastal plots are too large for the private buyer, but we have unearthed this lovely 300m2 plot (RICHARD link) where you can build 150m2 base and four floors. It is for sale for 60,000€ plus the cost of the permit (expected to be in the region of 10-15,000€ (to be confirmed). It is unlikely that such an affordable plot will become available in this location again.

Tirana, as with all capital cities in the region, is experiencing large growth. The current population is approximately 800,000 and is expected to double in the next decade, as it is regarded as the only major business centre in Europe. An analysis of other East European capitals (Sofia, Riga, Tallinn, Warsaw, Zagreb, Bucharest, Bratislava and Belgrade) shows that prices in East European capitals is only going one way. There is very healthy demand for apartments in Tirana and this is also an excellent investment option, particularly with the bank financing options available. Albanian Estate is working on a research document on capital growth in the region's other capital cities, to show the investment potential of Tirana. If you would like to receive this when completed, please contact us. We will soon be launching a new development in the capital for less than 500€/m2

Albania Esate is also working on two initiatives to make the buying process easier for you the buyer. If we have sufficient interest from our clients, we would be happy to organise one or both of these - a property tour of Albania and a buying seminar for Albanian property to be held in the UK. We have many people expressing interest in visiting Albania to look at property, but the logistics mean that an individual tour is both expensive and an inefficient use of resources. We are looking at the option of offering an organised tour for a group of 10-20 committed buyers, which would be a 3-4 day tour of the country, all the developments we have on offer, as well as some plots of land and other properties of interest.

The tour would also take in some cultural sites (for example UNESCO-protected Butrint south of Saranda), as well as a mandatory stop at the finest Indian restaurant in the Balkans, and would include meetings with lawyers etc. For those of you keen to proceed with a purchase on the trip, we could take a reservation fee and start the process then. If you are interested in such a tour (price still to be worked out), please let us know as soon as possible. If there is sufficient interest, we will start looking at some tentative dates. The other option we are looking at is to do a dedicated seminar in the UK, whereby Albania Estate and its partners would present the investment opportunity that is Albania, as well as various developments and other properties, again with the option of making a reservation on the night. Again, please let us know if you would be interested in such an event, as well as your preferred location.

A final initiative we are working on and should be able to offer in a month or so is a furnishing package for those of you who have bought offplan. This would include kitchen fitting. We expect this to be a popular package, so please let us know if you are interested and we will send you details once we have finalised everything with our Albanian partners.

We hope this newsletter has been informative and welcome your suggestions for what you would like included in future editions. In the meantime, please keep checking the site for newly-added properties and we hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards,

Richard Bannister