Will EcoHouse Group continue to Develop in the Southern State of Rio Grande do Sul

It's no longer a secret that property giant EcoHouse Group has launched their latest Minha Casa Minha Vida social housing development in the city of Alvorada in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, but if history repeats itself then Ecohouse will more than likely launch additional developments in the same state, one candidate is the city of Caxias do Sul.

Caxias do Sul has about 450,000 people in its area and is the second largest metropolis in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is only exceeded in size by the state capital, the harbour city of Porto Alegre, which has a population about three times as large. The two cities are about two hours' driving distance apart. The early town of Caxias was first established by (mostly) Italian immigrants in the closing years of the 19th century. For the most part the incomers were farmers from Veneto in the north of Italy, but there were also others from Lombardy and Trento. A certain number of people (principally Portuguese speakers) also came from other coastal regions of Brazil.

In the year 1910 the town of Caxias do Sul officially became a city. On the very same day (1st June) the first railway line was inaugurated. From then on Caxias had a fast, reliable all-weather link to the outside world. It was vital as it provided the city a better access to markets on the one hand and an important provider of imports for the area on the other.

The original main industries in the area were centred on cultivating vines and producing wine, a product for which the area is still famous to this day. From those early times to now there’s also been a certain amount of wheat and corn (maize) production but this was and is relatively small-scale and mainly for only local consumption.

Industrialisation in Caxias do Sul started in a small way, mainly as a series of small-scale domestically based workshops. Gradually however, larger and larger units developed until nowadays really large factories exist, some part of larger national or international chains. A cross section of large companies in the metropolitan area would have to include Marcopolo (makers of truck and bus chassis), Randon SA (transport parts and systems), Tramontina (domestic silverware) and Todeschini (furniture).

Generally, the per capita income for the urban area is regarded as being one of the highest in the whole country. For this reason the district is a popular destination for immigrants seeking to move here from other parts of Brazil. The growing population does present certain challenges to the city (and indeed the State) government, regarding health and education services as well as public utilities. Central to all this is the need for more housing, especially for people on modest incomes. That’s where EcoHouse comes into the picture!

EcoHouse Group has changed the face of Brazilian Property Investment by introducing a safe, ethical and secure way to profit from a government backed housing programme, with the economy booming and scams and ponzi schemes a thing of the past thanks to the power of the internet there has never been a better time to invest in Brazil.

Anyone wishing to invest in this new project should do so asap before investing is closed, Interested parties should visit the Monte Alegre website and download a free brochure

How to Avoid falling victim to a Ponzi or Property Scam EcoHouse Group Explains

Brazil is an exceptional country to invest in, especially after becoming host countries for FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016. The best investment opportunity in Brazil at the moment is real estate investment, this mainly attributed to the governments Minha Casa Minha Vida social housing programme that was launched back in 2009.

Although credit is tightening globally, Brazil is incomparable in the sense that only about 10% of real estate in the country is currently mortgaged. This is the first time Brazilians on modest incomes have been able to get mortgages. Previously they were only available to the richest Brazilians. In the middle of one of the worst global economic recessions in almost a century, Brazil continues to finance the construction and purchasing of residential property.

With part of the purchase subsidised by the government, house insurance included in the purchase price, numerous taxes and other purchase costs reduced, very competitive mortgage rates for buyers and up to 100% loan-value for approved properties it is easy to see why Minha Casa Minha Vida homes are in such high demand from Brazilians.

Through the Anglo-Brazilian property giant EcoHouse Group anyone can now invest in a Minha Casa Minha Vida property, a property that is built and sold onto waiting Brazilian families. This is a very safe and secure investment as there are literally millions of families on the waiting list.

EcoHouse Group offer a return of between 15 and 17.5% for an investment of just £21,000, return depends of the length of investment, we can offer these return because we have our own construction team have office in 5 counties can source the best and most cost effective building materials. Beware of investment companies offering 30, 50 or even 75% returns on Minha Casa Minha Vida investments, this just isn't possible and is most definitely a scam or ponzi scheme playing on people's greed.

So in summary if a property or real estate investment sounds too good to be true then it probably is. Stick with the well know investments and companies you know and wont go far wrong

click here to find out more about EcoHouse Group's latest Minha Casa Minah Vida devlopment

Could Minha Casa Minha Vida Come to Joinville, Brazil's German city

Social housing is now being constructed all over Brazil thanks to the government's Minha Casa Minha Vida (My House My Life) programme. A major participant in this programme is Anglo-Brazilian property developer EcoHouse Group who began building under the scheme back in 2009, Now 5 years later and with almost a dozen developments to their name in the north east of the country they move south, announcing that their next project will be located near to Porto Alegre, state capital of Rio Grande Do Sul.

There was a lot of speculation early this year as to where EcoHouse Group would be building next, rumours where correct and their next social housing project was indeed in the south of the country but not Joinville as some had speculated. Joinville is the largest settlement (but not the capital) of Santa Catarina State. Nowadays Joinville has rather more than half a million residents plus about the same number again in the surrounding metropolitan area. Many of the people in the city are of German descent and indeed some estimates put the total at over half. Of course, being of German 'descent' often means just partly rather than wholly.

The first Europeans to come to the area were German, Swiss and Norwegian immigrants in the year 1851 when the town was founded. In the decades that followed people from many countries came to Joinville but the largest component was a total of 17,000 German immigrants sent over the years by an emigration society based in Hamburg. These people were mainly agricultural Lutheran and working-class people who came to make a fresh start in a new land.

The name Joinville is actually French not German. It was chosen in the early 1800's to honour the french Prince de Joinville (son of the king) who married a Brazilian princess. Although the royal couple had no connection to the area, a palace was eventually built for them here. It's now a museum about the German 19th century immigration process.

Eventually 'cash-flow' problems meant that the Prince was eventually forced to sell nearly all his land in the south of Brazil. Holdings in this district went to the German, Senator Schroder who was a leader of the Hamburg Colonisation Society previously mentioned.

Nowadays Joinville is well known for its continuing German architecture, cuisine and general culture. Needless to say, though, there are also many other people in the city and area who have Portuguese, Italian or Dutch ancestors. Compared to many other regions and cities of Brazil, there are comparatively very few inhabitants of African or indigenous native American heritage. It's also famous as a popular centre for exhibitions, trade fairs, business conventions and conferences and the like.

The economy today is centred on engineering, industry and manufacturing. In 2012 GM opened a vehicle plant. There are also (among many others) software companies like Datasul and Logocenter and large firms like Tupy, Tigre, Schulz SA and Dohler. Nearby, BMW has plans to launch a large factory producing luxury vehicles and this is due to open by the end of this year, 2014. The economy of Joinville is generally regarded as doing well and for this reason inward investment, from both domestic and overseas sources is steady.

Monte Alegre is the latest Minha Casa Minha Vida Development under contruction by EcoHouse Group, and allows investors a chance to earn attractive returns through a safe and secure short term property investment

Written by A Emery B.A, M.Ed., Cert.Ed

EcoHouse Group Release More Photos from Casa Nova, Investors are excited

More Funds for Minha Casa Minha Vida in 2014

President Dilma Rousseff’s government is increasing funding for the landmark Minha Casa Minha Vida (My House My Life) program by R$1 billion in 2014. The move, which will funnel R$15.77 billion into the government-sponsored housing credit initiative, according to O Globo, is an attempt to shore up support for Rousseff in an election year.

The report indicates that, at a time when support for Bolsa Família (Family Scholarship) is high among other candidates, the Workers’ Party (PT) president can no longer rely on the ten-year-old conditional cash transfer program to generate excitement and electoral support as she seeks reelection this November. Bolsa Família, enacted by Rousseff’s predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in 2003, is largely credited for lifting millions of Brazilians out of extreme poverty in the last decade.
Its supporters point to Bolsa Família’s fame as one of the most effective poverty-reduction programs in the world. To its harshest critics, it is a vote-buying scheme that creates clientelism. Ensuring that Bolsa Família is maintained is said to have been key to securing the victory of Workers’ Party candidates in the last two presidential elections.

President Rousseff’s opposition is now labeling her effort to increase Minha Casa Minha Vida funds as opportunism.

“There’s a great electoral opportunism in making a one R$1 billion reinforcement in the program in an election year. The government uses the weaknesses of the poorest population to perpetuate itself in power. But that bill will be paid by society one day, because they are creating a huge bubble, the degree of bankruptcy is very high,” warned Senator Cássio Cunha Lima from Brazil’s Social Democracy Party (PSDB).

Yet in November 2013, PSDB’s presidential candidate, Aécio Neves, introduced a bill in the Senate that would guarantee Bolsa Família would not be repealed by other governments.

Rousseff’s government is hoping 3.5 million homes will be finished between 2015 and 2018, an increase from the 2.7 million houses completed during phase two of Minha Casa Minha Vida that draws to a close this year. Rousseff had initially proposed three million homes for the third phase of the program.

“Those who are against extending the resources of Minha Casa Minha Vida for 2014 are the same who voted against the creation of the program back then,” PT leader José Guimarães told O Globo. The public housing program was enacted by Lula in 2009. Over one million homes have been completed and delivered since its start. As Bolsa Família, Minha Casa Minha Vida is popular among low income Brazilians and enjoys wide support from the larger population.

The program provides financing so that those households making under three times the minimum wage can buy their first home with low interest loans. It is meant to influence the housing market so that it offers an adequate supply of affordable houses to low-income prospective homeowners.
O Globo reported that Rousseff has asked her ministers to address the flaws that the program’s opponents might rail against during her reelection campaign this year. Minha Casa Minha Vida has been marked by fraud scandals and by accusations of delivering inadequate, poor quality homes. The government is hoping to quickly finish the second phase’s technical studies so that it can use the project’s successes in its campaign.

EcoHouse Group currently have a number of minha casa minha vida developments underway throughout Brazil and are able offer safe, secure and ethical Brazilian Property Investment direct.

EcoHouse Group Announces SG$3 million pay outs to Singapore investors

EcoHouse Group has announced that three million Singapore dollars (£1.46 million) are to be paid out to investors in Singapore by the end of December. In the last week alone, SG$754,400 has been paid out to 35 clients, accounting for 82 units, with the remaining SG$2 million due by the end of the year.

Following the announced payouts, EcoHouse CEO Anthony Armstrong Emery said: “What we are noticing is that the improved communication from our side combined with a sensible and pragmatic approach from most of our investors is leading to a feeling that we are in this as a team, working towards a shared goal.”

Minha Casa Minha Vida Four Years On

The Minha Casa Minha Vida programme has been an immense success since it was first launched by the previous Brazilian government back in 2009, but is the programme doing what it was designed to do and reduce the country's massive housing deficit.

 

Although expert analysis does vary, it is generally estimated that Brazil still needs another 6 - 10million homes to provide adequate housing for the ever increasing population. In 2005, the Brazilian housing shortage stood at a massive 7.8 million homes, which is equivalent to 14.7% of demand, according to the Sustainable Brazil Housing Market Potential report, drawn up by professional services specialists, Ernst and Young Terco. The 2010 Census broadly agreed with these figures. It stated that Brazil had a housing deficit of about 5.8 million homes. Looking much further ahead, the Brazilian government estimates that to meet current and future demand the country will need another around 24 million homes constructed by the year 2023.

Another factor that will generate more pressure on the country’s need to add millions of homes is the relatively young population. "While deemed very successful, the programme is making limited impact on the country’s housing deficit, estimated at between 6-8 million homes. Given Brazil’s young population and high rate of household formation, this deficit is growing rapidly," Savills’ Spotlight on Brazil explains. In 2013, the median age in Brazil is 30.3 years, which puts it around 100th out of 250 countries, according to the CIA World Factbook.

The need is great, as Ruban Selvanayagam, partner-director at the Fez Tá Pronto Construction System and a commentator on the affordable homes sector in Brazil points out. "Looking at Brazil as a whole, there is a need to build 4,932 new low-income housing units every day until 2022 - the bicentenary of Brazil’s independence - based on an aggregated existing deficit level of 6.7 million homes. However, the situation is evidentially much worse than is often reported when considering the highly inefficient data collection methodologies which invariably include homes with abysmally degraded living conditions as part of the national stock count."

In summary, the Minha Casa Minha Vida programme it working, but the initial housing deficit was so great that it is going to be a number of years before we see any noticeable reductions in the housing deficit.

Brazilian State of Bahia would benefit from EcoHouse Group and Minha Casa Minha Vida

As the Minha Casa Minha programme enters its fourth year it has become apparent that the programme will get extend at least until 2016, President Dilma has more or less confirmed this during recent speeches. This news means that more areas will reap the benefits of the programme. As each area awaits news one of the largest Minha Casa Minha Vida developers in Brazil, EcoHouse Group is tight lipped regarding the locations of any future projects. Here's a little more info on the state of Bahia

Bahia is not one of the very largest states in Brazil but it’s certainly pretty big. The exact size is something over half a million square Kilometres which makes it about twice the area of the United Kingdom or about the same as France. The population of fourteen million however is much less than either (and is only about double the size of London). Of these, about 2.5 million live in the Salvador area of the State capital. Other important cities in the State are Feira de Santana (600,000 people), Vitoria da Conquista (300,000) and Camaçari ( 250,000)

The state is on the Atlantic coast of Brazil. As mentioned above, its capital is the city of Salvador, also on the coast, where the Atlantic meets the Bay of All Saints (in Portuguese; ‘Bahia de Todos os Santos’) which of course is where the name of the whole state originates. By the way, the site of the city was first glimpsed by exploring sailors from Europe in the year 1501. The state is geographically divided into two main regions by the north-south mountain range known as Chapada Diamantina. Nowadays the eastern coastal areas of the state are much more developed than the interior.

There are several reasons for this. For a start, the natural vegetation of much of the Atlantic seaboard is coastal forest, one of the largest remaining such parts of Brazil. The land is comparatively very fertile. Consequently in cleared areas the main crops of sugar and tobacco have always done well in the plentiful rainfall although these products are rather less important than they once were. These days soybean growing is a really large part of cultivation.. Similarly, Bahia is now (and has been for some time) the country’s largest producer and exporter of cacao, often known as cocoa and of course the basic ingredient of chocolate. But agriculture these days only accounts for about ten per cent of Bahia State’s GDP. Roughly speaking the industrial component comprises around 50% and the service sector 40%.

Industries are diverse and tend to focus on petrochemical and metallurgical products. An increasing part of this is the automotive industry. Other developing concerns in the economic mix are textiles, clothing and footwear as well as cosmetics and food processing. In the new 21st century Bahia is generally regarded as doing better economically than many other parts of Brazil. As a result of this, many administrators believe that inward immigration from other parts of Brazil will soon increase drastically.

EcoHouse Group Warns Investors About Emerging Scams and Ponzi Schemes

Award winning international property developer EcoHouse Groups warns current and potential investors about emerging scams and ponzi schemes coming out of Brazil.

EcoHouse Group is an award winning Anglo-Brazilian construction and Investment Company dedicated to bringing and end to poverty and homelessness in the over populated Brazilian urban centres due to an increasing housing shortage for the growing Brazilian middle class. Ecohouse Group have recently been involved in a campaign to increase the awareness of potential scams and ponzi schemes currently coming out of Brazil which are targeted towards the popular Minha Casa Minah Vida social housing programme and other property related business models.

Minha Casa Minha Vida, whish means 'My House My Life' In English is a government programme that was specifically launched to reduce the massive housing deficit in the country. EcoHouse are one of a small number of developers who speed up their building process by raising funds through investment rather than going though the long drawn out process of getting funding from the banks.
EcoHouse have been very successful and have already paid out millions to investors over last 3 years. Unfortunately this success has caught the eye of scam and boiler room companies, hell bent on relieving you of your hard earn cash and giving you nothing in return, this has become a thorn in the side for EcoHouse who have had their own investors questioning the validity of the programme and the investment EcoHouse offer.

EcoHouse have publicly reassured investors that they do not partnership with any of the scam and ponzi companies recently exposed and that some of these companies simply mention EcoHouse to convince their victims to invest, a tactic we are seeing more and more as EcoHouse grow as a company and become one of the largest real estate group in North East Brazil .

In a recent online campaign to increase awareness and to put investors minds at ease, EcoHouse have launched - amongst other things - a new Flickr page to showcase their developments and other interests such as retail, hospitality, premium homes and restaurants , the Flickr page is an excellent resource which allows current investors and potential investors the opportunity to follow the build progress on the numerous Minha Casa Minha Vida developments that the company has  underway  throughout North East Brazil as well as numerous  photo sets showing entire social housing projects from start to finish as well as photo sets showing actual investors visiting the sites seeing first hand how their funds are being spent.

Seeing building work, completed projects and actual investors touring the sites is very reassuring for investors as a Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment business based on a nonexistent financial reality or business model that pays returns to its investors from their own money or from the money paid in by new investors, rather than from profit earned by a real business or project. These schemes usually run for a couple of years until they collapse due to investors either drying up or the scheme getting stopped by the authorities.

EcoHouse Brazil CEO Anthony Armstrong Emery Showing up the Locals

EcoHouse is one of the few British firms making it big in Brazil. But the social housing developer has not exactly been welcomed with open arms. Emily Wright travelled to Natal to meet chief executive Anthony Armstrong Emery.

I have a reputation here in Brazil for being aggressive," says British developer Anthony Armstrong Emery. He pauses - a little for dramatic effect but mainly to light a fresh cigarette -  and leans back in his leather chair before adding: "It’s usually true. But then this is an extremely hostile environment. I have plenty of enemies."

Meet the self-confessed "big-headed, phenomenally successful" chief executive of EcoHouse Group - the £65m social housing developer set up in 2009 that, as of December last year, became the biggest company in north-eastern Brazil. It is one of the few examples of a British property firm making it big on Brazilian soil. And it has not come without some fallout. Indeed, on journeys between construction sites in Natal - the backwater beach city on Brazil’s north coast and home to EcoHouse HQ - it becomes clear just how seriously Richmond-born Armstrong Emery takes the threat of those aforementioned enemies. The chauffeurs in his reinforced, bulletproof 4x4s are all ex- BOPE officers - a special forces unit of the military police of Rio de Janeiro state, trained in urban warfare - and he travels in the middle of a three-car convoy.

When asked whether such high security is necessary in a seemingly quiet seaside region, he is quick to explain: "Three years ago I rolled into a town once run by four or five powerful local families and became one of the most influential people here. I have killed off business for a lot of local people who were doing poor-quality social housing units by pushing up land prices with my product. And because we are not being funded by Brazilian banks, our source is not controlled by anyone here, so no one can do anything to curb our growth. The security is necessary." Over the course of two days in Natal, Armstrong Emery, 44, explains how he plans to help plug Brazil’s 8m homes deficit by building 40,000 social housing units over the next five years. He also reveals how, so far, he has been able to guarantee his investors a 20% return on their investment within 12 months and insists that not even the most vicious of opponents will get in the way of his ambitious expansion plans.

Offering the option

EcoHouse has over 1,000 staff working across offices in London, Singapore, Dubai, São Paulo and Toronto. Armstrong Emery set up the HQ in Natal in 2009 to focus on Brazil in particular over the next four years in response to the unprecedented investment taking place in the country and to piggy-back on the Brazilian government’s $1tn Minha Casa, Minha Vida (My House, My Life) programme, which aims to deliver 3m new homes to low-income families by 2014.

And Armstrong Emery claims that his investment model and large-scale development has given him the edge to provide a premium product. "People in Brazil were accepting what was given to them because there were no options," he says. "Now I am offering that option." EcoHouse’s fifth social housing scheme has now started on site in Natal as the group plans to build 8,000 social housing units this year, followed by 10,000 in 2014. At £23,000 a unit, sales are expected to bring in revenues of £184m this year, £230m in 2014 and £920m over the next five years.

The units are funded by international investors - mainly from the UK and Singapore - which Armstrong Emery bills as the ultimate opportunity for overseas firms to get in on the Brazilian market while the iron is hot ahead of the World Cup and Olympics. Up until earlier this year, EcoHouse has delivered investors 20% ROI within 12 months. That has now been reduced to 10-17%. "It’s three years on, I have a 1,500-strong client base and I don’t feel I have to dangle the 20% incentive anymore," he says. But it is still an attractive offer when twinned with the security. The company uses a secure investment structure which has been risk-assessed by CAIXA banks, registered with the Brazilian government, and is protected by UK legislation as all investment is placed in an escrow account with Lloyd’s of London. The return uplift comes from every investor putting in £23,600 per unit to fund construction, which is then sold for £31,700 as part of the government-backed scheme - well in line with local prices. Some £27,000 goes back to the investor and the rest stays with EcoHouse. "We sold out one entire scheme with sales worth £5.8m over one weekend last year," says Armstrong Emery. "This is partly because I am able to use quantities of scale to provide a very middle class product for the same price as other, lower-grade units. I am upping the game and eating into everyone else’s margin. "I put in granite work surfaces, porcelain tiling, barbecues and gardens. We are the first social housing developer offering centralised sewage works, for God’s sake. I can do this because we are developing with private funds rather than banks, so we can build quickly, more efficiently and - because I have the money invested in full upfront - I am in a strong position to negotiate with the factories. I don’t want 1,000 of their bricks. I want all of their bricks. As a result I am hitting 30, 40, even 50% reductions on my materials."

Friends in the right places

And despite earlier conversations, life and work in Brazil is not all about battling enemies. Armstrong Emery has friends on hand too. He just makes sure they are the right ones. "Brazil is a third-world country and it is all about who you know," he shrugs, lighting another cigarette. "You need to know the town planners, the local architects. How good a friend you are with these people will determine how quickly you can get things done. You imagine a planner with 5,000 building applications on their desk. I make sure mine go to the top. I don’t pay anyone. It’s all legitimate. But I make sure I know people or that I am working with people who do. We have projects outside Natal in Brasilia, São Paulo, Rio, and for those we need builders. I pick one of the top three construction firms in the area and I make sure they know the right people. This is why it is so important to use local firms."

Expansion plans

Last month Armstrong Emery opened an office in his birthplace of Richmond and says that London will become the hub for all future European deals and Singapore will be the Asia Pacific equivalent. "EcoHouse was initially set up to raise funds for investment in Brazil," he says. "But we are doing more commercial work now across Brazil - we are hoping to deliver 500 office units in São Paulo over the next two years to generate £35m - and the rest of the world. "I am keeping an eye on Europe - any deals there will be done through London. Spain and Portugal, for example, are struggling at the moment. But there might well be some great opportunities on the horizon to pick up real estate at low prices - especially from bank repossessions." Capitalising on the weak, he says, is the British way. "We take advantage of those in weak positions. It is what we have been doing throughout British history. We may have done it in a velvet glove but we did it all the same. I don’t mind admitting this is how I sometimes do business. I can be pretty hostile when it comes to deals and aggressive when it comes to politics. I am on the front page of most local newspapers here every day and I have cut very close to the bone. But I will absolutely carry on what I am doing." On balance, the reinforced, bulletproof 4x4s were probably a wise investment.

Boa Vista lends to the success of the Minha Casa Minha Vida Social Housing Programme

The success of the Minha Casa Minha Vida Social Housing programme has been amazing, and since it's official launch back in the spring of 2009 the programme has gone from strength to strength and is well on track to hit it's 5 million home projection by early 2014. Minha Casa Minha Vida is now rolling out throughout Brazil and the latest city to benefit from the programme is Boa Vista

Boa Vista (Fine View) is a Brazilian city of about a quarter of a million people. It's the capital of the state of Roraima and is located in the far north of the country at 2.8 degrees N Latitude and 60.7 degrees W Longitude. It's only about 130 miles from the border with Venezuela, not far at all in terms of Brazil's huge size. Boa Vista also has the distinction of being the only state capital situated north of the Equator. It is situated a vast 6,000 Km from both Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo and 4,300 Km from Brasilia, the national capital, thus emphasising again the enormous scale of this, the sixth largest country in the world.

Most of the two-way trade involving Boa Vista is with Manaus, the large, Amazon-based capital of the state of Amazonas. Commerce also exists between Boa Vista and the town of Lethem in Guyana, also with Santa Elena in Venezuela. Apart from these three (and some smaller regional towns) that's really the only scope for road communications. Everywhere else in Brazil has to be reached by air. Boa Vista is unusual in that its layout was actually planned originally. It's been set-out radially, in a series of concentric rings, rather than grew up organically like so many other cities. The architect Darsi Derenusson drew up the city's plans, based on those of Paris and Boa Vista was formally founded in the year 1890 as 'Boa Vista do Rio Branco', referring to the river on which the city stands. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the Dutch, Spanish and British empires had their eye on the area later to become Boa Vista and Roraima, but since then the region has been firmly Portuguese. The wider state of Roraima only has fifteen municipalities in its entire area. The capital, Boa Vista has more than fifty percent of a total population of 470,000.. According to FUNAI, the federal agency, more than thirty thousand of these are indigenous people ('Indians') of the Amazon River and area. The state is the most northern and also the least populated in the whole of Brazil, having only become a fully-fledged state in the year 1988. Previously it had been a federal territory since the middle of the twentieth century.

Nowadays the state has an economy worth about 3.6 Billion Reais per year. This is overwhelmingly based on the service sector with industry and agriculture scarcely exceeding ten per cent between them. On average the GDP per person of the city and surrounding areas is only around nine thousand Reais per capita.The climate of the area is generally described as tropical savannah and it is of course heavily influenced by the mighty Amazon which dominates the ecology of northern Brazil. This means that the general weather patterns are hot and rainy from May to August then very warm and dry from September to April. Average temperatures vary remarkably little between the two and indeed across the whole twelve months of the year.

Minha Casa Minha Vida hasn't just been a useful tool for reducing the housing deficit in the country, the programme has been instrumental in the runaway success of the booming Brazilian economy thanks to the foreign investment that the programme has bought thanks to international property developers such as the award winning EcoHouse Group who choose to build Minha Casa Minha Vida homes with investors funds rather than finance from the banks, this has seen the company build 1000's more Minha Casa Minha Vida homes than other developer involved in the programme.

EcoHouse Group Looking Forward to a Very Successful Year

So far, 2013 is proving to be a landmark year for EcoHouse Group and there's still three quarters of it to go! To begin with, a crucially important general achievement was the Company being awarded the ISO 9001 quality management certification. The prominence of this world-class accreditation can't be exaggerated. It is, after all the globe's most widely recognised and respected certification of company performance, demonstrating stellar levels of efficiency, quality of service and investor satisfaction.

EcoHouse CEO Anthony Armstrong Emery commented;" ISO 9001 is the most widely recognised quality management standard in the world. It demonstrates our commitment in meeting the needs of investors, property purchasers and agents and enables us to continue to achieve consistent excellence in performance and service". Throughout the world well over one million organisations are independently certified for the award. This makes ISO 9001 one of the most widely regarded benchmarks for commerce and industry, helping holders to attract and retain business at much higher levels. EcoHouse is an international operation. Most of its 'end-product' is of course in Brazil but increasingly, administration and investment centres elsewhere are growing in importance. They are strategically located and developing in Canada, Britain, the Gulf and, increasingly, Singapore. For example, SMART Expo, Asia's longest-established Property development showcase held their thirtieth continental exhibition at the Sands Centre in Singapore recently. The two day event was addressed by EcoHouse's North American Chief, Deen Bissessar who massively impressed the assembly with the company's investment products. He explained in detail the benefits of planning ahead when investing in property and outlined the excellent opportunities with Brazil social housing. Mr. Bissessar concluded by remarking "The EcoHouse social housing product is currently so in demand that most of our units are pre-sold to end Brazilian buyers before we even allocate an investor to finance the construction of their unit". Also in the south-east Asian metropolis, EcoHouse held three separate presentations in Singapore at the beginning of February. These were mainly for existing EcoHouse investors and more that 550 of them attended the meetings at the Company's prestigious new headquarters on Temasek Boulevard.

The presentations were introduced by Andrew Batt, International Editor of the celebrated Singapore 'Property Guru' website. EcoHouse senior executives were also present to explain about the Company's recent exciting new developments in Brazil. A great start to the Chinese New Year! The following month, on 2nd March Ecohouse founder and CEO Anthony Armstrong Emery addressed 400 people at the ST Property Forum in Singapore. EcoHouse was the main sponsor for the event. Mr. Emery spoke to the gathering about Property Investment Strategy for the 'Year of the Snake' .He was also accompanied by his International Commercial Director, Jason Purvor. Another exciting innovation for EcoHouse clients only applies at present to Singapore investors but may well be expanded later to include others. It's that investors who leave their money with EcoHouse for three years (rather than just one) can now get paid back up to eleven months early;.

It's a win-win situation! The extra investment helps EcoHouse further accelerate planned construction of 40,000 homes over the next five years and is also ideal for investors who are able to leave their capital outlay with us a little longer than the standard one-year.In return, three-year investors will receive their 20% return now, as well as receiving 20% a year for the next three years.

EcoHouse Launch New Corporate Video

EcoHouse Group Corporate Video Showcasing the companies continuing dedication to Minha Casa Minha Vida and Brazilian Social Housing, After the success of Arco Iris and Casa Nova, EcoHouse have recently launched their third Minha Casa Minha Vida Development, Bosque Residencial.

EcoHouse now have offices in London, Sao Paulo, Natal, Toronto, Singapore and Dubai and are making Minha Casa Minha Vida Investments more popular than ever. http://www.ecohousegroup.com

Minha Casa Minha Vida Housing for another 6000 families in Rio

The famous 'Minha Casa Minha Vida' affordable housing scheme has gained a well-deserved reputation in Brazil. The overall idea is to enable millions of people on modest incomes to be able to afford to buy decent homes for the very first time, helped by specially designed mortgages.

One of the latest developments is in the Jacarepagua area of Rio. It is expected to benefit at least six thousand people in 1,400 units.
The target is for construction to be completed by the end of next year (2014). Before that, hoves, bids from propspective builders will be assessed and contracts to build allocated.

That is expected by February 18 this year.

EcoHouse CEO Anthony Armstrong Emery backs new children’s charity

A new charity set up by overseas property professionals to help underprivileged children has received a welcome boost from EcoHouse Group CEO Anthony Armstrong Emery.

Anthony was among those who donated a total of £7,750 to Frontiers Foundation at last autumn’s OPP Gala Dinner towards a new toilet block and classrooms at Ket Wangi orphanage in Kenya, which have just been completed.

As more than expected was donated at the dinner, some teachers’ salaries and 10 children’s mattresses have been funded.

Anthony says, “EcoHouse and I already support various organisations that support needy children and we have been delighted to help Frontiers Foundation’s worthwhile projects.”
The charity has been set up by Ray Withers, co-founder of international investment specialists Property Frontiers, and Charlotte Ashton, of PR company, AB Property Marketing.
Frontiers Foundation’s has initially supported the Kenya orphanage project and the drilling of a borehole in a small, remote Zambia village, Ngwezi B.

For 2013, it is also raising money foran educational / community support project for deprived children in the Santa Teresa favela in Rio, Brazil – which is obviously something that EcoHouse supports wholeheartedly.

Teresina Brazil welcomes the Minha Casa Minha Vida Programme

The city of Teresina has the distinction of being the only State capital (of Piaui state in this case) in the North East which is not actually situated on the Atlantic coast. In fact this city of 800,000 people is well inland, about 350 Km from the ocean. It is younger than many other Brazilian towns and cities. Teresina was only founded in 1852, as a planned city (the first planned city in the country). It originally had a different name, Vila Nova do Poty (in English 'New Town of Poty'...referring to the Poty River). Later in the century the settlement was renamed Teresina in honour of the wife of Pedro II the Emperor of Brazil, the Empress Teresa Cristina, the town is now seeing an increased from international investors keen to further develop the city and surrounding areas.

Teresina was (and still is) the naturally hottest city in Brazil and one of the two or three most lighting-prone places on earth. The geography of the district is influenced by its location in a transition zone between the Amazon rainforest and the north-eastern plains. Both scrub coverage and distribution of mid-size trees are plentiful. The overall climate is tropical with just two main seasons per year, the wet and the dry. Temperature range in Teresina is from 20 degrees C up to 35, with an average of 27 making it ideal for urban development.

The economy of the city is currently based on the processing and/or manufacturing of a number of products. These include chemicals and pharmaceuticals, ceramics, furniture, bicycles and soft drinks (to name but a few). The building and construction industry has also surged in the last couple of decades, as can be seen by the large number of high-rise buildings in the downtown or city-centre areas. For this reason it has the nickname of 'Town of Towers' (or at least the Portuguese equivalent of the title). Construction in and around the city continues to this day as the city catches the attention of foreign investors and developers.
This especially-designed inland city has two features that are immediately obvious to visitors. One is the logical grid system of the city centre. The other is related, it's the presence of the many thousands of mango and other trees which line the streets, giving the whole place a very 'green' feel. In addition, locals and visitors alike love the fact that Teresina is one of the 'safest' urban centres in Brazil, with rates of crime well under the national average making it very popular with overseas investors. Teresina is not just the capital of Piaui state but almost completely dominates it, not just administratively but economically and culturally too. Not only is forty percent of the state's GDP dependant on the capital but it's also very much the hub of musical and entertainment aspects too. You can access a blog about this by clicking on the translatable site Agenda Cultural Teresina.

Every year in the summer the city hosts 'Encontro Nacional de Folguedos'. This is Brazil's national festival of folklore and is a highly-prestigious celebration of Culture, Music, Dance and Food from right across the country. All these features of this vibrant and unusual city make the place highly unique and interesting in many ways. Needless to say, this growing metropolis provides an attractive option for those considering short term property investment, as there is an abundance of land ideally located for housing developments, this has attracted a number of property developers from both Brazil and overseas who are prepared to build minha casa minha vida housing developments in the area, both locals and city officials have welcomed this news and many outsiders wishing to safely invest in Brazil have also shown a keen interest in these future social housing developments.

News Construction Photos of the Casa Nova Green Development

Latest Construction Photos taken at the Casa Nova Green Development in Natal, North East Brazil

Brazilians Living in Britain Boost Confidence in Minha Casa Minha Vida Investments

Investors in the popular Minha Casa Minha Vida Social housing programme have reported feeling more confident in the programme after discussing the product with some of the many thousand Brazilian's living here in the United Kingdom, Brazilian's are proud people and even prouder of the government programme that will put an end to the housing deficit in Brazil

Brazilians and their descendants form the largest Latin American group of people in the United Kingdom. For many years there has of course been a community from the South American giant in England, Scotland and Wales but in the last few decades it has expanded very rapidly.

Estimates of total numbers vary widely but it is generally thought that the official statistics greatly under-estimate the figures. Reasons for this are many and are very controversial. The opinion is widely held that a large number of people simply 'stay over' when their permissions to be in Britain expire. On the other hand, some of them do get such legal extensions or 'long-term residences' in the first place. There seems to be a consensus emerging, though, that there are about 200,000 Brazilians (legal or otherwise) in the UK in 2012.
Most of the earlier immigrants were students or former students who remained after their courses, either legally or otherwise. It's true to some extent that the relatively large numbers from the nineteen-seventies onwards were able to come for one particular reason. It was because travel at last became practical and affordable for people other than the rich for the very first time.

Brazilians in the UK came to widespread public notice in 2005. This was due to the tragic death of Jean Charles de Menezes from Brazil, a resident and worker in Tulse Hill, London. Mr. de Menezes was mistakenly identified by armed plainclothes police as a terrorist on the run following the second attempted wave of July bombings in London that year. The chased him into Stockwell Station and shot him dead, thinking he was Osman Hussein, an instigator of the failed second wave.

Nowadays well over half of all Brazilians in Britain live in Greater London, many of them in the borough of Brent (estimated between twenty and thirty thousand there), Bayswater (often called by its nickname 'Brazilwater') and the Stockwell area where they live beside a large number of Portuguese people. Outside London, there are reckoned to be many Brazilians in other locations. These include Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Norfolk and Brighton. Throughout the UK many Brazilians seem to be working at lowly 'blue-collar' jobs, in many cases well below the level of education and/or qualification they hold. This is probably due to visa restrictions plus lack of fluency in English. The statistics from the Institute for Public Policy Research seem to show that about 32% are involved in cleaning and associated work plus another 26% in Hotel and Catering jobs. Courier occupations account for another ten per cent and so does the construction industry.
Over the last twenty years or so a number of business and services have been specifically set up, especially in London, to cater for the Brazilian community. They include opportunities for both long term investment and of course short term investment from Brazil itself and more locally from the UK. These comprise numerous cafes and restaurants, media outlets, counselling and legal services and of course media of print, broadcast and/or online kinds. Particularly interesting is the brasil.net paper and cyber news outlet and Rede Record a TV outlet to be found on Sky channel 801. There are an enormous number of musical and sporting activities, too. All these add to the vibrant and growing mix that is 'Brazil in Britain' today.
This close to home Brazilian culture for some reason gives the people and businesses of the United Kingdom a boost of confidence in the Country, it's people and it's economy which is evident in the amount of interest that Brazilian focused investment seminers get from the British public and Businesses. Last year property investment seminars such as those promoting the popular minha casa minha vida affordable housing programme were sell out events.

Singapore Investors Visit Casa Nova Brazil

A fortnight ago 10 of our best Singapore investors came to see first hand what EcoHouse actually does. They had a wonderfully enjoyable trip and EcoHouse Brasil welcomed them with open arms, excited to show off all our successful Minha Casa Minha Vida development projects. They had a busy 7 days with us and visited all our construction sites, spoke with our director, commercial and sales managers, engineers, the company lawyer, the Infrastructure and Environmental Secretary of Sao Goncalo - who ensures EcoHouse follows all the necessary environmental and construction laws of the municipality, the Manager of Banco do Brasil - the government bankwhich we have recently partnered with in the Minha Casa Minha Vida program,and of course our CEO Anthony Armstrong.

They got the opportunity to ask any questions they might have and got a very clear picture and idea of what EcoHouse is doing on ground level. They also were afforded the opportunity to really understand the Minha Casa Minha Vida project initiated by the Brasilian government and saw for themselves the never ending demand and need for affordable housing and the wonderful investor opportunities available to them. But it wasn’t all work…the trip was also great fun! Our investors visited Natal’s various historical sites including Natal’s famous sand dune Morro de Careca. They also sawthe natural beauty of Natal on a thrilling buggy ride on our gorgeous beaches, ate some of the best cuisine Natal has to offer, shopped in our shopping malls and craft markets and even took a trip to the South of Brasil, visiting and touring Rio, Iguassu Falls - one of the world’s natural wonders, and Sao Paulo -Brasil’s buzzing commercial capital, allbefore heading off on their rather long journey home! EcoHouse wants to take this opportunity to thank all our Singaporean investors who took the time to visit us and we look forward to many more years of partnership and many more visits!

As we say in Portuguese "Ter você como parceiro nos fortalece ainda mais"

"To have you as our partner strengthens us even the more"

Manaus Brazil a Tropical Metropolis Popular with Foreign Investors

Of all the cities in Brazil perhaps the most unusual is Manaus, riverside capital of the state of Amazonas. As that description suggests, it has a untypical location (and indeed reputation) sited as it is near (practically on) the mighty River Amazon and in the midst of the historic rainforest. It's also quite remote, considering its size. The metropolitan area is very nearly two thousand Kilometres from the national capital, Brasilia. It's a bit more than that to either Rio de Janiero or Sao Paolo and the trip to both takes nearly four hours by air.
The settlement goes back a very long way in time. The earliest recorded existence is way back in 1669 when (very!) early Portuguese explorers/colonists established a fort and trading post. Things slowly developed from there and the growing settlement was officially constituted as a town –called 'Manaus' (“mother of the gods” in a local tongue)- in 1832. Just sixteen years later they achieved the next step, status as a fully-fledged city.

The city and its surrounding area really took off in the late nineteenth century. This was almost entirely due to the rubber industry boom, where for a while the producers round here enjoyed a virtual world monopoly. The city became very wealthy, very quickly. It quickly acquired all the trappings of ostentatious wealth; huge mansions, expensive public buildings, a magnificent opera house (the 'Teatro Amazonas')and so on.Inevitably though, plants and seeds were successfully smuggled out to other areas and countries (e.g. Malaya) and the area lost its dominance in the industry and its position as an economic powerhouse.For quite a while, though, the city boomed and many fortunes were made and millionaires created. Eventually however things went rapidly to the other extreme and real poverty struck for many people.

Since then there's been a healthy recovery based on a duty-free regime, a fact that's of interest (and great relief) to long term investment providers in this part of the country and come to think of it short term investment too. Both levels of course demonstrate a vibrant combination of both domestic and international finance. So, nowadays the city has bounced back from its slump to such an extent that its metropolitan area, with 2.3 million people, is the largest in northern Brazil. Its GDP contributes about 1.5 percent of the whole country's GDP which is about average for Brazil on a person-by-person basis. The area also accounts for almost exactly half of the entire Amazon regional population. To a large extent, economic prosperity is grounded on the Manaus Free Trade Zone, a federally approved initiative which has proved popular in Brazil to say the least and is directly responsible for nearly a hundred thousand jobs within the zone and more than twice as many again outside it.

Weather is unusual for this kind of terrain and vegetation. There are distinct wet and dry seasons. So, instead of having a typical tropical rainforest ('jungle') climate the local pattern is more usually categorised as more of a monsoon type. year round average temperatures are in excess of 30 degrees Celsius making this a very popular area for investors looking to build hotels and resorts aimed at holiday makers looking to get that tropical feeling from their surroundings. Anyone looking to Invest In Brazil, Especially in property and real estate should consider this area as a number of investment news websites and publications are already promoting the area as one of the top emerging Brazilian investment spots of 2013.
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