Al Hamra Golf & Beach Resort in the United Arab Emirates

The Owners Club International in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE

The Owners Club International at Al Hamra Village, located on the grounds of the majestic Palace Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, now offers fractional ownership in an exotic resort area only a 45 minutes drive from Dubai International Airport.

"Ras Al Khaimah is a rich and rugged land with lofty mountains, sandy deserts and lush green plains reaching down to the sea in an indented series of creeks and lagoons. Take time to discover our beloved country."

His Highness Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi
Crown Prince and Deupty Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE

If you're keen on golf, tennis or water sports.. if you appreciate the dramatic beauty and sunny climate of the Arabian Gulf.. and if you are excited by the prospect of owning a share in a luxury town house.. let us introduce you to The Owners Club at Al Hamra Village in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), UAE, which is 30 minutes from RAK International Airport and 50 minutes from Dubai International Airport.

Here are 12 reasons to buy a fractional share in a second home at Al Hamra Village:

• Al Hamra Village has been designed as the ideal resort for golfers, tennis players and anyone interested in water sports.

• The Owners Club town houses are part of a development that includes the fivestar Al Hamra Fort Hotel & Beach Resort, the five-star Al Hamra Palace Hotel and Residences, a Championship Designer Golf Course, a fully floodlit 9-hole Academy Course and Driving Range 3 Golf Clubhouses, a Marina & Yacht Club with a Clubhouse, a Beach Club, the Al Hamra Mall and many restaurants in the hotels, clubhouses and in the mall from Starbucks to Lebanese specialties, Italian and Continental.

• The Owners Club town houses are located so that you overlook the 18-hole golf course. And from the top floors you have views over the whole resort.

• Like Dubai, Al Hamra Village has good weather all year round – so whenever you choose to be there, you can enjoy all the sports facilities.

• The resort is located on what many people state is the most scenic coast of the United Arab Emirates.

• With 'fractional ownership', you have the benefits of ownership, with none of the drawbacks. You decide on how many months a year you want to spend at Al Hamra Village, and don't have to worry about maintaining your property for the rest of the year.

• Unlike timeshare, with 'fractional ownership' you own a share in a freehold property.

• The Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah is near Dubai, but its property market was never overheated. It benefits from the proximity to Dubai, its infrastructure and tourist facilities – but does not have the traffic problems of Dubai City.

• As a fractional owner at Al Hamra Village, you are automatically entitled to a Residency Visa. This is a unique benefit only the Owners Club can offer you.

• This may be the most important benefit. With an investment of only $72,000 you can shelter your income from taxation, if your personal situation allows you to do so. In addition, there are no inheritance taxes. Ask your financial or tax advisor to contact us about this opportunity.

• A buyer can sell his shares in the open market at any time, but the Owners Club at Ras Al Khaimah has a standing offer to buy back the shares at cost between years 6 and 8.

• What is the best deal? Paying cash with no financing. As a cash buyer of one share in a town house, pay $72,000 in off-peak season plus your annual share of the operating expenses of $1,648* for 14 nights plus 14 nights in off-season every year on a first come first serve basis. If you exercise the buyback option, your entire investment representing the purchase price of the share will be returned, guaranteed, from a trust account holding the necessary cash amount and through an escrow agent. So, four weeks in this 4-bedroom luxury villa every year costs only $412 a week.

Why we chose Al Hamra Village?

Everyone's heard of the Dubai property bubble. So why do we suggest an investment in the UAE now?

Dubai hardly has any oil; revenues are about $2 billion a year, but it services a region that is full of oil; which is why Dubai works and will continue to grow.

Now that the "visionaries" have run out of bankers to lend them money so they can create housing bubbles, the rest of Dubai can get back to work with the bonus of a great infrastructure, a stable government and reasonable property prices. There is no other place within 2,000 miles with a comparable infrastructure.

Property prices are based on fundamentals; they may still go down a bit as the last of the developments in Dubai get finished. After that, prices will start to rise again, albeit quite slowly.

With cheap properties readily available in Dubai and other parts of the UAE, why did we choose to offer you the town houses at Al Hamra Village in Ras Al Khaimah?

RAK had a conservative economic policy even before the Dubai bubble. Property prices did not collapse. Besides Abu Dhabi, RAK is known for its stability in the UAE and therefore a good place to invest in property, since it is a desirable tourist destination.

RAK is close to Dubai, on the west coast of the UAE, and arguably has the most varied and scenic countryside, from desert, plains and mountains to 40 miles of almost untouched coastline on the Arabian Gulf.

A brief history of the region

The Gulf has been a source of wealth for at least 3,000 years. Its turquoise waters yielded the world's finest pearls, sought by queens in ancient and modern times – the Queen of Sheba, Cleopatra, Zenobia and Victoria.

In the 1500s, pearls and the strategic importance of the Gulf coastline attracted waves of Western European empire builders. First came the Portuguese. They were followed by the French and the Dutch, and then in the nineteenth century, the British.

Great Britain supplanted its colonial rivals and was the main power in the region until 1971, when the seven Trucial States united to become the United Arab Emirates, with common policies on defense and foreign affairs, immigration and social services.

The United Arab Emirates today

The trading, finance and tourism hub of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai will continue to grow. Dubai's leaders took the strategic decision in 1972 that their country would sit at the centre of the trade routes between Europe, the States and the rapidly expanding economies of China and India. Dubai would not be dependent on oil revenues; and in fact, over 90% of the Emirate's GDP derives from other sources.

Manufacturing, transport, tourism and service industries will continue to grow. Since 2002, foreign nationals have been able to buy freehold property in Dubai, but only at a very few developments; the vast majority remain leasehold.

But in Ras Al Khaimah you enjoy full freehold rights as a fractional owner. This change in the regulations kicked off a constant demand for freehold property to service the expanding expatriate community, without, however, leading to a Dubai style bubble.

Owning a town house at Al Hamra Village

We are now offering fractional ownership of town houses at Al Hamra Village. As a fractional owner of a freehold property, you are eligible for a Residency Visa for the UAE, lasting three years, and renewable every three years. As far as we know, this benefit is unique to owners at Al Hamra Village, and it means that you do not pay any income taxes, if you move your residence to the UAE. Also, there are no corporate taxes and, perhaps most important for many, no inheritance taxes on the entire estate of an expatriate living in the UAE.

High net worth individuals may benefit from this favorable tax climate with an investment of as little as $72,000. They may spend the rest of the year in other countries, including EU countries, as long as they do not spend more than a certain number of days in any fiscal year in the country of their former residence.

With a UK passport you may not spend more than 90 days of any fiscal year in the UK without becoming subject to taxation, not including the days of arrivals and departures. As a result, you can still make many short trips to see friends and family.

Contact your financial or tax advisor for an opinion on your particular situation.

Like the other Emirates, Ras AI Khaimah is encouraging the relocation of foreign nationals with a range of economic benefits and protections. So there are no restrictions of foreign exchange or barriers to free trade. You are free to transfer capital from the emirate.

And as an investor in property, your title is fully protected in law.

Al Hamra Village townhouses floorplans

Building specifications

On the shores of the Arabian Gulf

AI Hamra Vil lage is built on a lagoon on Ras AI Khaimah's unspoilt shoreline of the Arabian Gulf, the southern part of the Persian Gulf.

Calm turquoise seas lap clean, white beaches stretching over 40 miles along the coast. Inland, the fertile plains dotted with date palms give way to dramatic dune desert scenery and the majestic Hajjar Mountains.

The Village is just 15 miles from Ras AI Khaimah City. With a population of about 155,000, the capital is divided by a stream into two parts. 'Old' Ras AI Khaimah houses the government offices, colleges, shops and hotels. While over the bridge is 'AI Nakheel', home to the Emiri Court, exhibition centre, markets, hospitals and residential quarters.

Led by its ruler H.H. Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed AI Qasimi, the Emirate is known for its friendliness and hospitality. In a similar way to Dubai, Ras AI Khaimah continues to invest in the tourism industry - with an efficient infrastructure and a warm welcome for expatriate visitors.

A tour of the facilities

Step out of your luxurious and well -appointed Owners Club town house and you are a few minutes walk from the AI Hamra Village Golf Course. Designed by the internationally renowned consultant Peter Harradine, the 1 8-hole course is fringed with palm trees waving in the gentle breezes off the sea.

Nearby is the five-star beachfront AI Hamra Fort Hotel. You will find coffee shops, restaurants, bars, saunas, fitness center, aerobics studio, massage room, outdoors Jacuzzi, swimming and paddling pools, miniature golf, a disco and a business centre.

Then there is the Marina & Yacht Club, offering every kind of water sport for individuals and groups of all ages. Scuba diving, wake boarding, snorkeling, water skiing, wind surfing, banana boats, deep sea fishing, kayaking, jet skiing, sailing, body boarding - you name it!

You can play tennis, volleyball on the beach and cycle round the resort - all in the sunshine, all year round.