Investing in bricks and mortar in other countries could be a way to get a better rate of investment in the long-term. You might also provide yourself with a nice cheap holiday home for the next few years.
One of the hardest things is to find property that's right for you in the first place. You could end up spending a small fortune on cheap airline flights just to check out different areas of various countries.
Here are a few simple tips to make it nice and easy for you to find property in the country you want.
First off, you need to decide exactly what kind of investment you want. Do you need it strictly for a long-term investment, or do you want to try to generate a good income from it? Do you want the security of a long-term local tenant, or the better returns and higher risks of holiday makers?
You may also want to find property to act as your holiday home as well as an investment. This can be an especially good idea if you are semi-retired or want to spend a considerable amount of time out of the UK, enjoying the sun!
Just as you should with a property investment here, look for an area that is up and coming. If an area is already popular prices will be high and your potential return lower. Once you have selected the region or town you want to buy in, try to get some inside knowledge from locals. They will help you find property that's suitable. This process can be as simple as drinking in the right bar and asking the right questions in the right language.
Remember, potential property hotspots are often found next to existing popular areas. They seem to spread out and push prices up? that's good if you're already an owner.
Next consider if the basics of the area are right. Are there enough shops and restaurants nearby? Are the facilities good enough? If you are targeting rental income from holiday makers, is the airport a reasonable distance away? And will they be able to enjoy the holiday home and the nearby facilities without having to hire a car or rely unnecessarily on public transport?
The number one consideration for holiday makers is often the view from the property. That's what people are buying when they choose your property to stay in. Have a walk around the area and try to identify potential development sites for the future, so you can see if any apartment blocks could be put up destroying your view.
Next up, a consideration that you rarely have to think about when you find property in the UK: what's it like out of season? If the area becomes a ghost town during the winter and all the shops and restaurants close, that could affect the returns on your investment.
When you do find property that's right for you, congratulations! But now you could be in for an expensive slog to make it yours. Some experts estimate you will spend up to ten per cent of the purchase price dealing with legal expenses and paying taxes on a foreign property. Certainly you should appoint an independent lawyer and never rely on one suggested by the person selling the property.
It's also worth checking out the inheritance laws of the country you are buying in. In some places, you may need to make a separate will in that country to ensure the property is correctly passed on if you die.
Overall, it will help you immensely and speed up the process if you can learn a basic working knowledge of the local language. No-one will expect you to be fluent, but anything you can do to improve understanding between you and the other parties you will deal with can only be good.
Remember to get professional advice from a qualified person before taking any action. Don't rely purely on information contained in this article.
Have you ever wondered why some people always seem to buy properties at greatly discounted prices? The Theory of Value investing or the art of investing in something that has value but is currently undervalued by the market can be applied to Real Estate Investment and provided you do your sums correctly, you can make money from such an endeavour.
This article will explore three general areas that you can consider examining to look for bargain Real Estate Investment Properties and explain how you can take advantage of them.
1. Tax Foreclosures
Its not uncommon for rich people to leave large properties for their children but without realizing that sometimes the Property Tax levied on the property might be huge and the children end up having to sell the property. Another situation arises when the existing occupants of the property are unable to pay the property tax and a tax lien is then levied on the property. Sometimes the tax authority then orders for a sale of the property in order to collect the money owed to it.
Tax liens attach to the land meaning that when you buy the property, you purchase it with the tax lien attached to it. So you would want to do your sums and scout the potential demand for property in the area before you plunge in and purchase the property. One common strategy is to buy, divide and build, in which you buy a piece of land and then you divide it and build several properties on it and then re-sell it out.
2. Mortgage Foreclosures /Bank Auctions
Mortgage Foreclosures and bank auctions usually go together and occur when an individual is unable to pay for his mortgage. The bank therefore wants to foreclose the property and get the proceeds of sale to pay for the amount outstanding under the loan. Like in most negotiation situations, the more desperate the bank is to sell the property, the better your chances of purchasing a property at a greatly reduced price.
You might want to bring along a house inspector and a property contractor to help you inspect the property before you purchase it. Avoid properties with potential wiring, plumbing and sewage problems unless you intend to spend a lot of money rebuilding the property from the ground up. Property inspection is a presumed part of any Real Estate Purchase contract so you must inspect the property as the law assumes that any buyer would do so even if the property is being auctioned off.
3. Fixer Broken Uppers
Some people are fed up with their homes because things leak and the house looks in a general state of disrepair. If they are really disgusted with their properties, there would be a chance that you might be able to negotiate for a lower price for the property because there is so much renovation to be done. The tip to this is to bring a contractor and/or architect with you to learn all you can about how much it would cost you to fix the problem in the property and resell the property. There are many people today looking for real estate to buy, rebuild and then resell and you can make money from this Real Estate Investment Strategy.
So in other words, you will be looking for run down property that you can spruce up with a minimum hassle and cost. Such properties can also benefit from the economies of scale. By this I mean that once you spend some time examining an area and find that most properties have a similar problem which you can solve, why not purchase more than one property and rebuild several units in the same area at the same time and duplicate your efforts and reduce your effective building cost.
In conclusion, always take your time to explore and examine each real estate deal or property investment that catches your eye and you may be a lot richer for it and be able to get a property at a cheaper price from the market. Always remember that in terms of negotiating power, try not to look too interested and let the more desperate seller reduce his own price. Take some action today towards your investment dreams.
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