Owning Real Estate in Another Country

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Imagine yourself relaxing by the pool in your own villa. You can hear the waves crashing on the beach while enjoying the view of the Mediterranean Sea. Don’t you want this to come true? You can actually make it happen by buying real estate overseas. Countries like Europe as well as the Mediterranean have plenty of luxury properties available. Buying a home in an area you love is simply amazing. You can definitely be immersed in the culture and people of this country when you stay there. Enjoying your favorite hobbies such as biking, skiing, golf or simply pampering yourself at the spa, can be done without the rush of time when you own property abroad.

Having property abroad can be a meeting place for all your family members and loved ones and this can be a time where everyone can enjoy each other’s company. Also, if you have kids, it’s always better if your own home abroad can be a place where they might be exposed to new things and experiences. Outdoor activities is an easy method for kids to appreciated and respect nature. There are a range of properties to select from. There are villas, junior villas and also apartments. These properties may include swimming pools, kiddy pools and sunbathing patios. The style and architecture also varies. Aside from this, choose a property that offers an appealing payment scheme. Some of them have an agreement with local banks and can accept Euro’s, Swiss Francs or other currencies. Make sure that you check their property management. With some properties, the homeowners are given landscaping, maid and gardening services.

Also, when buying property abroad, the legalities are different, which is why it’s important that you seek advice from a lawyer before making a decision. It is important that a real estate agent is present who will assist you with all the processes. Once you’ve finished everything, decide what you want to do with it. You may want to keep the property or sell it for a much larger profit in the long run. In short, buying real estate abroad is an effective measure.

Successful Real Estate Investment

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The latest downturn of global stock markets saw millions of investors ‘every day’ suffer severe burns. Overnight living savings are being eaten away, pension funds are declining and the economic outlook for all of us who have money invested in stocks and stocks is dismal to say the least.

As a direct result investors in their thousands turned their backs on the rollercoaster stock markets and sought alternative asset classes in which to invest their hard earned money. This has led to a global boom in real estate markets and property prices, and it has spawned a generation of budding real estate investors.

For those of you wondering whether it’s too late to venture into real estate investing or considering how best to make the most significant returns from property investment, here are 5 hot tips for successful real estate investment to set you on the path to potential profits!

1) Consider Investment Property Abroad

There are many relatively untapped property markets in countries around the world that offer the real estate investor greater return on investment in the form of rental yields or short to medium term capital growth.

While major markets in the USA, UK, Australia and Europe are slowing down, there are emerging property markets globally that are hungry for investment and are proving to be highly profitable.

For example, in 2007 a number of countries are already aligned for accession into the European Union and as a result property markets in these countries are likely to benefit from greater numbers of visitors, more trade, increased investment into infrastructure and more stable economies. The likes of Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Turkey and even Northern Cyprus are just a few examples of overseas destinations with emerging real estate markets that may be worthy of your consideration.

2) Make Sure Your Plans Are Profitable

This sounds ridiculously simple right? Well, you’d be surprised how few people actually make sure their plans are actually sustainable and as profitable as they hope.

Examine any real estate market that you’re about to enter by firstly comparing property values across the city, state or region and making sure you know what your money will buy you. Then ensure that the rental yield you intend to obtain from your property is actually realistic or that the asking price you intend to set once you’ve renovated the property will be offered.

3) Never Assume Anything

This goes from assuming a house is structurally sound to accepting that tax laws won’t change – from believing your tenants when they tell you that they are house proud and honest to accepting the first builder’s quotation!

Do your due diligence on every single aspect of the process from ensuring the asking price for a property is fair to checking your tax returns before your accountant submits them for you. This is your investment, your future, your potential profit and therefore it is ultimately your responsibility.

4) Employ An Expert When In Doubt

Few people are a master of all trades therefore be prepared to acknowledge areas where you are far from being an expert and at least consider courting a second opinion. Again, this goes from checking out the structural soundness of a property to understanding the legal ramifications of letting out your property. If in doubt always double check – and if this means you have to call in an expert, make sure you call in an expert!

5) Set A Realistic Budget And Stick To It

Whether you’re purchasing property to let out or buying real estate to renovate you need to sit down and add up every single area of projected expenditure to enable you to set a realistic budget with which to work.

Make sure you add in everything from having searches and surveys conducted, legal fees, accountancy fees, insurance costs, likely interest payments on any finance required, taxation, connection of utilities, marketing for tenants or buyers, real estate agency fees, and of course don’t forget to add on the cost of the property and the price of any renovation and refurnishing and decorating work required.

Take the time to consider each area where the costs will be incurred and detail every possible payment to be made and you will be arming yourself with a bulletproof budget and doing all you can to ensure you don’t come across any nasty surprises along the way.

 

Getting Mortgages to Buy Overseas Real Estate

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If you live in the US now, you’ve probably noticed that the real estate market is a bit sluggish (an understatement!) – and if you live in the UK now, you’ve probably noticed that everyone seems to want to sell their home to realize the significant amount of equity that has been created. they earned over the last ten years or so when the market was on a high.

The unfortunate truth is that neither the US nor UK property markets are heading for a positive upswing again any time soon and so you will just have to ride out the stagnation period and put up with it…or, you could sell out now, get out now, avoid the boom bust cycles and the boring day to day talk in the office or at the pub of house prices, crashing markets, mortgage interest rates and how much your neighbour managed to add to the value of his home with that tasty bathroom upgrade!

What am I talking about – well, I’m talking about moving overseas and exploring new and international real estate horizons basically!

The US and UK housing markets are in a cycle all of their own and the whole world isn’t affected no matter how much we Brits and Americans like to think our nation’s are the only ones on earth occasionally – usually when we’re winning at international sport!

But to get out and buy real estate overseas for retirement, for a whole new life abroad or just as a vacation home requires financing…those who sell their principle residences and quit their country altogether may be happy to place all their money into a new home, others may not be so quick to commit all their savings though. And of course others of us will require some form of mortgage to buy our overseas real estate…so how on earth do you get a mortgage when you live in one country and want to buy a house in another country?

It’s actually quite simple. There are three or four main ways of getting mortgages to buy overseas real estate and they are: –

1) Re-mortgaging your current home – as with all real estate finance options there are upsides and downsides to this particular path. This path is best taken when you have significant equity in your current property that you can release to buy a home abroad – but it does mean your home overseas will effectively be secured on your principle residence. You need to consider that fact carefully, you need to consider interest rates as well as your long term ability to afford to keep up mortgage payments too – because you don’t want to default, risk losing your home and ‘just’ having your overseas property safe if you only want to vacation in it!

2) Getting a mortgage from a lender in the country in which you’re buying real estate – many nations in the world have sophisticated and mature mortgage markets where banks and lenders will lend on property to citizens of any nation as long as they meet various criteria such as financial stability and the ability to make a certain percentage of the asking price in the form of a down payment. Arranging a mortgage locally can also make sense as the mortgage will be in the currency in which the property is being sold and will of course be secured on the real estate overseas.

3) Getting a mortgage from an international lender – some international lenders have a presence in both your country of residence and the nation in which you’re thinking of buying a home. This is incredibly convenient – it can mean you are able to put all your banking and finance affairs in the hands of one company thus streamlining your finances, it can mean the lender in questions understands both your needs and situation as well as the local laws and ways of doing business overseas thus making it much easier for you to buy abroad and working with such a lender can also reduce currency fluctuation risks when you transfer the deposit and monthly mortgage costs.

4) Approach a broker – if you think all of the above methods are too messy or confusing for you to master, there is one other alternative you may want to consider. That is to use a broker who can assess your situation, terms and options and go out and find the best deal for you.