Investing in Property Abroad
Anne Hall
Investing in Property Abroad is essential reading for anyone planning to buy a home abroad. It contains a wealth of priceless information and insider tips to guide you through the property jungle, and save you time, trouble and money. Irrespective of whether you’re seeking a family, holiday or retirement home, or a property purely as an investment, this guide will help ensure a smooth, problem-free transaction. Whether you are seeking a modern villa with sea views, a traditional rural farmhouse or a modern apartment or townhouse, Investing in Property Abroad will help make your dreams come true. Don’t leave home without it!
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Extracts from the book…
Language
If you’re thinking of buying a permanent home abroad, it’s essential to consider learning the local language, especially if you want to work or do business in your chosen country. Try to learn at least the basics before you arrive and put aside time and money for plenty of lessons once you’re settled. Even if you aren’t working, a knowledge of the language will help you fully integrate into the local community and way of life. If you’re unable to speak the local language, you’ll be excluded from everyday situations and may feel uncomfortable and isolated. The most common reason for negative experiences among foreigners abroad, both visitors and residents, is an inability or unwillingness to speak the local language. Some foreign residents (particularly British retirees) make little or no effort to learn the local
tongue, beyond the few words necessary to buy groceries and order a cup of coffee or a beer, and they often live as if they were on holiday.
Even if you’re living in a country or area where English (or your native language) is widely spoken, it’s worth making an effort to learn at least the rudiments of the local language, as it will make your daily life far easier. Think about simple, but nonetheless important, benefits such as being able to understand and query bills,
use the telephone, deal with tradesmen and communicate with your town hall. If you don’t learn the language, you’ll be continually frustrated in your attempts to communicate and will be constantly calling on friends and acquaintances to assist you, or even paying people to do jobs that you could easily do yourself.
The most important reason for learning at least a little of the language, especially when you’re living permanently in or retiring to a foreign country, is that you may need it to help a loved one in an emergency. Hospital and local welfare services staff don’t usually speak English and even in areas where English (and other languages)
are commonly spoken, you may find that an English speaker isn’t available when your emergency happens. Find out the procedure for contacting emergency services (in many countries there’s more than one emergency number, depending on which service you require). Learn basic phrases by heart, such as your address and instructions to find your house in case you need to call an ambulance. Think
through the kind of information you might have to tell medical staff and work out how to say it. You must usually learn the language if you wish to make friends among the local inhabitants. It will also help you to appreciate the local way of life and make the most of your time abroad, and will open many doors that remain closed to
resident ‘tourists’.
Although it isn’t easy, making the effort is well worth the ‘pain’. Some people claim they aren’t very good at languages or are too old to learn anything new, let alone a language. But if you’re imaginative and motivated enough to buy a home abroad, you can almost certainly learn the rudiments of a new language. Even if languages aren’t your strong point and you’re of retirement age, you can usually acquire a working knowledge of most foreign tongues. All that’s required is hard work, perseverance and some help. You won’t just ‘pick it up’ (apart from a few words), but must make a real effort to learn.
Remember also that, however terrible your language ability, your efforts in the local language (even including bad grammar, limited vocabulary and a foreign accent) will be far better appreciated than if you make no effort at all and simply speak English (or your native tongue) loudly. The locals may wince as you torture their beloved tongue, but they cannot say you haven’t tried!
Protecting your Investment
Although short-term capital investment, which might accurately be called ‘speculation’, is high risk, there are measures you can take to protect your money.
Developer: Check that the developer is reputable and well established in the country concerned. Look at previous projects it has been involved in. Are they high quality, and do they sell quickly and easily? This is relatively easy to check in an established market, but more difficult in an emerging one, where you must be especially careful. Make sure your lawyer checks the contract to ensure that your interests are catered for. The developer should have an insurance policy or bank guarantee to protect your investment in case he goes out of business before the project is completed. In some countries, bank guarantees and insurances aren’t a legal requirement and developers don’t offer them so that they can keep their prices as low as possible. If this is the case, check if there are other safeguards.
The developer should also have any required building licences before
construction, although this often doesn’t happen and building (and selling) begins before licences are issued. The best safeguard in this situation is to ensure that any money is held in a bonded (escrow) account until the required licences are issued and have been checked.
Finally, make sure that the developer has legal title to the land it plans to build on.
It isn’t unknown for some developers to sell property on land they don’t own! A good lawyer should check this, thereby ensuring that separate title for any property built on the land can be transferred to the new owner on completion.
Supply & Demand: The other important thing to check – as far as possible – is whether you’ll be able to sell your property (or the option to buy it) when you want to.
Some countries and regions have a glut of off-plan property and too few buyers to go round. Demand needs to equal or exceed supply for you to stand a realistic chance of selling. If your property is just one of hundreds of similar properties, you could be stuck with it. You should research this kind of investment in the same way as any
other. Is the property in a good position and what’s being built close by – yet more similar properties or facilities that might enhance the area? When the property and development are finished, will anyone want to buy or rent it? If you’re realistic about these factors – rather than being seduced by the promise of a quick profit – you reduce the risk of losing money (as much as is possible).
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Free PDF Sample
PRICE: £12.95
PUBLICATION: January 2008
EDITION: 1st
PAGES: 448
BINDING: paperback
SIZE: 210 x 148mm
COLOUR PHOTOS: 40
