Property Abroad - What's in it for Me?

Mmmmmm well with a question like that I was more than willing to blurt out my entire 20 years knowledge of the overseas property market in one breath - but alas my lungs failed me.

The property market here in the UK as everyone knows has been spiralling out of control over the past 3-5 years and many first time buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to get a foot hold on the market. Many buyers have been reduced to sharing with friends in order to even buy a property whilst others remain at home with good old mam and dad.

So then - the overseas property market - what's in it for me question. Well once we've taken care of the obvious questions like:

• What can you afford?
• Are you looking for long or short term investment?
• Are you considering using the property abroad for your own benefit?
• Have you considered buy to let, guaranteed rental or leaseback schemes?
• What level of deposit do you have?
• and many others

we can get down to the nitty gritty of whats really out there for the young property buyer. What can you afford? Buying a property overseas can often work out costing more in fees than here in the UK with average costing coming in between 10-12% of the purchase price. This will include things like notaries, solicitors, land registry fees, taxes etc - so be prepared.

Depending on where you are thinking of buying can determine whether or not you can get a mortgage. You need to consider the mortgage rates, the likes of Spain has a low interest rate compared to England yet Cyprus is running ahead of the UK interest rates at about 6.2% so it pays to consider this especially when you are looking at a long term loan.

Are you looking for long or short term investment? Are you hoping to jump in and back out fairly quickly to create a profit that you can then sink into a UK property or are you interested in long term investment? Consider the benefits and pitfalls of both. If you pull out on a short term investment and then the overseas market erupts you'll be kicking yourself. Then again if the UK market rises in toll with the overseas (not impossible so bare it in mind) you may be still as far away as when you started.

Are you considering using the property abroad for your own benefit? If you are wanting to use the property for your own benefit as well as investment purposes then you need to take into account things like: How easy is it for you to get to your property (cheap flights etc)? Will you be using the property during peak months which could potentially cost you money?

Have you considered buy to let, guaranteed rental or leaseback schemes? There are many schemes out there to help improve your investment like buy to let, guaranteed rental and leaseback all of which offer some piece of mind when buying property for investment purposes.

• Buy to let - this is where a buyer buys a property with the intention of letting it out on a commercial basis. There are usually mortgages specific to this type of purchase known as Buy to Let mortgages.
• Guaranteed Rental - is normally defined as a specified rental amount guaranteed for a particular period of time on a particular property or development. This is normally guaranteed by the developer. One thing to consider is where the guaranteed rental is coming from. Is it actual rentals ie someone living in your property or an overpriced property that has the rental amounts built into your price?
• Leaseback Property - a popular way of renting your property out especially in France where it has been popular for over 40 years. Basically you buy a property (if brand new you can claim the vat back) and lease it back to a property management company who guarantee to give you a % return on your property for periods of upto 15 years. Typical yields can be anything upto 6.5% and more.

What level of deposit do you have? The level of deposit you have can have a great impact on what mortgage facilities are available to you as well as any additional discounts etc. Obviously the more deposit that you have available means that you will be in a better position to take advantages of such incentives if they are on offer.

Once we have taken care of the above then its more or less down to where you are wanting to buy a property or home abroad. With over 50,000 properties for sale on our website in more than 46 countries abroad we are well placed to offer new and old buyers the best choice of overseas property for sale on the internet.

Wherever you are thinking of buying a property overseas whether it be the UK, Europe or indeed anywhere in the world you need to visit our website and see for yourself the sheer amount of information and guides that we have available for the overseas property buyers.