foreign property

tipper1

Just looking for any advice through experience or otherwise on buying property abroad for rent or future resale abroad. Looking mainly at emerging nations and possibly taking a trip to bulgaria in september.Any reply greatly appreciated. Any info on bulgaria also helpful.

JohnJ

Why don't you try Romania...a lot of things cheaper around here..and a lot of places...more interesting then in Bulgaria to visit..

dunkamania

I am planning on looking at romania in a few months,the yields are supposedly very high in non tourist areas.

check out http://www.askaboutmoney.com/forumdisplay.php?f=36 for more answers

tipper1

was looking at bulgaria with possibility of future investment in country from the joining of eu but willing to look at anywhere

connundrum

Slovakia - (www.keyshead.com sorry the individual page wouldn't copy) If you buy in any capital city you're gonna be pretty much sorted for rent as long as the place you buy isn't a ****hole.

Beer in Bratislava is alledgedly drinkable too

The Novacastrian

a freind of mine bought in Bulgaria, said the food is awful, no direct flights and no rental guarantee.

I bought in Alanya Turkey, direct flights, reasonable food but no rental. Currently trying to sell this lovely 2 bed apartment to buy a house here in Dublin.

If buying foreign again i would ensure there is good chance of rental, and is easy to get to, Spain or France. May not be much capital appreciation but at least you can use it for a long weekend.

There is no guarantee that East European countries property prices will rise, though it is likely.

connundrum

goslie wrote:

a freind of mine bought in Bulgaria, said the food is awful, no direct flights and no rental guarantee.

To clear this up, there are direct flights into Sofia, Varna and Bourgas Airports in Bulgaria. There are constant charter flights as well as scheduled flights (www.air.bg). I found the food there to be great tbh, I put on the guts of a stone in weight in 2 weeks whilst over there last year. Food is very 'matter of opinion'.

There are several guaranteed rental options to buy in Bulgaria and I would venture that it should be relatively easy to rent a place out provididng that it is in the right area, in decent condition and you're not looking for anything rediculous - as easy as it is to rent out a place in Spain/Portugal.

goslie wrote:

If buying foreign again i would ensure there is good chance of rental, and is easy to get to .

Good points, but surely these would be the top of anyones check list when thinking of buying a foreign property?!

I sell property abroad for a living:

Romania is risky, if you are a gambler go for it, if not don't. Be prepared for madness
Bulgaria has excellent food, yer man there obviously ate in the wrong place. its very cheap, but poorly infrastructured -which should change with the EU. I bought land there a while back and made some cash but there was a lot of red tape, property is the best option there - and there are guaranteed rentals, lots of them
Turkey is another option with guaranteed rents and its very cheap and popular for investors.
For those three you can do pretty well for 100K, and you should be looking good on yields and price rise.

Southern italy is a good option and surprisingly theres stuff there for 100K in the small towns off plans, with a benefit of being able to have a really nice holiday and higher rents in peak months
France has good off plan developments between 100 and 150K and the benefit with france is that the closing costs are only 3% off plans which is about 5 or 6% cheaper then the norm, by closing costs i mean Stamp, VAT, land tax etc.
There are insurance packages in france regarding rental that cost 2.7% of the price and will cover you if your place is never rented. Any beleive it or not you can get stuff in Nice, Perpignon etc for under 150K

boy_wonder

What about Dubai? Sports city especially. prices look decent and direct flights from dublin?

yeah dubai is pretty good, but something interesting is happening with the builders from there - the main construction company from Dubai is pumping 16billion over the next 5 years into building in Morocco, so its likely to be built to a very high standard. morocco is beginning to be prime for investors, irish seem to be a bit cautious because its a market they dont know much about, but i expect it to be pretty high on the investment list in a year or two as ryanair will be flying and its not as far away as youd think

RainyDay

boy_wonder wrote:

direct flights from dublin?

Don't forget there is no guarantee that direct flights will continue for ever. Many UK-based investors in French property got stung when Ryanair cancelled a pile of routes from the UK.

ronbyrne2005

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2098-2267408.html

Sloshdrop

I source property for Irish investors and always advise to opt for a country where, at worst,if it all went horribly wrong, you or your retired parents/auntie/in laws could live in and subsidise your investment.Living in Bulgaria/Romania/Hungary in mid February does not appeal but life in Portugal/France /Spain/Cyprus at the same time does.Flights?What happens if Ryanair are the only carrier and they decide that route is no longer profitable?Reliable and honest management /rental company?
Also,a transparent legal system is important.The UK obviously is always easy but without the good weather!Shanghai ? Leave it to the big property boys.
Like El Rifle I think Morocco has potential,politically it is strongly supported by the US,but it is a very different culture from Ireland and beware the probable future relocating of Spain's "plasticos"(in every way tasteless vegetable growing polytunnels).
Like all outside investors in another country you are always going to pay more than a local will. Vendors in Croatia/Slovakia/Bulgaria and even Spain are very happy with the prices they are achieving from SSIA wealthy Irish investors,so just make sure you do all due diligence,take your time and do not begrudge the cost of professional advice.Do your sums and dont be seduced by the % of the return figures.What about extras?Dont fall for "there are only 2 plots/apartments left so we need a decision today" Remember,its your money so do not be smooth talked/bullied into making a decision.

jdivision

boy_wonder wrote:

What about Dubai? Sports city especially. prices look decent and direct flights from dublin?

If you're buying in Dubai you're buying on the basis that you believe that somehow a rental market that doesn't exist at the moment will be created. The scale of building means you're taking a major risk in the hope that tourists will begin to flock there.

SmoothyG

I sell overseas property for a living, and the biggest problem i face with clients is that they do none or very little of thier own research.

My best piece of advice is to set criteria for what you would like to buy, e.g. by the beach, golf course, budget, location, climate e.t.c.

then look for companies that sell something that fits this.

Ask them why they think it is a good investment, then research thier answer.
the internet provides you with all the answers you want.

E.G. Morocco is the newest emerging market, with many tax and investor incentives. To avoid the problems that were encountered in bulgaria investors are advised that it is a 3-5 year investment and not a quick turnover before they are built. But dont just belive me, Type Morocco into google and spend an hour verifying the reasons it is seen to be a good investment.

P.S. To be safe with guarenteed rental only go for Areas in which the government are backing the guarentee, e.g. Berlin. or a rental office on site, in which case it is in thier best interests financialy to have the apartment occupied.

BUT MOST OF ALL DO YOUR REASERCH

Cute Hoor

Question for SmoothyG, Sloshdrop, El Rifle, or anybody else involved in selling property abroad.

Is joining a syndicate that is investing in a commercial property abroad (EU) a good idea? What are the pitfalls involved? What should one do to protect ones investment? How can you verify that the company involved is above board? What are the tax implications involved?

Any help much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Is it Property in Germany your looking at? where you invest 100K? A Cork Company yeah? If it is that one I think its a safe bet from what I know. A low risk investment that gives you a good safe return. In my opinion to make any money in German property you need to invest big and thus the syndicated investment to get the bigger sums together
If its residential property then its likely its already rented on long term leases so low risk.
however there will always be a certain amount of risk. Location is key, must be city centre for Germany. You need to do your own research on the company, how many years in business etc - is there a bank guarantee?

Cute Hoor

Thanks El Rifle.

It's a Limerick company, but correct on the rest. It looks a safe enough investment from what I can see, one problem is the money is tied up for 9 years.

9 years? whats the return? long time almost a french leaseback! I beleive CMC Capital in Cork do a 5 year which may be a better way to go....check them out

Cute Hoor

Deleted User wrote:

9 years? whats the return? long time almost a french leaseback! I beleive CMC Capital in Cork do a 5 year which may be a better way to go....check them out

I sent you a private message earlier El Rifle.

hargo

Any one know anything about Premier Estates in Castlebar who have similar commercial investment schemes. Its a 10 year tie up in order to take advantage of German Capital gains tax law?

krille

Hi board,

I agree with some of the posts seen here.....emerging markets can be a great investment but mainly do your research...each of those countries has good areas and not that good area.

Would you part with your money if someone told you: yes invest somewhere in Ireland or in the UK? No your question would be where???

Anyway look at the Knight Frank 2007 forecast for growth areas:

http://www.knightfrank.com/news/documents/europeanMarket.pdf


The other question you have to ask yourself is how long you want to invest for, how risk averse you are, and most of all what you want from that investment (is it a place you want to go on holiday or do you see it as a pure financial investment?)

Last but not least you need to consider the tax implications of your investment and if you invest abroad ==> make a local will for passing on that property (yes i know nobody likes to think about tax and death!)

Oh yes: don't forget to go on site a few times (at different times of year ==> don't limit yourself to school holidays and high season!). This will really give you a clue as to whether there is potential in that location, what the weather is like etc....

We decided we wouldn't part with our money to enrich some developer and decided to embark on a property development project ourselves.

We are therefore looking for like minded co-investors / partners to join us in a property development project in Morocco.

If you think that's your kind of investment, contact us at info@prolan-invest.com or visit: www.prolan-invest.com

Hope this contribution is of use:

Regards
Krille

kaizersoze123

Reported for constant pimping