There is good money to be made from investing in real estate property abroad. If you own a property in a popular vacation destination, you will earn a lot of passive income from renting it out. The short term rents also mean that you are free to use it yourself if you like.
The initial two barriers to buying a property overseas are 1. Finding the property and 2. financing the property.
As for finding the property, the best thing to do is to travel as a tourist to the place where you want to buy. Get acquainted with the local culture, talk to ex-pats in that city, speak to at least three different real estate agents. Don’t be afraid of inviting locals for lunch, it will be money and time well spent. You can stay in an Airbnb for a couple of weeks to get acquainted with the culture and to make sure you are making the right move.
The second part is, of course, financing. This is quite complicated because your local bank would not want to finance and property in another country. And the banks in the new host country would not want to finance a person who has not financial record in their county. For these reasons, the ideal solution is to find an overseas property finance specialist who deals specifically overseas financial issues. This is a nitch market with many players, but one company that stands out for its good service is simonconn.com. At the very least, they will give you tons of information about how to finance your property overseas.
When you are deciding on a location, there are a lot of factors that you need to consider. Firstly, you need to think about the price and choose a country where you will get the best property for your budget. You also need to consider the real estate laws and taxes etc. to ensure that you are able to cover all of the administrative costs of buying a property. Finally, you should think about the cultural barriers that may cause you problems. If you buy a property in another country and you can’t speak the language at all, for example, that will cause you issues. It’s likely that you will have a property management company to deal with the day to day running of the property, but it’s still important that you are able to communicate with them effectively.
The location that you choose depends on what you are looking for in an investment property, but these are some of the best countries for overseas real estate investment right now.
Panama
Panama is the ideal place to invest in property if you are looking for apartments to rent out or agricultural properties. Rents have decreased a little in the last few years but they still remain relatively high, especially when compared with the price of property. It’s a buyers market right now and it is likely to stay that way in the near future, so you are likely to get a good price. Panama is developing a strong relationship with China and there is an increasing number of Chinese expats settling in the country. That means that there is a high demand for rental properties right now and that demand is likely to continue growing in the next few years. There is a chance that property prices will increase in the future, but if you invest now, you can get a good deal on an investment property.
The Bahamas
The Bahamas is an incredibly popular tourist destination, so if you are looking for somewhere to invest in vacation properties, this is a good option. It’s particularly good if you are looking to invest in high end properties that command a high rent. If you look for Lyford Cay Homes for Sale, for example, you can find some great properties in luxury gated communities with some amazing amenities and great locations. The Bahamas is a very politically stable country, which is always something to look for when investing in property. A lot of political upheavals can have a knock on effect on property value and rent, and laws around property ownership may change, but this is not an issue in the Bahamas. The property taxes are very low, and the market is very pro-landlord, so it’s a very popular destination for investors.
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a haven for property investors and you have a lot of different options. It’s an incredibly popular tourist destination with over 6.2 million visitors a year, so there are plenty of opportunities for vacation properties there. It is also a booming business hub and it has been growing a lot due to foreign investment. There are a lot of businesspeople moving through the Dominican Republic, and they all need somewhere to stay while they’re there, so you could also invest in a property that is aimed at people traveling for work. The capital, Santo Domingo, is the best place to look for rental properties because the city has benefitted from a lot of investment. There are a lot of great pre-construction apartments aimed at business travelers, and these are a great opportunity for foreign investors.
If you are looking for investment properties overseas, these are the best countries to consider right now if you want to see good returns.