Buying Property In A Foreign Country

Home in the Country – But Which Country?

First Published Date: June 27, 2009

There is a lot of importance placed on where a person lives. Where we live is something that identifies us as much as anything else – as much as our job, as much as our outward appearance and as much as our name. Our primary home address is asked for by any organization with which we seek to join up. However, a second home is something different. While our primary home may be something that plays a huge part in our everyday life, our secondary home is something that matters for an entirely different reason. The primary home is for function and for family. The second home, more than anything, is for fun. We can look to buy a second home elsewhere in the world, because a house in another country allows us to have somewhere to stay when we go on holiday, among other things.

The “other things” include somewhere to live during our retirement. Having worked all our lives for a chance to relax and let ourselves get a bit of time to  ourselves, we can put money into buying a house somewhere nice and warm – additionally, having spent time somewhere on holiday allows us to scope out a place for the future. If you have been somewhere before and know that you like it, then you have the awareness that the place will be to your taste. How many times have you been on holiday somewhere and thought “this is such a great spot, I wish I didn’t have to go home – I wish I could live here for the rest of my life!”. Although the rest of your life may be stretching it somewhat, getting a retirement property nailed down somewhere else is never a bad idea.

There are many countries where buying a property has become something that you can only do with a lot of money behind you. Banks and lending corporations are reluctant to give mortgages with the housing market still in an uncertain shape. There are more than a few nations where property is still a very manageable investment, and taking advantage of this is something that shouldn’t be beyond a wise investor. It is important to sit and think of where you want to go, and what your reasons are – a family link? A good business opportunity? A country that is special to you, for any other reason. it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you get a plan into action.

Countries in North Africa have become highly popular with property investors in the last six months, with the region’s proximity to the Southern tip of Western Europe a big pull. But it isn’t just about being near to Spain, France and Portugal – there is a growing holiday industry in what is a beautiful part of the world. Then there is South America – although some of the continent has been either colonized by tourists or beset by the same economic problems as the rest of the world, there are great properties available at wonderful prices in Brazil, a country which is moving up in terms of business and has always been keenly thought of by tourists.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on June 27, 2009.