How to buy residential property

[gianne]

Buying or Selling a House in a Foreign Country

The golden rules about buying houses and apartments anywhere in the world are very simply itemized:

1. Take your time
2. Listen to different people
3. Do your homework – look and look and look


This isn’t rocket science, but practical common sense.

The good news? Outsiders can get good deals, in terms of getting property for a good price. Old-timers who really know the market do have some advantages, but they are very small indeed. If you take a few days (or a week) to learn about a particular housing market and to compare prices - you’re more or less on a level playing field with everyone else.

This is well established by research. What locals know about market prices – well, that’s out of date. So when locals buy, they have to go through just the same price-research process as you do. Relax, and trust your intelligence.

The Trouble with Buying Overseas
Buying in unfamiliar countries can present special difficulties. The problem isn’t finding the right price, because most markets are sufficiently well-organized even for a foreigner to find a good prices.

It’s not the price so much as understanding the institutions, the costs, the dangers.

It’s important to enlist local help when buying in potentially hair-raising countries. A relative can give you good advice, and so can a friend (or a friend of a friend). We wouldn’t even consider buying in many countries if no trustworthy advice-source was available.

What’s dangerous?

full article:
Global Property Guide - Advise

Great tip, isn't it?

[The Soup Dragon]

Found second half of article more interesting than the first. It clearly doesn't apply to every country but won't be obvious to most. (If you can have more than one realtor selling your property then do so.)

Don't fully agree with conclusions from study in US. Part of reason agents keep their property on the market longer (10 days on average) and achieve higher prices (6% onaverage) will be down to them being very close to the market and not getting themselves in a position where they need to make the sale. They also know how to show their property at its best!

[Investy]

I used the GLOBAL PROPERTY GUIDE in the past but found it wanting.

For a start the stats and info used tend to be out of date and crucially little or no accomodation is given over to 'whats on the horizon'.

Morocco they gave 2 stars out of 5, what a joke. Morocco is close to the UK, has a long season and crucially is undergoing massive Government backed change on the tourism front.

Iformation is everything in investment. The Global Property Guide is a very blunt unrefined instrument. Anyone proporting to have 'the inside info' on over 100 nations would need a vast staff and infrastructure.

I note you dont respond to feedback on your website either