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Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
You are here: Shelter Offshore » Property Abroad » Buying Property Abroad
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
Despite the state of the economy in the UK and the bleak economic future facing the vast majority of us at least in the near-term, there remains an almost insatiable desire amongst Britons to own a home abroad.
Is it snobbery, consumerism gone mad, the ultimate dream or sound investment logic driving still increasing numbers of Britons to actively contemplate a second home purchase overseas? Whatever the reason, there are more and more of us seeking to join the estimated 500,000 who already own homes abroad apparently.
But there are new worries affecting would-be property purchasers, and these include concerns about carbon footprints and also the low cost carriers who have made some previously hard to access destinations appealing to buyers.
Because it is in their best interests to do so, estate agents working in popular property markets abroad such as Spain, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Turkey imply that the purchase process is very easy, straightforward and hassle-free. In other words, according to them, you needn’t overly concern yourselves with any complex legalities, and quite often they will also introduce you to a lawyer or notary who will handle the whole thing for you.
Assuming you are a non-seasoned veteran of international property purchases, chances are the kind offer will be taken up, and you’ll find yourself potentially inappropriately represented from a legal point of view. The fact of the matter is, you need your own solicitor or notary when buying abroad, and you need one who only has your interests at heart with regard to the sale.
So, why involve an independent lawyer when buying property abroad? Because the entire security of your purchase and subsequent ownership status depends on it.
We have received a whole host of facts, figures and statistics from the homes overseas market in recent days as leading companies release data relating to the numbers of Britons and other foreign nationals who are buying property abroad.
Some of these facts and figures are positively surprising – such as the fact that the amount of property us Brits own overseas collectively amounts to some £58 billion worth of real estate!
But it’s what’s being written and published off the back of all this data that’s worrying us. We want to say to our readers ‘beware!’ because in our opinion there is bad, or at least questionable advice being given to those contemplating buying property abroad.
Read On...
There’s no escaping the fact that for us Britons, shopping is a favourite pastime! And even in these economically challenging times we cannot reign in our passion completely it seems. A new survey conducted by a private banking arm of Banco Santander has revealed that one commodity we still aspire to, hanker after and plan on buying is a home abroad.
Yes indeed, property abroad is still an attractive investment commodity with up to three million of us Brits actively planning on making a purchase over the next two years according to the bank’s survey.
Depending on the age of respondents questioned by the Cater Allen Private Bank survey, the intention to purchase a home overseas was either driven by a strong desire for investment diversification or by lifestyle enhancement reasons.
There seems to be an overwhelming amount of positive press relating to the overseas property market in general, with specific companies promoting the benefits and advantages of specific nations and their attractive housing markets. But how can this be when we in the UK are entering a recession according to the OECD, and when the US is suffering from a bleak property outlook too?
How is it that there are markets out there seemingly defying the odds and continuing to boom? Well, we would just like to point out a couple of things – one, you need to remain level headed about overseas property potential and not believe everything you read, because the vast majority of this promotion of international real estate is being done by companies attempting to sell it!
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