Assetz® News » HOME | RSS Feed FEED | LIST ALL ARTICLES | ASSETZ HOMEPAGE
Investment Property News from Assetz

Assetz® Property News Service

Laying down the law on lawyers, learning languages and looking before leaping

7th October 2008 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

When it comes to investing in overseas property, some may be slightly put off by the legal side of it. Frequently faced by unfamiliar rules and a foreign language, some may think twice.

Others may in turn be put off by horror stories of Spanish properties bulldozed because - unbeknown to the buyers - they were illegal, or some other legal clause or loophole that can leave people out of pocket or even losing a property altogether.

Yet to be dissuaded from buying at all may be an incorrect reaction to an entirely justified concern. The alternative may be to enter into such a situation with no concern or fear and sleepwalk into calamity.

The correct response to the potential fear of the unfamiliar and the legal is to engage the right help for any overseas transaction to ensure all is fair and above board, according to Amanda Lamb, presenter of TV property show A Place in the Sun.

She said independent lawyers are the people who are best placed to avoid trouble, commenting: "I think that 95 per cent of the horror stories that I hear are of people who haven't used independent lawyers; they've either not used one or they have used one that the developers recommended, that's where the problems start."

This, she stated, is the most common of the mistakes that those buying overseas can make. A second is moving abroad but not learning the local language.

A third is choosing a property too quickly. Her alternative to buying in haste and repenting at leisure was not to actually buy in the first instance. "One of the things I would always suggest is maybe thinking of renting in the place you want to live for six months to get a feel for it and make sure that you like it."

Recent research by Cater Allen Private Bank has found that, in addition to the 2.3 million Britons who own a home abroad (500,000 for investment reasons), there are three million looking to buy overseas in the next two years. Of these, 42 per cent are planning to undertake such a purchase for investment.

With an increasing number of people looking to buy overseas property and a rising proportion of them looking to do so to make money for their pensions or other nest eggs, the importance may be greater than ever for people to make the right decisions about buying, make cultural adjustments if they move and ensure they get the proper legal advice. If they do so, they will not only increase their chances of making the most of their investments, but also reduce the number of tales of woe that can put others off.

Assetz® is a UK and International Property Investment Specialist. Please visit our property sites shown below.

Assetz for Investors UK Assetz Hotels Assetz Homes Assetz France Assetz Spain Assetz Cyprus Assetz Germany Assetz Portugal Assetz Ski Assetz Cape Verde Assetz USA Assetz Finance Assetz Fund Management

Accessing the news service

You can view all of the Assetz® UK, International and UK Property Investment Articles and News here.

We also provide an RSS Feed Feed of the news service, or you can view all articles. Click here to view more information on RSS readers and how they make reading online news more convenient.

eXTReMe Tracker