Where should I buy a property?
You’ve decided that buying to let will work for you, now which countries should you look at when you’re shopping for properties?
You can divide countries into two groups. Firstly there are the firm favourites, these include countries like Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Cyprus, Portugal, Canada and the US – in particular Florida. The UK itself also remains a popular holiday destination. These countries have been holiday resorts for some time and are the countries where most Britons own property. In these areas, prices are likely to be higher and are unlikely to rise strongly, but they have a proven track record as places people want to visit, established travel routes and strong economies.
Secondly there are the emerging destinations, which have become popular in the last few years. These include countries such as Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia, Dubai, Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Thailand and Brazil. These countries have opened up to foreign buyers recently and are becoming popular holiday destinations. With these up and coming countries prices are lower and have more potential to rise as flight routes and infrastructure expand.
If you’re not sure about where to buy, make a shortlist of possible countries and then look at each in depth. Wherever in the world you look, you need to think about the following:
- Always do your own research into the market. Don’t get sucked in by the latest trends. Get online and have a look at owner forum sites and expat community sites to get an inside view for how rentals are going. When you’re visiting, go into local letting agents and ask them about the rental market –how much competition is there and how easy it is to attract Holidaymakers?
- Look for demand. Look at locations which are popular, but where the demand for property is greater than the supply. Also find out how many new buildings will be springing up in your area. Some location features are always in demand – beaches, city centres, lakeside properties and those on golf courses, apartments in marinas and in exclusive spa resorts.
- Think about your season. If you want to get bookings throughout the year, you need to buy in a country with good weather all year around. If you’re buying in a location with a definite season – ski destinations like Zell Am See in Austria, or a seaside resort like Blackpool - visit in the off-season and see what is still on offer for visitors. If everything shuts down outside of peak season, you may struggle to bring people in. Locations near the equator such as Sri Lanka and Fiji will offer sunshine all year around, but are more prone to tropical storms.
- Look for good transport links with the UK. Make sure you choose a location which is served by several airlines, don’t rely on one company as they can change their routes and leave you stranded. Good budget routes make a huge difference to the number of holidaymakers you can expect. For example the city and beach resort of Salvador in Brazil has always attracted tourists to its historic city centre, beautiful beaches and lively February carnival. However, until recently flights directly to Salvador were very expensive and so the volume of holiday traffic was largely internal and mostly made up of students travelling, or the very wealthy. In 2006 a low-cost airline began weekly flights direct from the UK to Salvador and the Brazilian destination is now an affordable holiday option for a 2 week summer break with the family, rather than a once in a lifetime trip. These sorts of developments in transport and travel mean that new locations are constantly opening up and the market for low priced holiday homes is becoming wider than ever.
