As an expat, you’ll be used to travelling and purchasing goods all over the world, and you’ll need the same international mentality when looking to spot your next property investment. A lot of people look in their local market when buying property, so they can touch the bricks themselves, but this rarely leads to the optimal investment outcome. We are international people, so we should be looking at global opportunities!
Step one then is to define the country in which to invest. There are some criteria to consider here:
(1) Currency – is the economy backed by a major currency, such as the Pound Sterling, Euro or US Dollar? This is key to ensure the long term value of the asset
(2) Economy – will the market grow? Is it safe and is it stable? If we’re investing in property we should steer well clear of high-risk emerging economies – if you like taking on risk, you should leave that for your stock portfolio
(3) Regulation – do the local rules favour the landlord or the tenant? If the asset is in another country, you’ll want to make sure your rights are protected, and we do this by selecting our geography wisely.
Now we have identified the country, we want to look at the specific geographic area. Regional property markets grow at different rates – mostly driven by local business and government regeneration projects. In the UK, HS2 is causing strong growth in the Midlands and North-West, for example.
With a city identified, we now want to look at neighbourhoods. Here, it’s key to understand our target tenant – an investment property needs to be rented out. If your target is the student market, you need to be near universities and nightlife. If it’s the professional market, transport links and business hubs. You get the idea.
Choosing a property investment: in summary
And it’s as simple as that. A three-step, top-down approach to selecting where best to invest. Of course, I do this work every day, so just let me know if you’d like to talk through your next investment.
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