sti-04!!

Hello

Got a friend who is interested in buying property abroad, Country to be decided yet ?

Though the question is ???

Is there anyone who has done this ???

Any problems ??

This property will be a 2nd home but within the next 5 years will be there associated residence !

TAI

Stephen

4X4BOB

In the process at the mo'

Its the most stressfull thing we've ever done!

My one piece of advice would be to get an English speaking lawyer in the country you are buying in to work on your behalf.
We didn't, and things keep going from bad to worse.
We should have moved in on 15th May but we may never get it at this rate and worse case scenario is we lose 100k that we've already sent out there.


Still, it could be worse, I could be banged up in prison with Barry the bummer!


Bob

This is the house we should be buying

www.austria-apartments.com

Buckrogers

You buying the whole place or just an appartment?

Looks lovely.

Buck

4X4BOB

Should be buying the whole apartment house
The "footprint" of the house is around 3000 sqft with a further 24000 sqft of land surrounding it.

But the way things are going lately its doubtful now

If we do get it, it will be fantastic. If not, and we lost 100k (Euros) then we'll have to wait another 12 months to save up the lost money and start all over again with a different property, but this was a bargain.

Having legal tangles at the mo' with the vendors moving the goal posts at every stage. I wouldn't mind the posts being moved a bit, but they're taking the p!ss and moving the goal posts to a new bl00dy field !

Bob (stressed out beyond belief!)

the moose

Own a place in France.

Only real problem associated is the time it takes to get everything done, and cost of arranging mortgages etc. In addition, the concept of a property survey is slightly alien to them French, and there's a much higher level of stamp duty - c.12%. All of this means that there's more risk and more cost, though that's no reason not to do it.

Getting documents translated is expensive, but it's entirely sensible to do this, otherwise you're relying on someone telling you what it all means. Ultimately, the expense is worth it.

Oh, and think of what it's being bought for. If it's for rental purposes, then will you use agencies, is it close to airports etc? How will it be marketed?

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Got one in rural France, near Limoges

I went and camped in the region for a month in April/May 2002, before msking an offer on one I liked and thought the wife would like. (Luckily, she does).

We got it for a song, as prices were low(er) and I got €1.63 to the £.
We are now, after nearly 3 years close to having it how we want. I've done a lot of the work myself, but some has had to be done by experts.

Problems?
Time to get anyone to do work.........often even to get them to come and give you an estimate.
Time it takes to do it up, if it needs doing, as you can't be there all the time, so holidays tend to be working ones.
The language problem...........I'm pretty fluent, but my TECHNICAL language was not.
The different way of doing things. Planning, for instance, is very laid back. Take a photo of what it looks like now, draw on the photo how you want it to look, submit this and the form to the local Maire, and 6 weeks later, start the project. However, rules are there to trip you up. For example, if your project has a floor area of over 170 sq m, or will have after renovation, INCLUDING what you had before renovation, you need a French registered architect to plan it for you, and they DO NOT work cheap!!!

Finding out about the different systems, French plumbing, electrics, gas, windows and doors etc etc are all different from our way, so if you intend doing owt yourself, get some decent books on it, before you go out searching for something they won't have, or fit something you aren't allowed to have by law.

Having said all that, we love our little property, and enjoy every minute out there.

Alcazar

GaryK

Done it? Yes

Any problems? Plenty

Do it again? Possibly!

Gary

sti-04!!

Gary,

Could you go into more detail please ?/?

Harry_Boy

Former eastern European countries are a big growth area at the moment - Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia etc. Far better value than the established destinations such as France, Spain, Canaries.

Flatcapdriver

If you're going to do this, then it very much has to be a head rather than heart process - too many people tend to chuck their common sense out of the window when buying their dream home abroad. However, it can be done fairly easily provided you understand the buying process in the country you have chosen:

Make sure you have a reputable lawyer who is not affiliated in any way with the estate agent you're buying through.

Ensure that you have adequate funds to cover all of the fees associated with the purchase and that you understand the sequence of payments including deposit, lawyer's fees, stamp duty equivalent and any local taxes and don't be tempted by any discounts offered using black money.

Check both your UK and foreign tax positions beforehand as some countries have double tax treaties with the UK and some don't.

Budget for any ongoing costs such as local taxes, maintenance and insurance to make sure you can afford it.

If you're intending to rent the property, then be realistic about your expected income and then half it for budgeting purposes. Don't feel obliged to offer it to your mates and family as a freebie because although you will become very popular with them all of a sudden - it is going to cost you money in upkeep.

In many other European countries it's very hard to get a proper survey done, so at the very least get a builder involved to check the structural integrity of the property. Some surveyors offer a service whereby they measure and mark out the boundaries - get this done to prevent the possibility of future land diputes.

Good luck.

GaryK

Stephen,

OK well do you have an idea of where you want to buy as obviously the rules are different from country to country. You then need to decide if its purely for investment or investment and enjoy the time in it.

We bought and then sold in Spain, you need to allow about 10% of the purchase price to cover IVA (tax) and legal fees, utilities, etc.

You have two options really, buy a resale (used) or buy new or as is common 'off-plan'

Resale is useful because you can recover some money straight away in rental income but you will probably need 25% deposit as you are unlikely to be able to borrow more than 75% of the property value. Be aware though that in Spain the debt is on the property and NOT the person so you will need a good lawyer.

Buying new you do pay a premium as you do here I guess but you get something all shiny!

'Off-Plan' is the riskiest as you may be looking at a showhome/flat but your property is just a piece of grass. With the risk though you are buying at a reduced rate. Kind of like what they do here when building new estates the prices steadily rise as it nears completion. With this option you can make 'stage' payments during the build having put down typically a 10-25% deposit. Of course you are at the mercy of the builders and they normally take longer than they should (our 6 month estimate became 18months) but then it gave us longer to save up so we didnt need to finance it. Bear in mind as well people have bought have plan, well paid a deposit for the work to never even start and lose out, be VERY careful.

You really need a decent amount of what I would call 'pot' cash just for little additions that seem to crop up. Like here really location is important, certainly where we were (costa del sol) it is just getting way too commercial and built up now. We were told some bollox about the government capping building work every couple of years but everytime I re-visit I just see loads of cranes with every bit of land near the coast crammed with concrete!

Consider a euro account as well and get money into that, we lost money on the sale due to the euro being very weak against the pound when we transferred from Spain back into a UK account.

Be very careful, get a good lawyer, trust no-one and you'll be fine

Gary

Flatcapdriver

You raise some good points here but I'd allow 12% of the purchase cost nowadays and if you're looking at Spain I wouldn't recommend buying off plan at the moment as too many amateur speculators have caught a cold as they try to offload their "investment" so I'd stick with resale.

The other issue with utilities is the need to pay them via Direct Debit and this is something a good lawyer will sort out as you can all too easily end up paying fines if you're local taxes are paid late - and they love doing this to foreign owners. Again, make sure your lawyer is top rate as you'll need to give him Power of Attorney if you want to avoid constant trips abroad but if he has this power you need to make sure he doesn't abuse it.

Rally

I have one in southern Spain.
as said previously in the thread:

Get a lawyer who speaks the language and is based as near to the property you want to buy.

Double check all planning permission, lots of apartment blocks get started without permission and can be demolished if ordered. More of a problem if buying off-plan I believe, bought mine just after completion.

Transferring money, set up a bank account in the country and transfer it all at once to get best rate. Rates can be a gamble though, have fluctuated quite a lot in last couple of years.

If your buying a place next to some spare land, then plan that something will be built on it soon, dont pay extra for the view as it might get blocked out. Even if you buy a large plot they can remove it from you title and build there in some areas.

My purchase went very smoothly, now problems apart from the extremely long time it takes to get anything done!!!

I would definately do it again, especially with the amount my property seems to be going up in value by each year :-)

Richard

sti-04!!

Thanks for all your reply's

I am looking into it for a friend & doing the groundwork so that when it happens i get a free holiday

Cheers

Stephen

Scoob+Bike=Fun

I have one in teneriefe for sale, and will come down on the price
See : http://www.horizonpropertygroup.com/...s.asp?pid=2945

Just be over cautious and use your instincts, and if it's off plan, do your research on them, previous developments to see the finished article etc.

Adam