Released on: September 18, 2007, 11:16 am

Press Release Author: Jimwatson

Industry: Financial

Press Release Summary: Investing in property overseas is a great thing, but good
research is essential. That\'s the message frequently emphasised by property industry
experts. There may be many pots of gold out there, but plenty of pitfalls as well.


Press Release Body: Investing in property overseas is a great thing, but good
research is essential. That\'s the message frequently emphasised by property industry
experts. There may be many pots of gold out there, but plenty of pitfalls as well.

The point was emphasised by Pelle Langli, chief executive officer for property
consultancy Emerging Real Estate. He said: \"People do need to do their research.
They have to stop and think about it. Does this actually stack up? Does the local
economy stack up? Do the macro-economics stack up? Is this sustainable? And for the
investment market, they need to look at exit options. How can I get out of this
investment if I wanted to?\"

Mr Langli\'s advice may be well-needed. Figures from the Association of International
Property Professionals (AIPP) show that in 2006 some £20 billion was spent by
British investors overseas, with the average property investment costing over
£98,000. Such large commitments clearly should not be taken lightly, or without a
reasonable level of planning and common sense.

Using common sense is the advice recently given by Bill Jackson, director of Jackson
International, a property sales firm which operates in Europe. He states that when
buying in Spain, for example, the sort of preparation used when buying a property in
the UK should apply there too. He said: \"Buying abroad is like buying here - you
have to use diligence, not only on the title but also basically on the
construction,\" advising that proper checks are done on the durability of the
property.

Mr Jackson also advised that people should use interpreters when buying overseas
property, emphasising that there were dangers in signing contracts in a language
which the buyer was not fluent in: \"Interpretation can be totally different and
words that are similar have very different meanings,\" he noted.

Fortunately, it seems that more and more investors are getting the message and
becoming better aware of what they need to know, not least because much of it is
available online. Apart from avoiding signing up to questionable clauses and not
being ignorant about local tax laws, there is the matter of knowing what the real
market values are when making the investment.

Agreeing that investors are becoming better informed, Mr Langli said: \"It\'s
definitely a positive, having all the information out there on the internet. You can
get a feel for what the real market values are before you go in to the market and
that can only be a good thing.\"

Being more clued-up also benefits the investor by putting the onus on developers to
produce something better than what is already available on the market. As a
spokesman for consultants Knight Frank said: \"The buyer is a lot better informed and
has a lot more choice, so the developers have to come up with new angles in terms of
product, service, facilities and location.\"

Thus the advice from the property industry is clear: being well informed and having
good research in place is the best thing any investor can do. Buying a property on a
whim or a gut feeling, or without getting a clear translation of documentation, may
be taking serious risks with what is a serious investment

Web Site: http://www.assetz.co.uk/

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