How to choose a country for buying a property. Take the risks into account the risks

The simplest thing is to choose a country for buying real estate if you have a work permit or business there because then there is nothing to decide - everything has already been decided. It remains only to choose a specific place and a specific object.

But if you are a rentier, a pensioner or a freelancer, and you will not only have to choose a place for emigration or recreation but also a liquid object suitable for investment, then everything is much more complicated.

Choose the right country for buying holiday property is already half of the success. This means that later you will not write long posts on the forums with the main thesis "how I got stuck".

At the same time, the choice of the country for buying real estate is subjective. Someone is guided by the already bought objects by their relatives and friends, and someone - on personal impressions after spending holidays there. But the key moments for selection depend on the purpose of the purchase. Therefore, we will talk about how not to make a mistake in this matter.

Comfort

The first and most important thing - you should feel comfortable whether it is about to live comfortably, or to have a rest, or to conduct affairs on a delivery of the real estate in rent. And comfort is an individual feeling. Someone likes Spain more because the warm season there is longer than in alternative countries with resort real estate. Someone prefers Georgia with its natural beauty, a kindness of people, low prices for real estate. There are those who have lost their heads from the beauty of Montenegrin views or Bulgarian golden beaches. It is not uncommon that there are such people who cherish romantic impressions from the Greek islands, or memories of a more expensive, but more developed Italy or the azure coast of France.

The problem is that even if your funds allow you to buy a property near the sea in a dream place, there is always a risk that if you go to another country you will get even more impressions and decide that you made a purchase in a wrong country. Therefore, we suggest you think as a pragmatist and approach the issue soberly.

Pitfalls

1. Dislike for foreigners

Unkind attitude towards foreigners is a frequent occurrence. In Spain, meetings were held against the arrival of tourists, and in some countries, hostility may be expressed more openly. Nevertheless, most of the southern nations are friendly enough. However, not all have historically developed friendly relations with the country from which you are traveling. In advance, study this question before the trip, in order to avoid running into a trouble and spoiling your impressions.

However, everything is relative and the percentage of xenophobes is known to exist in any country. It is always less than the percentage of normal friendly people. Less, but, unfortunately, much more noticeable.

2. Unrecognized Territories

It is not recommended to buy real estate in the territory with unrecognized jurisdiction. For example, in some unrecognized republic. Prices there can often be significantly lower, but the status of this property and your ownership of it will be highly questionable. Foreigners invest money in such real estate reluctantly and it is harder to rent or sell it after. For example, such places are North Cyprus, Abkhazia or the Crimea. For the purchase of real estate in these territories you can even get under criminal prosecution. For example, in Georgia, you can even be arrested for a trip to Abkhazia, as well as in Ukraine for visiting the Crimea.

3. Maintenance costs

A serious problem may be the purchase of an expensive item in the maintenance. We will talk more about this below but it is worthwhile to estimate in advance how much the maintenance of a house or apartment in an attractive country will cost you. There are countries with such rates of taxes and such a cost of utility payments that even if the property is successfully delivered, most of the money earned will be spent on tax payment. Therefore, it is necessary to think about these factors in advance when choosing and calculating your budget into account.

4. Problems of legality of residence

Before choosing a country, it is worth examining its visa policy towards citizens of your country. Contact a competent lawyer or study the law yourself. It should be noted that the most liberal conditions for foreigners today are provided by two countries - Georgia and Montenegro. In Montenegro, the purchase of real estate (of any value) from the fall of 2015 entitles you to a residence permit. In Georgia, a residence permit can also be issued on a similar basis, and you do not have to register. Foreigners of most countries can stay in Georgia 365 days a year. If you need to spend more time there - it is enough to leave Georgia and enter it again.

5. The Hidden menace

If it is possible to purchase real estate in a country with an increased urgency of the threat of terrorism and/or war, it is better to wait for this decision. In addition to the danger of staying, which in itself is a risky undertaking, in such countries, there is often an outflow of investment, a decrease in tourism attractiveness, and a liquidity crisis. If you buy an apartment or a house in such a country, you will have troubles with selling the object or losing any possibility to rent it out. For example, such a situation is observed today in Turkey, Egypt, and in Ukraine.

6. "Thirteenth" District

The location of an apartment or house in a territory with a high concentration of refugees or routes of their permanent migration is another reason not to buy an object. Unfortunately, these factors also reduce the attractiveness of a specific area for property buyers and tourists. It is a shame but the number of attractive countries turned out to be among the risk: Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, and partly Bulgaria.

7. Internationality as a way to level out risks

There is a great risk to acquire an immovable property in a country where the main buyers are foreigners but still residents of the same country. For example, there are countries or regions where Russians are the main buyers of real estate. Their level can be up to 70%, and even up to 90% (for example, in some cities of Montenegro and Bulgaria). This means that the purchasing power of the main purchasers of real estate will drops as the ruble falls. This will lead to stagnation of the market, and then to a fall in property prices.

8. Dynamics of the market

Before buying an apartment on the market, it is worth to find out about the general dynamics of the market. Нou should either seek advice from independent experts or carefully examine the dynamics of the real estate market in the country that you liked yourself. At the same time, it is necessary to distinguish between the domestic market (a housing market-oriented to local residents) and the resort real estate market. If the market you are interested in demonstrates a negative dynamics in both the issue of pricing and the issue of falling sales, then there are reasons to be on the alert. If you rely on the opinions of experts in the field of investment, then you need to buy real estate either in the market that is growing or on what is already on the bottom. In the first case, the growth will bring you a benefit in the form of a rise in the price of the property. In the second case, the market will not fall, it will grow. The first way is more suitable for a quick return of the invested funds, and the second one is for a long-term investment.