Thursday, August 07, 2008
Overseas Property Investment and Exchange Rates by Lawrenson of LettingFocus.com
Many people ask me if one or other property company is any good.
The problem for me is that whilst I’ll happily recommend companies I know who are good, I don’t like to give any negative comments on a particular company - for legal reasons as much as anything else.
However, I would say that if you are thinking of spending a lot of money with a property firm you would be well advised to google them and see what has been said about them. Some companies have been repeatedly criticized for sharp practices and have been exposed again and again - and it is all out there on the net.
So, do have a look what has been said about a firm before you part with your hard earned cash.
Now, a quick word about overseas property investment which is worth keeping in view if you are thinking of buying overseas.
On my last trip to the Czech Republic many people told me all about the massive appreciation of the local currency against the pound.
The Czech currency like the Polish one has increased against the Euro -and we know that the Euro has also gained against the pound.
So, when you are at the property shows and a smart salesman highlights the pound growth of whatever property investment he is selling overseas you should bear this in mind.
In other words, the property may have actually gone down in value locally and the growth in value in pounds may be totally attributable solely to exchange rate movements.
Don’t forget that currencies can move the other way too -and no one knows where they might go, despite what anyone tells you.
As I have said before, if you buy overseas there are always extra hassles compared to buying at home so factor that in.
For example, last week I spent three hours in a bank in Moravia (Czecho) just to get £10K of cash out. What a hassle that was.
Also be particularly wary of the costs of exiting your investment – how easy (or not) is it to find a buyer or transfer ownership and what would happen if you were to die suddenly.
Normally, if you own property overseas, your death triggers a whole lot of hassle for any beneficiaries to your will - with the main beneficiaries being lawyers.
So think ahead and find out the facts.
ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
I’m David Lawrenson of landlord experts’ lettingfocus.com.
I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting - How to Make Money in Buy to Let” which for the last 2 years has been the UK’s top selling property title - buy the UK's top selling property investment book.
It is fully up to date with all the recent changes to tenancy deposit schemes, HMOs, licensing, capital gains taxes and it has new sections on buying property below market value.
I’m an expert property journalist, property speaker and a well known buy to let blogger
I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a number of columns in the press and I can provide landlords advice
I also work as a consultant helping banks, building societies, housing associations and web portals with their buy to let and property products and services and am a regular speaker at property shows.
You can read more of my blog & find details of my networking, advice, property mentor programme at my website.What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we offer you help as an independent property coach because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, a developer, an agent or bridging loan financier and do not receive commissions from any of these sources.If a property investment is lousy – We’ll tell you straight and we will tell you all about buy to let and property investment - the good and the bad and we won’t make silly promises that you’ll become a millionaire overnight.
Copyright: David Lawrenson 2008. This blog is updated once a week.
WANT TO BE KEPT UPDATED WITH OUR LATEST BLOGS?
It’s easy.
Look to the right of this blog and you should see my smiling profile. Then page down a bit and and you come to where it says “Site feed” - click there and away you go.
You then just copy the link that comes up into your News Reader or News Aggregator. Even a non techie like me managed to do all this.
Please note if you are thinking of reproducing material here - that’s fine but we DO require the full links shown in each blog to be included including also the links in the section “ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON” Please contact us via the Contact US button at our main site www.lettingfocus.com if you have any queries about this.
The problem for me is that whilst I’ll happily recommend companies I know who are good, I don’t like to give any negative comments on a particular company - for legal reasons as much as anything else.
However, I would say that if you are thinking of spending a lot of money with a property firm you would be well advised to google them and see what has been said about them. Some companies have been repeatedly criticized for sharp practices and have been exposed again and again - and it is all out there on the net.
So, do have a look what has been said about a firm before you part with your hard earned cash.
Now, a quick word about overseas property investment which is worth keeping in view if you are thinking of buying overseas.
On my last trip to the Czech Republic many people told me all about the massive appreciation of the local currency against the pound.
The Czech currency like the Polish one has increased against the Euro -and we know that the Euro has also gained against the pound.
So, when you are at the property shows and a smart salesman highlights the pound growth of whatever property investment he is selling overseas you should bear this in mind.
In other words, the property may have actually gone down in value locally and the growth in value in pounds may be totally attributable solely to exchange rate movements.
Don’t forget that currencies can move the other way too -and no one knows where they might go, despite what anyone tells you.
As I have said before, if you buy overseas there are always extra hassles compared to buying at home so factor that in.
For example, last week I spent three hours in a bank in Moravia (Czecho) just to get £10K of cash out. What a hassle that was.
Also be particularly wary of the costs of exiting your investment – how easy (or not) is it to find a buyer or transfer ownership and what would happen if you were to die suddenly.
Normally, if you own property overseas, your death triggers a whole lot of hassle for any beneficiaries to your will - with the main beneficiaries being lawyers.
So think ahead and find out the facts.
ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
I’m David Lawrenson of landlord experts’ lettingfocus.com.
I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting - How to Make Money in Buy to Let” which for the last 2 years has been the UK’s top selling property title - buy the UK's top selling property investment book.
It is fully up to date with all the recent changes to tenancy deposit schemes, HMOs, licensing, capital gains taxes and it has new sections on buying property below market value.
I’m an expert property journalist, property speaker and a well known buy to let blogger
I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a number of columns in the press and I can provide landlords advice
I also work as a consultant helping banks, building societies, housing associations and web portals with their buy to let and property products and services and am a regular speaker at property shows.
You can read more of my blog & find details of my networking, advice, property mentor programme at my website.What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we offer you help as an independent property coach because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, a developer, an agent or bridging loan financier and do not receive commissions from any of these sources.If a property investment is lousy – We’ll tell you straight and we will tell you all about buy to let and property investment - the good and the bad and we won’t make silly promises that you’ll become a millionaire overnight.
Copyright: David Lawrenson 2008. This blog is updated once a week.
WANT TO BE KEPT UPDATED WITH OUR LATEST BLOGS?
It’s easy.
Look to the right of this blog and you should see my smiling profile. Then page down a bit and and you come to where it says “Site feed” - click there and away you go.
You then just copy the link that comes up into your News Reader or News Aggregator. Even a non techie like me managed to do all this.
Please note if you are thinking of reproducing material here - that’s fine but we DO require the full links shown in each blog to be included including also the links in the section “ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON” Please contact us via the Contact US button at our main site www.lettingfocus.com if you have any queries about this.
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