House buying abroad

Robin00

Bulgaria is 'the new Spain' to some extent - we are getting more and more enquiries for people needing to send currency there. Same goes for Dubai, specially as the Dirham is tied to the US dollar, making purchases there relatively cheap at the moment.

For foreign mortgages, I do know of one company which I have heard a few good reports on, https://www.mortgagemaestro.co.uk, let me know how you get on!!

talksoccer

Im just a beginner to the foreign market in purchasing homes, dubai is somewhere i have to get a property, that is the most beautiful place in the world. Can you recommend me any ways to do my research in finding the house or the websites which i can use. Any other tips you can give us would be a great help.

Cheers

inmypocketnottheirs

fazfazeli wrote:

I would suggest going to one of the property exhibitions. Also I know that Barclays Bank have a specialist Spanish Motgage Center and I think a few Spanish Banks Have Branches here, Banco Santander comes to mind.

Not forgetting of curse that Banco Santander owns Abbey. Also Banco Santander are tied up with Royal Bank of Scotland for money transfers between RBS and BS accounts (both ways between Spain and UK)

dellamirandola

None of my business, I realise, but isn't it a bit, well, immoral, to drive up prices in poor countries so the people who live there can't buy a house? I realise that one BTL won't make a difference, but a flood of UK money going to buy up houses in poor countries could, just as the flood of London cash going to Cornwall leaves the Cornish unable to buy.

Baby_A

talksoccer wrote:

Im just a beginner to the foreign market in purchasing homes, dubai is somewhere i have to get a property, that is the most beautiful place in the world. Can you recommend me any ways to do my research in finding the house or the websites which i can use. Any other tips you can give us would be a great help.

Cheers

https://www.dubaiselect.com is a popular one. They are currently selling in the marina, the torch prperties. I think last time I checked 65 % were sold. Its cheaper to buy in the international city than the marina.
You need 30% paid by Dec 05.

patrickcroft

None of my business, I realise, but isn't it a bit, well, immoral, to drive up prices in poor countries so the people who live there can't buy a house?


Wrong forum della, if you are looking for morals. The people here only care about making money ££££! Im all right jack and pull the ladder up. Thatcher lives on! But have we made any progress in the development of our society since the 80s? More crime, everybody up to their eyeballs in debt, schools have gone to hell. At least we are all working (too much) for what? - as long as you have the Audi in the driveway they wont think you are a failure.

Ian_W

Wrong forum della, if you are looking for morals. The people here only care about making money ££££! Im all right jack and pull the ladder up. Thatcher lives on! But have we made any progress in the development of our society since the 80s? More crime, everybody up to their eyeballs in debt, schools have gone to hell. At least we are all working (too much) for what? - as long as you have the Audi in the driveway they wont think you are a failure.

Whooooo... the words Teddy, Pram & Throw spring to mind Patrick!!

But to answer Della's point, 40 years ago Spain was a very insular dictatorship with a poor and almost peasant based economy with little infastructure away from the main Cities. To-day it's a leading Western Democracy with a vibrant economy where, it is said, per capita earnings will soon exceed those of the UK. What changed it in such a short time? Inward investment starting with tourism and moving on through to property.

They've also probably got " More crime, everybody up to their eyeballs in debt, schools have gone to hell ... " etc, but I think more Spaniards would rather have the prospects they have now, than the ones they had then.

So whilst everybody here may be out to make £££'s [or this case €€€'s] out of investing in property overseas it does provide REAL employment & economic benefits for the population of the country being invested in.

So it depends on your point of view, if its more moral to allow the peasants to remain in poverty in their hovels, because at least they're affordable hovels - so be it. But me, I'm glad I could afford my own Shoebox - stuff the other 13 still in the shoebox I was brought up in ... I'm alright Jack!

MattLG

Hear hear, Ian!

Maybe a little more intelligence is required before criticising property investors. Some of us are doing this with the prime intention of helping the local economy in poorer countries. (Admittedly, not all of us are so altruistic)

Why do you think these countries are deregulating their property market to specifically encourage foreign investors?

MattLG

dellamirandola

I take the point about inward investment - though I'd put Spain's recent success down to EU membership as well. But you're right - the money coming in from UK holidaymakers must have helped the Spanish economy.

It does rather depend on how inward investment works though, doesn't it? If you're successfully renting a property out somewhere where tourists will then use local businesses then it should help the local economy. If you're planning (as happens a lot in Cornwall) to keep the place empty most of the year, or if you overpay for the house and then fail to find tenants, then you are doing the opposite. And any speculative price bubble is likely to crash, which could bring the whole economy down with it. That's without going into the way in which the Spanish coastline has been devastated by hideous hotels....

Again, I'm not out to condemn everyone doing this, I'm just pointing out that there are moral issues here, as well as the considerable financial risk of buying a house in what looks like a housing market peak. Either way, good luck with your buy. Any plans to learn the local language?

Ian_W

dellamirandola wrote:
I take the point about inward investment - though I'd put Spain's recent success down to EU membership as well. But you're right - the money coming in from UK holidaymakers must have helped the Spanish economy.

You're right that EU membership has played a big part but most EU infastructure schemes require some, or even equal, funding from the member state - without the tax revenues of inward investment I doubt Spain would have afforded them. Moving to a democracy also played a big part ensuring that more of the money went to ordinary people - OK, the fat cats still got a bigger share - but the workers got there's as well [Interestingly they still have a quaint custom over there if they don't, called STRIKES - you may remember them, we used to have them here once!!]. :rolleyes:

I reckon our one bedroom apartment let through the year put around £30k in spending money and our taxes & charges into the local economy x that by tens of thousands of similar apartments and that is a lot of money going into a small resort just from letting! We sold, earlier this year, after owning for 8 years and made a nice little profit but I think the locals got their fair share out of us and our guests and, no, aprendí solamente la lengua un poco!

Cornwall I think is different but with similarities. Overseas they're building new on a huge scale and that's where the investment big & small is going, in Cornwall people are buying old and there is little new builds so the housing stock isn't available at affordable prices to local buyers. But similar to abroad Cornwall benefits greatly from tourist £'s - or at least my wallet feels it has as we drive back north from there!! - which creates jobs and pays wages that otherwise wouldn't exist. Don't know the answer other than possibly destroying more beautiful countryside with affordable, residence restricted, housing!

We'd love to buy there ourselves with the eventual aim of retiring there. Would that be OK if we promised to try and fill it as much as possible with guests with big wallets? And, of course, learn the language!!