Owing a property abroad - would like to hear people's experiences

marksoton

I've toyed with the idea of somewhere in Cyprus as i love the place.

It's amazingly clean and civilised compared to the UK. Maybe a longer flight but worth it.

But i'd never do so as an investment. The markets too volatile.

ibizafan_2

We owned a one bed frontline apartment on the Costa Blanca for around 18 years before selling it 15 years ago, before the recession and making over £60000 profit. It gave us many years of lovely family holidays, but when my sons got to 18 and 15, they had mostly lost interest in going there every year. The first holiday after, was spent in a hotel and I realised how much easier it was for me. No more washing and ironing, dusting, cooking, washing floors etc. It was a revelation quite honestly, and I decided that I was quite happy never to own a property abroad again. It served its purpose at the time and has given us happy memories, but I like being waited on these days!

Glover1862

Glad I read this thread, I was thinking of buying abroad but this has changed my mind, any recommendation for buying in the U.K? I'd like to let it most of the time and use between let's maybe as a future retirement pad, max budget of about £160k. I already have 2 btl's in the Hertfordshire/Bedfordshire area so rather than buy another nearby( will be final btl) I thought maybe buy somewhere part holiday part investment.

Chanes

We have a friend who has a villa in Portugal which is used regularly and loved and healthily in profit. And we also have friend who bought land and houses in Bulgaria and lost a lot (and he even did a lot of research before parting with his cash) I work with someone who bought on a Spanish beach front apartment complex and lost a lot. I think if you are going to use it often or family and friends are using it works out in the long, long term but the markets for property abroad will be subject to hard changes when we leave the EU so there is a gamble to it.

BarryBlue

We have for several years considered buying property in Spain with the intention of spending much of the year there, especially the winters. We even viewed property there but didn't buy as we decided to wait until my wife could retire. Things have changed a bit in the last couple of years though, and we are now minded not to buy there at all.

Last year we visited the area we like with some friends who were planning to rent in Spain in the first instance. (Everyone, especially friends in Spain, said rent first to be certain where you want to be.) We looked at property with them and there are plenty of lovely places available for very reasonable cost if you want a 6/12 month rental.

So that is our plan at the moment. We have a BTL portfolio here which we plan to expand in the next couple of years. We will retain a UK property as our base, probably an apartment rather than our current house. One of our BTL apartments will easily finance a much bigger property in Spain. So - own here and rent in Spain, with the added advantage that we can have a different property each winter if we wish.

Andypandyboy

I think Spain is a difficult play to buy. We had friends who bought a front line apartment but up a hill away from the beach and which needed a car whenever you left the apartment. They loved it at first because they spent the day on the beach and then went back to the apartment and cooked Dinner. Eventually, they got a bit fed up with not being within walking distance of anything and as their kids got older they didn't want to go as they were also stuck in the apartment. All in all, it wasn't a thought through purchase and they sold up at a loss.

I think you have buy according to your current circumstances and in some ways try to have a crystal ball about how things might change. Whilst those rural properties might look romantic, having to get in the car for everthing and be miles away from services and emergency services might not be what you want in retirement or as a young family.What happens if one of you is left alone, how would that pan out?

Lots of things to consider before you let the excitement of buying abroad overtake common sense and pragmatism.

robatwork

Your problem is you want to buy as an investment, and you also want to buy somewhere you really like. These are 2 different things and you need to mentally differentiate.

For the former, you need to find somewhere prices are going to rise. It won't be spain, portugal or any of the usual suspects.
How about a villa on the Black Sea in Bulgaria on Varna beach?
Little flat in the centre of Bucharest?
Istrian apartment in Rovinj? (although Croatia is hardly much of a secret to tourists now)
House in Riga?

Who knows where the next boom may be?

mumps

ognum wrote: »

Sounds like he has done the right thing for his family and he may well sell it at a profit but he has paid to upkeep it, taxes, utilities, repair and updating, has he factored all those into his profit?

The OP asked about it as a pension plan, even your friend who can perhaps make a profit will not have made enough to keep him in his old age if he sells. Good he enjoys it though.

I honestly don't know, he's not a close friend so I don't know all the ins and outs. As his parents live there for a few months a year they might share the running costs. I think his plan is that he will sell his house here and move to Spain when he retires so will release about £300,000 plus selling his business.

OneInTheHat

robatwork wrote: »

Your problem is you want to buy as an investment, and you also want to buy somewhere you really like. These are 2 different things and you need to mentally differentiate.

For the former, you need to find somewhere prices are going to rise. It won't be spain, portugal or any of the usual suspects.
How about a villa on the Black Sea in Bulgaria on Varna beach?
Little flat in the centre of Bucharest?
Istrian apartment in Rovinj? (although Croatia is hardly much of a secret to tourists now)
House in Riga?

Who knows where the next boom may be?

yes I think that's my biggest issue is I'm looking at it for dual purposes which isn't the right way to look at it really. Either I should look at an investment or look at it as somewhere I will go and spend a fair amount of time and not bargain on the investment bit.

I am also not sure about the property market in the UK to be honest. I can see prices are stagnating near me (but it's about time really). I went to look at some properties down south (mainly holiday let type properties) and some of them had an OK ish return but I'd need a mortgage to buy any of them. I don't know enough about property in the rest of the country to comment on it.

A few decades ago I had a holiday let place abroad (not in Europe) and did make a fair bit of money on it (it was v cheap in the first place so the return was high % wise but was never a lot of money). You're very right AndyPandyBoy about positioning for that sort of thing. Just one road out of the way or a parking issue etc. and you can see a massive difference in your ability to let it out.

ibizafan_2

As people have said, location is key. We visited friends once who had a magnificent villa inland on the Costa Blanca. It had breathtaking views, but you had to get in a car just to buy a loaf of bread. I was glad to get back to our apartment across from the beach, where you could walk to bars and restaurants and walk along a lovely promenade. With children, it would have been even worse, as villas can isolate you completely. I sometimes think it would be nice, albeit expensive, to buy somewhere in Ibiza, but then common sense hits me and I realise it would be much better to rent for a few months. Unless you can afford to pay someone to do all the maintenance, it's a constant worry.