What are the best sites to look for os property on? I currently use www.propertyfinder.com and it is really good for looking at overseas property. What other sites do people recommend? Are any better than this one?
I don't. These commercial sites only show you the very limited portfolio of places they have on their books. In my experience, the best sites are the local agencies for the area in which you are looking. If you're not at that stage yet, and perhaps don't even know what country to go for, then don't get too specific too soon. I appreciate that this can be difficult, but from my own experience, the international property sites, and agencies "catering specially for the British investor" often don't give a good picture.
I'd be interested in what people have to advise on that difficult first stage of narrowing-down the search?
bts: I've had a quick look at propertyfinder for the area where we have a property, and it is definitely a very selective, narrow and imcomplete `trawl' of miscellaneous stuff. It's yields a lot of hits, but that doesn't mean that it's representative - which it isn't.
Hi bts! I would say that the most important decision when buying an overseas property is deciding what you want the property to do for you. Is it purely for short-term capital gain to provide a one-off profit or is it to provide long-term regular income? I’m more interested in the long-term as it is usually safer. You should have a look at this site www.dcpropertiespoland.com. They are a company based in London that deals with property investment in Poland. I think out of all the EU and soon to be joining countries Poland is the most stable and shows the most potential. It is the biggest country in central Europe and has a very stable economy. Gross Domestic Product was up by 4% last year, which is clear evidence of strong growth. Also Foreign Direct Investment is higher than any of its neighbouring countries which is another factor driving up economic growth. I have recently used their property viewing service and have started the buying process on 2 flats in Warsaw. Hope this helps.
