Advice essential if purchasing overseas property

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by Kay Murchie

Surveys by Barclays and Yorkshire Bank have established a significant rise in the amount of people wanting to purchase abroad, whether for investment or residential purposes.

The International Property Investment Pavilion (IPI) 2007 Report issued this week shows that Britons spend more than £20 billion on property abroad whereas the amount of people owning a house overseas is now over one million.

IPI show manager, Siobhan McAfee, said the international property market has become an increasingly attractive investment over the last 3 years. The craze looks like it will continue with research highlighting that 35% of independent financial advisors (IFAs) will be giving overseas property advice within the next 3 years.

According to the ifs School of Finance, IFAs getting involved is a good idea. An IFA is there to serve the interests of the customer, so if the customer is keen to invest abroad then the IFA will promote the best ways of the funding of the purchase.

IFAs can help as there are many different laws on tax, inheritance, ownership rights, land registration, tenancy rights and many other aspects.

However, the School added that some IFAs are not skilled in dealing with the drawbacks lining the route to a foreign investment. Noting that the average IFA is not going to know all the finer points of the property market and the particular legislation that’s required, the School recommends specialist IFAs.