Tips for Buying Homes Abroad
International Money Transfers
Buying a holiday home, or even going the whole hog and moving abroad, might seem like a dream but unless you’re savvy it can quickly turn into a nightmare. Here are some things to think about.
Don’t just buy somewhere you saw on holiday and fell in love with. Everything looks nicer through sun soaked, cocktail soaked holiday goggles. Do your research and shop around for a property that will really suit your needs.
Dealing with builders, planning departments and anyone else who imposes red tape can be frustrating, time consuming and ultimately really dangerous. It’s not hard to find horror stories of people who thought they had planning permission but didn’t, and the local authorities bulldozed their home while they were away. Get a solicitor who speaks the local language, but where possible avoid buying a recent build or not yet completed property, or anything that requires too much work doing to it.
Think about money. Not just how you’re going to pay for the home – although this does need thought. Remortgaging on your UK property will put both properties at risk if you can’t keep up with payments. Taking out a second mortgage will allow you to protect you UK home more, and some banks and buildings societies specialise in different overseas market so read up on how they can help. It’s probably easier to get a mortgage from a UK company than one in the local currency, as you won’t have to deal with fluctuations to exchange rates, but sometimes there are tax advantages to having a local mortgage.
Then on top of the mortgage, you’ve got bills, local taxes and any costs for maintenance while you’re not there or management of the property. How will you pay for these? Not just, can you afford it, but how will you physically get the money there? Will you have a local bank account or will you use your bank or another specialist broker to help with international money transfers? There are also additional costs to property buying abroad which we’re not used to in the UK, for example high stamp duty, valuation costs or legal fees. Make sure you know what these charges will be so you can budget for them.
You might also think that it’s a great idea and you can afford it now, but what if a budget airline stops flying out there? If there’s a problem, can you fly there on short notice to sort it out? Will it really be a dream or will you end up bored of going to the same place, fed up with the expense and craving a simpler life?
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