URL Not Found

Property Abroad What's it All About?

What's it all about?

The past 4 - 8 years have seen a tremendous increase in the interest, purchase and hype of buying a property abroad. The late 90's and early part of the 21st century has seen house prices surge in the UK to record heights, this together with the ever increasing coverage of the low cost airline destinations has given the average man in the street the excess equity in their existing homes and easier access to be able to think about buying and perhaps living overseas.

We've probably all been on a foreign holiday to some exciting destination, be it Europe, The Americas or even further afield and admit it whenever we've seen a local estate agent we always make a beeline for their shop window if not to compare the prices to back in the UK then certainly to see how and what we could afford - we've been doing it for years without really considering the possibilities.

4 years ago the number of properties owned by people from the UK hovered at around 170,000. Now there are over 1million Brits owning second homes in Spain and France alone, and figures from the Office for National Statistics recently revealed that around 200,000 Britons travel abroad every year in search of buying a property with the intention of staying for a minimum of 12 months.

The main question we at property-abroad.com are asked by investors and holiday home seekers is where should we buy? A difficult question to answer because every person's idea of owning an overseas investment or holiday property is completely different. We have a selection of questions that we ask client to consider when thinking of buying abroad which include:

?Budget - how much do you want to or can you spend. Do you need a mortgage or finance?

?Location - is location important for you? Beach, countryside or town?

?Use - personal for holidays or purely investment or a bit of both?

?Access - is getting to your property easily and cheaply important to you?

?Employment - will you need to work what is the employment situation?

?Schooling - do you need to consider such things as schooling for your children?

?Size - will a one bed apartment be big enough or do you need to consider a 4 bed town house or villa?

?Rentability - is it going to be a necessity to rent your property out to help with mortgage payments?

Although we have over 300 different websites and feature over 50,000 properties for sale in over 45 different countries abroad no two enquiries are ever the same and as such we treat each enquiry on a personal basis. We feature properties for sale directly from local estate agents and developers in every country.

What about the legalities

Buying a property abroad can be relatively straightforward - there's nothing really complicated as long as you follow instructions and use a reliable legal representative - whether they are from the country concerned or from the UK - it will make you feel more at ease and will help things to run smoothly. We feature various guides and books on buying property abroad on our website and apart from various little peculiarities in certain countries most overseas property purchases can run smoothly.

Mortgages

Financing your overseas property is a lot easier now than it was a couple of years ago. Mortgages for buying property abroad can be arranged through high street banks like the Abbey National, Nat West and Barclays. However, you may need to look at specialist lenders for new and emerging countries like Turkey, Bulgaria, and Croatia etc. Consideration should also be given to obtaining a mortgage in the country that you are buying in - things like euro mortgages can often work out cheaper than UK lenders but be aware of the changing exchange rate. Typical loan to value %'s can range from 60 - 80% depending on the country.

Insurance

As with all major purchases insurance must play a part in your overall budget plan. We would strongly recommend that adequate property and contents insurance is taken out to cover your investment as it grows. Although you don't anticipate any problems arising with your new home you certainly want to ensure that your investment is covered against loss and damage. Although there are a number of UK based companies that will offer Overseas Property Insurance - you will also find that there are local companies able to offer similar coverage in each country.

Most of us here in the UK are already home owners and there exists a continuing strong demand for our little piece of England. However, there exists a growing sector of young people who are unable to climb on the UK property ladder because of the high cost of entry property prices and as such are entering the overseas property market as a means to secure some foot holding on an emerging property market.

A Place in the Sun - Channel 4's property programme recently compiled their list of the 20 best places to buy a property abroad for investment purposes. To refresh your memory we have included those destinations below in ascending order from the best to the least projected returns on investments.

Romania - Poland - Portugal - The Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) - Sweden - Belgium - Slovakia - Sweden - Finland - Hungary - Luxembourg - Germany - Czech Republic - Ireland - Austria Netherlands - France - Italy - Spain - Cyprus

With over 45 countries covered in our overseas property database prices of properties for sale in the areas above can range from a plot of land in the Bahamas from ?2000 right up to a country holiday complex in Tuscany for over ?33 million. Typical property prices in the likes of Romania stand at around the ?10-15,000 mark for a decent property in the outlining areas whereas ?5,000 + will get you a rural property requiring renovation and upwards of ?30,000 will buy you something very near to the city of Bucharest.

Our Tip

The property market in Poland is our tip for rapid future growth as we consider the country to have the best prospects of all current EU members. There are a huge number of international companies, such as Tesco's and GSK, beginning to set up offices, shops and warehousing in the country - this together with over EUR70 billion of European funding earmarked for the country over the next 8 years or so can only indicate the anticipated growth in employment, housing and infrastructure. Together with our Polish partners we are currently busy identifying new opportunities within the country and will soon be marketing off-plan developments in Poland throughout our massive infrastructure of websites.

As we become more and more daring in our ventures of overseas holidays then the great British public will continue to conquer new and exciting areas of the globe in which to lay their foundations of a holiday home or indeed a permanent residence abroad. Whatever your reasons are for considering a move abroad then remember there's only one company out there that can offer access to over 30,000 properties for sale worldwide www.property-abroad.com Tel: 0870 720 3210

Les Calvert - the Director of http://www.property-abroad.com often writes articles and information on the overseas property market. Visit their site with useful information and properties for sale all over the world http://www.property-abroad.com/locations

States That Do Not Recognize 1031 Tax Exchange

This article looks at states that do not recognize 1031 tax exchange. While Section 1031 is part of the United States Internal Revenue Code (IRC), it is important to know whether the same rules apply to State taxation for those states that have income taxes. Some states simply follow the rules of the IRC, while others have completely separate set.

While IRS Section 1031 allows any US investment or business real property to be replaced tax free with any other investment or business real property anywhere in the United States, there are states that do not recognize 1031 tax exchange. These states only allow an exemption from State taxation if the replacement property is located in that same state. If the proceeds are reinvested into property located outside of that particular state, it will be considered a taxable event and state income tax will be payable.

Besides costing investors the State taxes, this will also require them to keep track of a separate higher cost basis for the replacement property for State tax purposes than is to be used for Federal taxes.

Currently, it is our understanding that the only two states that do not recognize 1031 tax exchange (Georgia and Mississippi) will only honor the tax free status of a 1031 exchange if the replacement property is also located within their borders. Rules do change, so double check with the State tax authorities.

For the other states that do recognize a 1031 exchange, and do allow capital gains that had accrued on their properties to be rolled over into other states, they will expect the deferred taxes to be paid if and when the replacement property is disposed of in a taxable event. But in practical terms, this hardly ever happens because honestly, most times investors aren't telling, and more importantly, states aren't actively pursuing that information. Still, you would hate to be made the test example.

Finally, some states also have different rules, including special tax withholding requirements, applying to sellers of in-state properties who are not residents of those states. The list includes California, New York, and Maryland.

In summary, to ensure a smooth exchange, it is important to be aware of those states that do not recognize 1031 tax exchange. Also, it is critical to review the specific rules of the states in which both relinquished and replacement properties are located well before a deal is scheduled to close. This will ensure consistency with particular state rules including that the proper amount of taxes are withheld from the exchange, if necessary.

Getting Started On the Right Foot

Although our personal financial outlook is one of the most important contributors to our individual and family well-being and happiness, most of us never learned this in school. Our school system doesn't teach you just how important your credit score, personal financial statements and financial goal-setting skills are, yet these things are crucial to your financial shape and success.

Continually work to improve your credit or establish credit by keeping accounts open and by paying your accounts on time. Don't worry if you have poor credit; you can still start investing in real estate right away. However, excellent credit will allow you to partake of some of the most creative and lucrative financing options available to real estate investors, so it is important to start working on your credit score.

Second, understand the importance of creating your personal financial statements. Your financial statements will help you create a plan that will lead you to true financial freedom.

Undoubtedly, some of you will cringe at the very thought of having to take a hard look at your financial state. Look at it this way: How will you ever be able to determine where you want to go and how you're going to get there if you don't even know where you are starting from? After all, the key to becoming financially free isn't earning millions of dollars; the key is controlling your personal finances. How many former pro athletes and rock stars have made millions of dollars only to find themselves bankrupt and living on skid row? How many multi-millionaires work long, hard hours just to pay the bills and then retire too old and worn out to enjoy the kind of lifestyle they had always dreamed of living? Too many. Unfortunately, they were never taught how to take control of their financial situation. Here is your opportunity to start doing that.

The first step towards living the lifestyle that you've always dreamed of is to determine how much passive income you need to become wealthy.

Next, assess your debt repayment expenses. There are positive and negative debt repayment expenses, and it is important that you understand the difference. Positive debt is when you use other people?s money to purchase an income-producing asset (leveraging). You will be acquiring a lot of positive debt through real estate investing. (For example, you take out a loan from the bank to purchase a new rental property that produces a positive cash flow. Although it is someone else?s money, like the banks, it still creates a positive revenue stream.) Positive debt expense is a positive cash flow that puts cash into your pocket. Negative debt expense is a negative cash flow that takes money out of your pocket.

Do what you can to reduce your negative debt. Analyze your assessed debt expenses and evaluate how you can reduce or eliminate the negative debt repayment expense. Often, when you reduce other budgeted expense categories, you are able to apply the difference between the assessed amount and the budgeted amount to your negative debt.

Finally, review all other expense categories and make appropriate adjustments.

SUCCESS STORY

Emily never believed she could start investing in real estate because of her poor credit. One day, she found out that her friend Debbie was making a lot of money investing in real estate despite her bad credit history. When Emily asked her how she was able to invest in real estate with a poor credit history, Debbie explained that she had learned how to buy properties despite her poor credit . She told Emily that at first she used seller financing and high-interest conventional and unconventional loans to finance her investments. Initially, her investments broke even due to the higher-than-normal interest rates. However, she applied the investing tricks and turned her credit around in 12 months. She then refinanced all of her properties at lower rates, which made her properties begin to cash flow $1,900 per month.

Paul Pratt teaches easy and simple steps to achieve unprecedented real estate success. The world of real estate is constantly changing and Paul shows you how to adapt to every situation and make a profit. His first successes include a high school teacher, college drop-out, MBA graduate, waiter, secretary, real estate agent, banker and a stay-at-home mom.

Regardless of your starting point, Paul will construct a personalized investment plan for you that will maximize your profits and help you reach your financial dreams. If you are ready to claim your success and learn what only the ultra-prosperous know, begin by going to MYreiTEAM, and discover what you need to do in order to capitalize on the real estate revolution.