A lot of us have thought at some point about buying property overseas. The possibility of high returns for a relatively small real investment is a major attraction to anyone. The main reason the majority of people don't invest more seems to be that the whole process seems too high-risk and they feel the legal and the paper-work end of things requires some special qualification. People often say to me they are concerned that they won't be able to 'keep an eye on their investment'. My usual answer to this is 'when is the last time you've seen your shares?' The main mistake people make is seeing an investment property as a home instead of an investment. When I buy a property I don't gauge it on whether I would like to live there, I look at the rent potential of the property or developments in the area that will increase capital appreciation rates in the future. The key to success in property investment is not by how qualified you are or how much you have to invest as I will show later; a relatively small investment can bring good returns if properly researched. Therein is the key, research. I would recommend the internet as a good starting place for anyone seeking to buy overseas property. It is a vast resource of information with everything you need to know to make an informed decision about where to buy. I will go through my most recent experience of purchasing overseas property as there is nothing like personal experience when it comes to a complex process like overseas property purchase. My most recent venture has been a 1 bedroom serviced apartment in Shanghai, China. A lot of people would consider this to be a high-risk purchase because to most non-Chinese people it seems a million miles away but in reality as long as research is done properly and I can't emphasis the importance of this enough, any risk can be greatly reduced. I initially was searching the internet for information on emerging property markets. A good tip here is to look what the large multi-nationals are investing, for example companies such as JPMorgan were investing heavily in Shanghai at the same time I purchased my apartment. This got my attention and I began to look further into it. I looked at things that might affect capital appreciation rates such as wage levels in relation to property prices, the general state of the economy, recent rates of capital appreciation, planned foreign investment, currency stability, government policy in the area...the list goes on. I looked into basically as many eventualities as I could that could affect my investment both positively or negatively. If you would like a full list of details as regards what to look for in an area you're interested in please feel free to contact me (contact details can be found on my website). Once I had identified my area (I had decided on the Pudong district. A financial services area of Shanghai) I then began to look for a company with an interesting development. I believe that finding a company in your local area is of great importance for a number of reasons. It may prove more expensive in the short-run but you will save yourself a lot of hassle as the process of purchasing can be quite lengthy and with deadlines looming you don't want to be struggling with international phone codes or waiting for post to arrive from abroad. I finally choose a company with a proven track record and run by people with an excellent degree of experience and expertise in the area. This was important for a number of reasons. It reduced the chances of being scammed as opposed to signing with a relatively unproven or unknown company. It also meant that the process went as smooth as possible because as with anything that relies on different groups of people especially when a foreign language is involved problems will inevitably be and were encountered along the way. You will be thankful as I was when you are represented by people who can deal with these problems professionally and efficiently. The price of the apartment itself was €173,000 or $204,000 if you hail from the U.S. and £115,000 for anyone of British origin. I am not 100% sure if the legislation is the same everywhere but I had to get an equity loan from another property as financial institutions don't provide mortgages for foreign property where I'm living (Ireland). There was the option to take a Chinese loan but since it required a 40% deposit I decided against it. It is important to remember as well that a rule of thumb when buying property is that whatever the price is you can add about 10% further onto it to cover legal and administration fees. That is pretty much how it worked out in this case with the final figure working out around €193,000. It is important to study the currency exchange rate stability before deciding what type of finance to take as it can have a big effect on repayments. With the equity loan the only up front payment I had to make was a €10,000 deposit. I often find that paying over a large lump sum at the start is a good idea even if not required as it not only reduces repayments but it helps you to assess if you can afford the property by how difficult it was to get that sort of money together and also gives you a sense of assurance in the case that something should go wrong. The particular development I choose has one important feature in that there is a guaranteed rental agreement on it for five years. Guaranteed rental agreements are now becoming increasingly common and are something that I would highly recommend looking for when choosing a property. Ensure, however that they are backed against some other asset and ask the company you are dealing with for the net amount you will receive and how often you will receive it as there can often be a lot of blowing smoke and conjecture by companies in giving details in this area. The apartment I choose a had 6% gross yield (i.e. 6% of the property price) after tax and management fees dropping to about 5% will is quite a good rate. The management set-up is quite an important aspect of the purchase. It is a good idea to get quotes (if possible) of typical management fees in the area to gauge the value for money you are getting. A guaranteed rental is a good way of buying a number of investments as a good rental scheme of say around 5% should pay off the majority of a 20 year mortgage allowing you to purchase a number of other investments from the equity of your original investment. In this way a relatively small investment can quickly grow to become a major investment within a few years. This is just a general overview on buying overseas property as an investment. If you would like detailed information on any aspect of the article feel free to contact me. My details can be found on my website.

Dave Costello is the founder of www.internationaljobsolutions.com which recently came online. He has a bachelor's degree in Economics and is current member of a small but highly successful property investment group.