• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Panama
      • Portugal
      • Colombia
      • Northern Cyprus
      • Belize
      • Spain
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Indonesia
      • Vietnam
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Panama
      • Portugal
      • Colombia
      • Northern Cyprus
      • Belize
      • Spain
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Indonesia
      • Vietnam
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result
Home Real Estate

How To Choose A Rental Investment Property Overseas

Four Things To Know Before Investing In Rental Property Overseas

Kathleen Peddicord by Kathleen Peddicord
Nov 07, 2021
in Real Estate
0 0
0
Beautiful street view with old residential buildings and Eiffel tower during the daylight in Paris

Adobe Stock/rh2010

216
SHARES
3.1k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

First, you aren’t buying real estate in most of the world today for capital appreciation.

It’s possible in select markets, but you should think of it as the gravy. In today’s global climate, you’re buying for yield, and for cash flow, meaning two kinds of property investments are of greatest interest right now—rental properties and dividend-producing agricultural plays.

When shopping for a rental investment overseas, target markets with tourist track records. In Paris this week, I’m reminded that this city is a top example, for it is a destination that will attract visitors even when times are tough. As long as there is money in the world, people will come to Paris to spend it.

Second, before making any rental investment, have an idea in mind of who your end-buyer would be.

This helps you to put the acquisition into perspective. The French leaseback, for example, is a great hassle-free rental investment in one of the world’s top tourist destinations. But it’s an investment. You aren’t going to live in a leaseback unit (no more than maybe several weeks a year)… and neither is anyone else. So your buyer, when you’re ready to exit, will have to be another investor.

On one hand, this limits your potential universe for selling on. On the other, investors are always going to be looking for ways to own French rental units.

Meantime, an apartment in Paris (or Buenos Aires, Medellin, Panama City, or Istanbul, to name some of my favorite current markets for this kind of investment) could, theoretically, eventually be resold to another investor… or to an end-user, someone interested in residing in the city.

Third, consider inventory supply and demand.

The Costa del Sol, for example, is ridiculously over-supplied. So, even though prices in that part of the world have collapsed over the past few years, I wouldn’t recommend it as a place to shop for a rental investment… though other parts of Spain’s coast are a buy right now.

Get Your Free Real Estate Report Now!

Sign up for our FREE daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you our latest Real Estate Report: The 10 Things To Know Before Buying Real Estate Overseas.

The key consideration, though, when looking to buy-to-let overseas is the rental manager.

You can act as your own rental manager, but I don’t advise it. If you’re not residing physically in the same place as the rental unit, I say definitely don’t try it. I’ve had more than 20 years of investor-landlord experience in more than a dozen countries. This isn’t something you want to take on yourself unless you’re prepared to make it your full-time occupation.

Engage someone who knows the market, who has marketing infrastructure in place, who has developed a client list you can leverage, and who can show you proven management systems (for reservations, for inventory control, for reporting, etc.).

Our first apartment investment in Paris rented extraordinarily well the first year. However, the rental manager spoke no English and was perpetually late with replying. So we switched to another manager, an American. Yes, he spoke English, but he, too, was perpetually late with replying… and, more to the point, he got us less than half the occupancy we’d enjoyed the year before, though the market was stronger and tourism figures were up.

When you make a rental investment, you’re choosing, first, a market; next, a rental manager; and, finally, a property. Before you make a particular buy decision, seek advice from the rental management agency you’re planning to work with. What’s more rentable? Two bedrooms… or one?

What matters most to would-be renters? Location, of course… but other, less obvious things can be critical. In Paris, you’ll struggle to make a decent return off a fifth-floor rental in an apartment building with no elevator.

I don’t recommend long-term unless you’re well familiar with the market and have a rental manager who really knows what he or she is doing. In many markets, it can be difficult to evict a long-standing renter.

When we made the decision to rent our Paris apartment long-term, we interviewed potential rental managers. The one we chose impressed us because she made a point of telling us, with a voice of long experience, to whom she would not rent.

“We won’t rent to such-and-such people, because they throw wild parties,” she told us.

“We won’t rent to so-and-so people, because they don’t respect other peoples’ property.”

Etc.

In some contexts, her positions might be termed discrimination. We saw them as risk management.

A global portfolio of rental properties (or even a single well-selected rental apartment) isn’t a strategy for getting rich quick, but it is one of the best options available today for solid, reliable returns with the potential for capital appreciation over time and immediate diversification, which should be an overriding agenda of every investor today.

What level of yield should you expect?

A minimum of 5% per year net. Buy under-market or identify a market with some particular distortion at work (to do with inventory supply and demand, occupancy rates, seasonality, room rates, etc.), and you can net 10% per year or more.

Leverage can expand your return considerably. Lief and I are netting (after all associated costs and expenses) more than 20% a year right now, cash on cash, from a leveraged rental we own in Panama City.

Kathleen Peddicord

Tags: 'Property In Medellin''Rentals In Medellin''Rentals In Panama City'how to buy a rental investmentHow-toProperty In Buenos Airesproperty in istanbulProperty In Panama Cityproperty in parisrental investmentrental investment propertyRental Management Overseasrentals in buenos airesRentals In IstanbulRentals In Paris
Share87Tweet54
Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord has covered the live, retire, and do business overseas beat for more than 30 years and is considered the world's foremost authority on these subjects. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 21, established businesses in 7, renovated historic properties in 6, and educated her children in 4.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets across three continents, from the East Coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland... then to Paris, France... next to Panama City, where she has based her Live and Invest Overseas business. Most recently, Kathleen and her husband Lief Simon are dividing their time between Panama and Paris.

Kathleen was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. In that capacity, she opened her first office overseas, in Waterford, Ireland, where she managed a staff of up to 30 employees for more than 10 years. Kathleen also opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France.

Kathleen moved on from her role with Agora in 2007 and launched her Live and Invest Overseas group in 2008. In the years since, she has built Live and Invest Overseas into a successful, recognized, and respected multi-million-dollar business that employs a staff of 35 in Panama City and dozens of writers and other resources around the world.

Kathleen has been quoted by The New York Times, Money magazine, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, the AARP, and beyond. She has appeared often on radio and television (including Bloomberg and CNBC) and speaks regularly on topics to do with living, retiring, investing, and doing business around the world.

In addition to her own daily e-letter, the Overseas Opportunity Letter, with a circulation of more than 300,000 readers, Kathleen writes regularly for U.S. News & World Report and Forbes.

Her newest book, "How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad," published by Penguin Random House, is the culmination of decades of personal experience living and investing around the world.

Related Posts

Colorful street in Granada, Nicaragua
Real Estate

The World’s Most Affordable Real Estate Buys In 2023

by Lee Harrison
January 12, 2023
0

I just reviewed a listing for a trendy, one-bedroom loft in downtown Sacramento, California. It was reasonably priced for this...

Read more
Mazatlan as seen from afar with a spectacular cliff line in the foreground

The 2-Step Guide To Finding And Buying Real Estate Abroad

December 1, 2022
Tourist girl in a hat and with a backpack on the background of modern high-rise buildings in Batumi, Adjara, Georgia.

The Top Places To Buy Cheap Real Estate

November 29, 2022
Couple choosing new house using laptop

Is Rent In Europe Cheaper Than In America?

November 14, 2022
A beautiful stone house in Waterford, Ireland

Restoring A Georgian House In Waterford, Ireland

October 24, 2022
Beautiful Ambergris Caye in Sand Pedro Island, Belize.

The Best Condos In Belize’s Top Tourism Destination

October 5, 2022
Old Town architecture of Lucerne, Switzerland

Things To Consider When Investing In Properties Overseas

September 18, 2022

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas

A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas Today.







LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2023

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2023 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2023 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

The World’s Best Places To Be In 2023?

Discover Them Here…

Sign up for FREE and learn how to live the good life on a modest budget, find bargain property, and more. Plus, check out our free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE.

RETIRE OVERSEAS AND LIVE LIKE ROYALTY