Aging baby boomers are driving the trend of more Americans pursuing real estate investments abroad, Kathleen Peddicord, editor and publisher of Live and Invest Overseas, tells Business Report in a feature from its current issue.
“This generation of retirees is more educated and better traveled than any before it,” says Peddicord, who has been researching, scouting, speaking and writing about how to invest in foreign properties for more than 30 years. “And so when they look around for options and opportunities for investment—and also for preparing for or imagining their retirement lifestyle—they look beyond U.S. borders.”
For many boomers, a real estate investment abroad can seem like a perfect opportunity to “turn this stage of life into an adventure that can also bring profit,” Peddicord explains. Most commonly, they’re looking for a cash flow property, a place where they can spend time while on vacation and rent it out when they’re not. But investing in real estate abroad is much more complicated than investing in the U.S., and those who are considering it need to take a cautious approach.
Something to keep in mind, Peddicord says, is that most real estate markets outside the U.S. deal almost exclusively in cash and loans are difficult to secure. The rest of the world also doesn’t have a multiple listing service that most Americans are familiar with, making it nearly impossible to look at comparable properties or gauge the market. It’s crucial to understand these and the many other risks involved with any international property investment, says Saul Newsome, an attorney specializing in international commercial real estate at Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson.
“Even if you are doing it for personal reasons, you have to look at it from a business perspective,” he advises.
Read the full feature, which includes the experiences of several local businesspeople such as Martin Svendson, Charlie Cole and Richard Robichaux. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.
