Finding your Dream Home Abroad

Are you off to have a look for your dream home? And have you decided where to buy? Someone I was chatting to a few days ago was telling me that her dream had always been to live on Lake Como but that George Clooney et al had put paid to that!

And I suppose that price-wise Lake Como is a trifle out of most ordinary people’s price range now. The presence of Clooney plus folk like Sting caused a boom in the market that caused a 25% rise in prices in little over two years. Forget the global housing crash, prices here aren’t going to drop any time soon, with demand from wealthy Milanese and financiers and bankers based across the Swiss border still buying in the area, plus Hollywood’s elite baying at the gates!

But, as I said to my friend, don’t give up hope if the area you love is beyond your price range. Many people have found that you don’t necessarily need a movie star’s bank balance to pick up a property on or near the Lake. And the same thing applies worldwide. If you find that the area you love is too expensive, have a look nearby. For instance in Spain, prices are at a premium near the sea, especially around the Costas – Costa Brava etc.. Just a few kilometres inland there is a dramatic drop in property prices – the same applies to Portugal and the Algarve area. A few miles back from the water or in the lesser known western area of the Algarve prices are considerably lower.

What I am trying to point out is that sometimes you need to move only a short distance away from the really expensive areas to find places that are still within your price range. And sometimes circumstances change.

In Greece for instance I know of a new coastal development in Messinia in the southwest Peloponnese, one of the most enchanting coastal landscapes in the Mediterranean. On completion, Costa Navarino will have 5-star resorts, luxury high-end residences, state-of-the-art conference facilities, world-class spa centres and golf courses. Now, the point is that I feel sure this will raise the property prices in the area and getting in early may just be a good idea. So do your homework and take advice from locals. But don’t necessarily buy from them – this then becomes a conflict of interest that many people have been tricked by…!
So…as I have indicated before, it’s all down to good planning and research. Plus of course a really good estate agent can prove invaluable. Good luck!

Until next week.

Kim