Research, research, research

If location is one key to buying property, many an expert in the industry is just as quick to use the word research, at least when it comes to overseas purchases. Those buying investment property overseas will find plenty willing to emphasise this message.
Among them were some of those speaking in the Property Investor and Homebuyer Show debate in Manchester this month. ISI managing director Alistair Dickens warned against jumping in without looking first: "It's about knowing your markets and if you're feeling a bit befuddled in the UK context at the moment then starting to dabble abroad is probably a dangerous thing because you do have to get to know the fundamentals of the property market."
This was not the only such advice. Jonty Crossick, chief executive officer of Ready2invest Limited, explained: "It's about choosing the right market; it's about being committed to a market, learning it and doing your research and due diligence and making it happen." He added that it was also important to have a plan for "medium term fundamentals" rather than looking to make a quick buck with frequent flipping.
With such emphasis on taking a sensible approach and doing plenty of research, it may be important to avoid getting dazzled by headlines about how a particular place is the latest hotspot, or how a celebrity has bought there.
For example, the Times has reported that the Vilamoura area on the Algarve property has had plenty of attention of late, not just for the advent of the six star Palacio da Quinta hotel and Algarve residential property development but also the fact that no less a luminary than Jose Mourinho has bought into it.
The self-proclaimed "special one" said: "This project is absolutely fantastic. Portugal should be happy and I congratulate myself for being a part of this. I think victory is certain." But while that may be so for Jose, whom the paper suggests is generally cautious with money (despite not being short of it), the apartments in the development start at £996,000.
For most investors, therefore, it is perhaps worth looking at how an area stacks up when it comes to potential investments in their own affordability bracket, rather than the local top-end properties that attract the sort of person who can leave a job in September and afford to wait until the following summer to be headhunted for the next one without worrying about how to pay the bills.
In the case of Portugal, the paper noted in a separate article, the best bet for those looking for the right investment is the Silver Coast, where prices are comparatively low and the market is emerging, offering good growth prospects. This could just be the area where the right research will uncover a very good investment - maybe even a truly special one.

Jim Barnaby is a real estate investment broker and successful property investment adviser delivering research and selected UK and overseas property investment solutions with experience in spanish properties, french property investment, German property, Cyprus holiday homes, Property in Cape Verde, German property investment, cape verde property buy to let property.