As chair of the Property Investment Professionals of Australia, Ben Kingsley often gets asked about overseas investment.
It’s something he cautions against due to the long list of things that could go wrong for buyers operating in an unfamiliar territory.
And appealing price tags can often come with surprising hidden costs.
Finding the right person to look after the property is a major hurdle to overcome.
John Tripidakis is a lawyer based in both Australia and Greece.
His clients mainly buy in Greece for sentimental, leisure, or investment purposes.
He advises paying attention to the different ways things operate offshore.
He recommends finding qualified professionals to outline immediate and annual costs, ways and frequency of communication, right from the start.
Tripidakis recommends hiring a lawyer to help you navigate the complicated process of purchasing an overseas property.
Everything should be properly documented to avoid miscommunications and to make sure the agent is clear of his or her obligations.
Ben Kingsley, on the other hand, prefers to deal with properties in his most familiar territory.
He says overseas buyers often choose to invest in Australia due to the well-regulated market despite new taxes such as the NSW government doubling the stamp duty for overseas investors from four to eight per cent, the “ghost tax” for vacant properties, and the removal of capital gains tax exemptions for foreign buyers.
According to Credit Suisse, Chinese buyers accounted for an astonishing 87 per cent of foreign property investment in NSW during the first half of 2017.
