There are different types of properties available in the market. These properties differ by the reasons for the purchase. It is more of like, how you would like to use the property.

Residential Properties

You buy this type of property because you want to go there and live as a resident. Reasons vary for different people why they prefer to migrate to a different country. Residential Properties are more of like houses or town houses.

When you look for a house to live in, you always check about the surrounding areas of the place. You check if it’s close to the shops, the boutiques, the restaurants, among others. If you migrated because of work, of course, you will check if it’s near your work place.

Studies show that majority of the people who migrate do this because of employment opportunities and retirement privileges. This is also why more and more countries are advertising their properties along with the packages they have for elderly people.

You can apply for mortgage with this type of property. You can verify this first with your Realtor. To name a few countries that sell these types of properties, they would be the US, Portugal, Cyprus.

Business Properties

These are usually properties that provide rental income. For other people, they use this as their vacation destination. It’s their home away from home paradise. Examples would be Apart-hotels, resorts, timeshares.

Resorts and timeshares are somewhat alike. Timeshares are usually resorts that offer a fixed or a floating week within the calendar year in their property. A floating week would mean that it is the resort that assigns you the week for the year. It is either you get a mail about it or you need to confirm with your resort about the specific week assigned to you.

A fixed week, on the other hand, is self-explanatory. From the time you purchased the timeshare, you are already given a specific week. They may just call you regarding the rentals. They will ask you if you are set to go there, and use your week, or you would rather have it up for rentals.

Other Fees Needed 

For this type, aside from the price of the unit, you also need to pay maintenance fees annually. This will cover the upkeep and maintenance of your unit for the year. Other resorts offer quarterly and monthly payments as well.

One factor that led to the popularity of timeshares and resorts would point out to the tourists. It seems that they are always eager to look for fresher sites. Most of them thrive on the excitement of finding something new rather than the experience of being there.

To name a few countries that offer these types of units, they would be Bulgaria, Montenegro and Spain.

How to Purchase    

Like any other commodity, you need to pay for your purchase. This goes for overseas property investments also. You need to know how you can get that property you want. Getting a property is not like going to a shop today and buys something there that you will be able to bring home today also. This is not the case here.

When you purchase a property, you need to first check for the rates provided. Make sure you can afford the property. Here are properties that offer mortgages. Of course, assess if the rate isn’t that high and will not cause you any problems in the future.

Get a Realtor 

You can then consult with your Realtor. As mentioned above, your Realtor will help you a great deal. You can give him your trust but do not entrust him with everything. Legal matters, money concerns- you can talk all these over with your Broker.

Then, you need to fix the necessary documents that your Broker will instruct you to provide. Also, get some information about ‘the real score’ of you buying in that country and the type of governmental laws that they have. If the documents would pertain to a law or a regulation of that country, it’s all the more worth getting. Inability to provide these may get you into serious financial setbacks in the future.

Tips in getting a Real Estate Broker

1. Ask around

You can talk to locals if they can give you a name of a good Broker you can deal with. More or less, these locals would know who is frequently in their area. They would be familiar with the people, so this lessens the risk of dealing with a fraud broker.

You can also ask your friends to help you. This is good if you have friends that are familiar and who also deal with the investment market. They will be able to give you good referrals. This is a sure way to get a broker you can readily entrust with your money and future.

2. Research

Find out more about the Broker’s agency and about the Broker itself. You can do some research about it. This information will help direct you to an agency or broker you can trust.

There are so many tools you can use to get this information. Technology has come a long way. Use it to your advantage.

Legal Documents

In everything we do, we buy or even everything that denotes our whole being-has paperwork that we need to have handy. These are legal documents decreed by the laws of the government it falls under.

These documents are essential to validate who we are, to support our claims and to show what we possess. Although different countries have different laws, you need to meet them half way and abide by it. This is where your Realtor will come in very handy.

Your realtor will ask you for specific documents you will need to continue with the purchase. If something is unclear, feel free to ask about it. It is better to do that than to just confirm without understanding the consequences.

This will help avoid legal hassles. You need to be very careful in every step you take – starting from the time you saw the property up to the registration of that piece of development.

Before you confirm a property, you need to initially check the legal status of that development. Do not make any advance payments before you have affirmed the legal standing of the actual property.

Verify all the necessary details. Make sure the property has a lucid and saleable title. To confirm this, check first the tenure and the holder’s legal right in governmental records. These documents can be leasehold, freehold or under governmental grant. Among the three, freehold is the most preferable. These are the documents that the seller should provide to you as the buyer.

The other documents you need to check would be:

Title Deeds

You need to see the actual title deed of the property you are planning to buy. Check if the property is in the seller’s name, or if the full right to vend it lies only with him and no one else. Do not be contented with photocopied documents. Make sure it is the Original Deed being shown. There are cases when the seller pledged the original deed for a loan. You need to clarify this with the seller.

Check also if the seller has allowed any access/entry to others throughout the property and if any additional fact was left undisclosed or suppressed by the proprietor.

If possible, have the original deed examined by a trusted lawyer. Aside from this, if applicable, you can also demand the seller to show you copies of previous deeds of the property.

Tax Receipt and Bills

The first charge of the property would be the property tax. This property tax is due to the municipality or government of the country you are buying the development in. This should be paid annually or up-to-date.

You can start by going to the right municipal and government offices and verify if the development’s property tax is being paid religiously. You can also check the latest tax receipts from the owner.  While inquiring with the municipal and government offices about the property, ask them also if there were any requisition notices issued before. Ask if these notices are still outstanding and if it has not yet been complied with.

In verifying the property tax receipt, you can scan through the two columns there. Check if the name in the owner’s column is correct. The second column will hold the name of the person who paid the necessary tax. If the owner doesn’t have a copy of the tax receipt, you can get in touch with the correct village office.  You can readily confirm the original property owner by providing the land’s survey number.

If the property you are buying comes with a house, you would also need to check its house tax receipt. If applicable, verify also if the water and electricity bills are paid up-to-date. For any balances with the payment, this is for the seller to shoulder.

Encumbrance Certificate

When buying a house or land, it is imperative you verify if there are no legal dues anymore. This will be shown through an encumbrance certificate.  This is issued by the sub-registrar office. This is the office where the deed was registered.

The encumbrance certificate certifies that the property doesn’t have any complaints or legal dues. If in doubt, you can go as far checking from 13 years up to 30 years of encumbrance certificates. If you are still not convinced, you can also secure a Possession Certificate of actual ownership of the property from the village office.

Release Certificate - Pledged Land

There are people who pledged their land for a bank loan. Make sure the seller has settled this already. Receipt of the payment may look good, but it is still safer to demand for the release certificate. The bank issues this as proof that it is legally releasing the person, who made the loan, from all debts over the property.

This release certificate is also necessary if you are planning to make a bank loan in the future.

Release Certificate – More than One Owner

There are instances where-in the property is not simply owned by one person. If the property has more than one owner, you need to secure a release certificate as well. Get this from the additional persons concerned, before you register the property.