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Advice on Buying a Holiday Home - [BACK]

The number of British citizens living abroad has surged in recent years, with a record 207,000 people leaving their homeland in 2006. British expatriates are now thought to number around the six million mark, but the figures are hard to judge because of the number of people who travel back and forth between holiday homes. A particularly popular place to have foreign property is Spain, while France and Florida also feature as favourites for Brits.

If you frequently visit a region of the world then you may well have considered buying a holiday home. In the long term, buying a holiday home could be much cheaper than getting a holiday package every time you want to visit your favourite place. Owning foreign property has been made all the easier in recent years with thanks to many airlines and internet companies like Monarch Airlines offering easy to book cheap flights to a variety of destinations, meaning that the cost of getting to holiday homes has dipped. However, buying a holiday home is certainly still an expensive enterprise, but if you’re considering it take a look at the points below before you make your purchase:

• Make sure you can afford it. If you’ve only just bought a home and think that a foreign investment might be worthwhile, you should probably think again. Buying a foreign property will push you deeper into the red and make your home living all the more austere. As a general rule, if you’re current mortgage costs more than 30% of what you take home each month then you shouldn’t consider anymore debt. Pay as much as you can off first.
• Do your research. Think about the market you’re buying in – has it good potential of growth? What have been the growth figures over the last couple of years? Once you’re sure that a home buying a home in your favoured destination is viable financially you’ll have to look around for mortgages. A foreign mortgage is the same in principal to getting one in the UK, but there may be extra fees, restrictions or extra tax to consider when buying abroad. Take a look at mortgages.co.uk for more information.
• Who will look after it? Consider this one long and hard, because homes often require maintenance when you can’t be there. If you buy a home thousands of miles away, it’s important that someone is there to check on it every once in a while. You might want to consider giving that responsibility to a foreign estate agent or local company. With that in mind, you could also rent your house out when you aren’t there; while it might seem an extra hassle, you will bring in extra money and the house won’t just be standing vacant.

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Mortgages2homes Limited introduces clients to a Panel of Mortgage Brokers who are authorised & regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Mortgages2homes Limited are not authorised or regulated by the Financial Services Authority, the content of this web site is "information" on the services that are offered by our partner advice companies, and must not be taken or used as "advice" on the type of mortgage that is most suited to your needs. Buy to Let & Commercial Mortgage services are provided by The Money Centre. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information published on these pages is accurate, no liability can be accepted for any inaccuracies or any loss suffered as a result and Mortgages2homes Limited hold no responsibility for any advice given by our partner companies.

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