The Success Of Your Overseas Rental Hangs On This
Buying a rental property overseas is one of the most rewarding—not to mention smartest—investment moves you can make today.
Not only is there the monthly cash flow to look forward to, but you also have the advantages of:
- Diversification outside the United States;
- Use of your own property should you decide to spend time on location;
- The potential for capital appreciation when/if time comes to sell.
How much your rental income “paychecks” amount to month to month—and how much you could sell your property for some years down the line—is, of course, dependent on the market. Identifying the markets with the most potential today (and for the long term) is part of our core agenda at Lief Simon’s 2017 Global Property Summit here in Panama City this week. (If you’re not with us in person, you can tap into all the action here.)
Apart from the market, there’s another critical factor in guaranteeing yourself the best return on your rental property. You need to be able to easily reach your target renters—and, in the case of a short-term rental, keep bringing them in.
If you’ve played landlord in the United States, you have some idea of the issues involved. Dealing in a foreign market or being a long-distance landlord is a whole different game.
Fortunately, you don’t need to do that. And you’ll probably sleep better and live longer if you don’t.
Enter the rental manager…
The cut a local rental manager will take to look after your place and rent it out will far outweigh the potential for disaster.
Sometimes, your property manager is the one who takes care of everything—sourcing tenants and taking care of maintenance. Other times, you’ll deal with a separate property manager and a rental manager or agent. If you can get one property manager to take care of everything, it makes it easier for you.
Of course, all property managers aren’t created equal. And finding a good property manager is critical to your investment success.
Speaking at last year’s Global Property Summit, publisher Kathleen Peddicord said that in more than a decade of buying and renting properties overseas (from Paris to Buenos Aires to Medellín):
“Some have been wild successes… others abject failures. But for every failure, it all came down to one thing: the rental manager.”
What should a good rental manager do for you?
Looking at property and rental management as one package, here’s what you should get:
- Your funds directly deposited into your bank account;
- Utility bills paid;
- Maintenance taken care of;
- Inventory management;
- Your property kept as close to 100% occupancy as humanly possible.
The best property/rental managers are those who have a strong web presence. Latin America Editor Lee Harrison—who joins our discussion panels this week—says, “You don’t rent any better than your photos on the web. Your rental manager needs to be highly visible. When I google ‘rent apartment Medellín,’ my property manager’s properties show up on Airbnb, VRBO, etc. For all the petty complaints I have, they don’t add up to the return I get with this apartment.”
Lief, Kathleen, and Lee, along with Rich Holman—a rental manager in Medellín—will be back on stage tomorrow at our 2017 Global Property Summit to discuss the issues involved in renting property overseas—and how to best prepare yourself so you ensure the highest returns.
Before then, we’ve much to get through today, including:
- The perks and pitfalls of buying property overseas;
- The best current opportunities in 2017;
- Focused sessions on Argentina, Brazil, and Panama;
- How to earn 16% from a farming investment in Panama;
- Forestry investment opportunity in Colombia;
- Aquaponics investment in Thailand;
- Beachfront opportunities in the Dominican Republic.
And that’s just today’s menu. We have three full days here together, during which our colleagues, contacts, friends, and personal resources—including top developers, agents, and legal and tax advisors from the world’s top havens—will be in the room for the biggest global property event of the year.
Not only do they want to inform you about where you should be looking—they want to guide you through your move or investment in the easiest, most efficient, and safest way possible. Most of them have sat on your side of the fence at some point—and they’re not afraid to tell it like it is.
If you’re in the room with us here in Panama City, remember that we’re recording every presentation, every panel discussion, and every Q&A session and will send you the complete program with our compliments as soon as it’s been finalized.
If you’re not in the room with us this week, don’t worry. You can access the complete bundle of recordings, too.
Valentine Fouché
Editor, Live and Invest Overseas Confidential
