Home Or Away: Is It Better To Invest In Property Abroad?

The world may be in crisis, but there are some things that never change — and one of them is the potential of real estate investment. People will always need places to live, and successful companies (even after the remote-working revolution) will always want offices. So whatever else is going on, you know that putting your money into property is a solid option.

But where should you invest in property? It’s one thing to decide what type of property fits your needs and goals, but it’s another to decide where to buy: unless you’re rigidly set on buying locally, you have an entire world to choose from. In this post, we’re going to consider whether it’s better to invest in property abroad or preferable to stay nearby. Let’s get to it.

Buying nearby makes management easier…

The simplest reason to invest in properly in your country is that it makes it easier for you to manage. If you’re buying to rent, then you’ll have various obligations to meet, whether it involves fixing radiators or dealing with damp — and while you can hire area professionals to deal with those issues for you (or even do things like take property photos), it isn’t the most cost-effective way to proceed. And if you’re buying to renovate, then it’s even more important that you can easily access the property.

In a time of limited international travel (for most people, at least), this is a critical reason to be concerned about investing in property abroad. It may require you to partner with another investor from the area of the property you’re looking at, which could be complicated to arrange and significantly reduce the amount of money you stand to make.

…But demand for overseas property is rising

Now that remote working is here to stay, people are becoming much more open-minded about moving far away — even internationally. They can buy property elsewhere and move without having to change their jobs (or heavily damage their social lives). What’s more, the practical process of facilitating such a move is getting easier: with property finders like PrimeLocation and online mortgage brokers like Breezeful, there’s no longer a need to visit an agency branch.

This means that the value of property in central locations is threatened for the first time in many years, and the value of country property is on the rise. Infrastructure is certainly important, but even that is somewhat flexible: mobile data connections are very reliable these days, meaning a professional could live and work from somewhere without a high-speed internet hookup.

Exchange rates afford greater profit potential…

If you’re eager to make as much profit as possible, buying internationally is probably the way to go, because you can take advantage of the relative values of currencies. Big houses tend to appreciate more, and even if you can only afford somewhere small in your native land, there’s a good chance that you can afford somewhere much bigger overseas (for the same price, too).

It really comes down to doing a lot of research to pick out the places most likely to increase in value — and the likelihood of those places just happening to be near your current location is fairly low. If you’re hungry for success, you need to go where the money is.

…But the associated risk is also higher

High risk, high reward — and high impact if things turn against you. Even as property remains a strong investment, there’s a lot of uncertainty about what’s going to happen, and it means that trends aren’t very easy to predict. Housing prices predicted to rise in one area may fall instead and take years to resume growth. Who can say with any conviction?

And while this isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker (you may be willing to wait for years to see results), it can cause big problems if you’re pushing the limits of your finances in an effort to see quick returns. Burning through your resources while seeing your property drop in value could be utterly calamitous and push you into a corner.

There’s no straightforward answer

In the end, there’s no way to say definitively whether it’s better or worse to buy abroad, and that’s because it depends entirely on the circumstances. All you can do is be aware of the full range of options available to you, and be sure to consider every element before you make a decision. You don’t want to make a huge financial commitment to something until you’re quite certain that it’s the best path for you to follow.

EAN Content

Content shared by this account is either news shared free by third parties or sponsored (paid for) content from third parties. Please be advised that links to third party websites are not endorsed by Estate Agent Networking - Please do your own research before committing to any third party business promoted on our website. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

What landlords need to know about the upcoming Renters Rights Bill

The government’s long-awaited Renters Rights Bill is one of the most significant overhauls of the private rental sector in decades. While it has not yet received royal assent, the legislation is expected to come into effect late this year, or early in 2026. With the bill moving closer to becoming law, Steven Bond, managing director…
Read More
Letting Agent Talk

Buy-to-let investors can benefit from 12% price discounts for unmodernised homes

Research by London lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, shows that buy-to-let investors can snap up unmodernised properties for as much as -12.3% below the average market house price, providing a stellar opportunity for strong and relatively fast investment returns. Benham and Reeves analysed house price data for 36,175 unmodernised properties currently listed for…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

UK estate agents facing heightened competition as agency numbers up 24%

The latest research by eXp UK, the platform for personal estate agents and estate agency businesses, has revealed how competition has grown within the UK estate agency sector, with the estimated number of estate agency businesses increasing by 24% since 2017, with this figure expected to keep climbing over the coming years. eXp UK analysed…
Read More
Breaking News

Homeward Bound

Homeward bound: 74 per cent house price growth over twenty years and affordability barriers price Brits out of their childhood hometowns House prices across the UK have increased by an average of 74 per cent, over the last 20 years, from £113,900 to £268,200 52 per cent of Brits have said they would consider a…
Read More
Breaking News

Growth in mortgage and rental spending slows for third consecutive month in May

Consumer spending on rent and mortgages grew 4.6 per cent year-on-year in May, slower than the 5.2 per cent recorded in April Spending on utilities rose 4.4 per cent, likely as a result of April’s energy price cap changes Seven in 10 of those remortgaging in 2025 anticipate higher costs, estimating repayments will rise by…
Read More
Breaking News

£39bn boost for affordable homes programme

Following today’s Spending Review where affordable housing has been allocated £39bn over the next 10 years, here are some thoughts from the Industry. Alex Slater, Rightmove’s housebuilding expert: “Today’s news is a really positive boost for the housebuilding industry and a step in the right direction. There aren’t enough affordable homes, so we welcome any…
Read More