UK buy-to-let investors are being tempted by offers of guaranteed rents on property deals around the world, but how good are these deals in real terms and will there be any rental demand once the guaranteed period ends?

Worldwide opportunities

Investors are looking beyond the overcrowded UK market for untapped property hotspots in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and out to the Far East.

Deciding on the best foreign markets to invest in is a case of weighing up the potential for growth and rental income against the risks and costs.

For example prices of residential homes in Beijing rose by 20% in 2005 (according to the Beijing Municipal Construction Committee), however there are many issues regarding the transfer of funds out of China, a 5% tax on rental income and the possibility that the Chinese government could claim the land back.

Latvia on the other hand presents a lower risk to foreign investors, with membership of the EU and the ability to borrow up to 90% of the value of the property making it a more appealing choice.

However, this is not to say that an investor can simply buy any property in Latvia and expect to make easy rental returns. Like any foreign market, the risks are generally higher than buying in the home market.

Incentive to buy

To help encourage potential landlords to overseas markets, a number of investment companies are offering guaranteed rents for anything up to 5 years. Rental guarantees, it is argued, provide a reliable safety net for riskier markets, however many experts warn they are merely a marketing tool and advise investors to look very closely at the deal being offered.

Key issues

One of the biggest issues with guaranteed rentals is a lack of demand for the property once the period has finished. Guarantees are often used to market properties that otherwise would not sell and many investors are shocked by the resulting drop in income.

In addition to this, it is often the case that investors end up footing the rental bill themselves, when developers inflate the price of the property to cover the guaranteed rent. This can provide a further shock when the investor tries to sell the property and realizes that it is not worth as much as they originally paid for it.

If you do opt for a guaranteed rental deal, make sure that it is properly underwritten by a bank. Otherwise you would be at risk of losing the guarantee if the developer were to go out of business.

Poor regulation means that it is also worth checking the small print for any hidden clauses that enable the developer to avoid paying the guaranteed rent and it is always a good idea to seek expert advice.

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The first thing that should be noted is that flipping houses is a great way to bring home a rather large profit in a relatively short amount of time when doing so in a seller’s market so to speak. The problem is that we currently seem to be experiencing what is known as a buyer’s market from one end of the United States to another. Foreclosures are at an all time high, which means that the market has suddenly been saturated with properties for sale.

While this is excellent news (believe it or not) when it comes to getting your hands on a property at a lower price, it also makes a difficult time of convincing buyers to pay top dollar when there are better bargains down the road. This of course is one of the primary risks involved in the real estate investment venture that is known as flipping properties. The massive profits that most investors seek cannot be accomplished if the property cannot be purchased, rehabbed, and sold quickly.

Unfortunately, at the moment, very few properties in any city are selling too terribly quickly. The worst case scenario in a situation like this is that you are forced to either absorb the loss (which can in extreme cases result in serious financial hardship or bankruptcy) or rent the property out (which will in most cases negate all the efforts that were made to rehab the property. An inability to sell the property that is being flipped is probably the worst fear of every property investor who engages in this sort of investment. In these cases it is often better to drop the price and take a loss than hold out for a better price risking further losses in the future.

These are not the only risks associated with flipping properties unfortunately. Another risk would be the risk of seriously underestimating the amount of money that will be required in order to do the necessary work. This is something that many first time investors find is a fairly common occurrence. Most people have unrealistic expectations of exactly how far their dollars will go when it comes to investing in the materials and labor needed to properly rehab a property. Even minor cosmetic repairs throughout a house can easily run into several thousands of dollars in order to repair. The flip side is that once these repairs are made the potential profits run into several tens of thousands of dollars.

Another risk that isn’t often considered is the risk of overestimating abilities. This is one risk that costs not only precious time but valuable money as well. Not only is material wasted in the process of discovering you aren’t exactly skilled in any particular tasks but also there are further expenses (often unplanned) involved in hiring the professional to repair the damage and replace the material that was wasted. When in doubt, it is almost always best to hire a professional if at all possible. This also leads to missing deadlines, going seriously off schedule, and adding yet another mortgage payment (if not more than one) to the overall price of the project.

The final risk is often something that simply cannot be seen or anticipated. This was experienced in the days immediately following 9-11 and should not be forgotten. The unforeseen happens every day. Markets crash; local economies can be devastated by the announcement of a major employer that it is going out of business (thinks of the collapse of companies such as Enron and World Comm and what they did to local economies). In these instances, the market will take quite a while to recover from the shock to its system and ‘flippers’ among other investors are often left feeling just as lost and devastated as those that were victimized by these companies-both through no fault of their own.

Stuff happens and those things that we have absolutely no control over are almost always the things that affect us most profoundly. The same holds true when it comes to property investment. The state of the economy, the housing market in an area, and sudden announcements that affect either can often have the most profound impact on those who are investing in property in those areas whether for better or for worse. The trick is in deciding which risks are acceptable.