21
Identify a Purchase
Unless you're buying strictly for personal use and know without question where you want to purchase, the biggest challenge of buying property overseas can be identifying where to buy. I've offered recommendations, depending on your objectives and interests. However, my recommendations are big picture. Spain and Ireland offer crisis-investing opportunities, Panama and Colombia are markets of abundant opportunity, and so on. Deciding that you'd like to own in Panama because you like the idea of buying into a bull market with a long run still ahead of it is a great starting point, but it's only a starting point. Do you want to buy in Panama City or the mountains? On the Pacific coast outside Panama City or in Bocas del Toro in the Caribbean? On the Azuero Peninsula or one of the islands in the Bay of Panama? Unimproved land or a rental apartment? Preconstruction or commercial? I could offer positive arguments and make specific suggestions in each case, but you'd still face many decisions. How do you move from the very general notion that you'd like to own real estate in a particular country to identifying the specific piece of property you want to buy?
It takes time and what I refer to as “being in the market.” When you target a country or a region as a place where you think you want to buy, you need then to work to position yourself so that you're ready to act when the right opportunity presents itself. You do this by researching, scouting, and staying connected. ...
