Property vs Shares: Discover Your Knockout Investment Strategy

Overseas investments

Buying property and shares overseas can be very different from buying locally. You will be affected by different markets, different rules and regulations, and different currencies. In this chapter we provide you with an overview of buying investments overseas and some of the implications of doing so.

There are thousands of overseas real estate investment trusts (REITs) that you could invest in, but in this chapter we focus on direct property investment overseas. That is, buying real property in another country.

There are more than 200 countries in the world and theoretically you could buy property in most of them. However, most nations have rules about property ownership by foreigners. In Australia, for example, few restrictions are placed on foreigners who want to buy commercial property. There are more constraints when it comes to purchasing residential property. In Australia, foreigners are encouraged to add to the supply of residential property and therefore are allowed to buy new, off-the-plan property or vacant land for development. However, foreign non-residents or short-term visa holders cannot buy Australian established (secondhand) dwellings, unless it is for redevelopment.

The rules and regulations vary considerably across the world. Some countries ...