International Real Estate Investment | Eye on Worldwide

The Right Property for You

Posted on 14. Feb, 2009 by The Property Dude in Buying Abroad, Investing Abroad, Lifestyle Abroad, Owning a Property Abroad, Relocating Abroad

Who are you? and What do you enjoy doing?

Sounds simple but how many people forget the answers when looking for a 2nd home, lets leave the investment part to one side for the moment.

Lifestyle is the new buzz word on all developers lips these days (yeah, mine too) but what are we really offering you? Will this be a lifestyle addition or is it just more marketing hype with no backbone, one company was offering the purchase costs as part of their lifestyle package! Hmm, not really. Tennis, restaurants, private beaches, a case of champagne every Christmas, now thats what I call lifestyle. Discounts in hotels around the world, now thats what I call … etc etc.

A resort has more life style than a house, and a golf resort or a spa resort has more lifestyle than a standard resort, why not ask for a list of facilities and count them. Swimming pool indoors, swimming pool outdoors, great but are they heated? Spa, is it really a spa? if so, what does it offer? one rowing machine and a jacuzzi does not make a spa. Facilities cost money to build and maintain so this may explain some of the differences in price of the properties you are looking at. I will be dealing with how to value ‘Lifestyle’ later in the month.

What time does the restaurant stay open until, are children welcome? and I really mean welcomed not just accepted. There is no point having a michelin star if your child only eats sausage and chips (like my eldest) on the other hand a cafe that only serves all day breakfast may get a little tiring.

How far is it to the beach? this is often misrepresented, lets say its 800 meters, that doesn’t sound far does it? but are you really going to walk all that way with the children and all the essentials to keep them interested (so that you can relax), only to find when you arrive that you have forgotten the ’sesame power turtle sand machine’ you promised little Freddy. Who is going to make the mile round trip to go and get the forgotten item? The real question is, what’s the parking like in the middle of summer when the whole world and their dog descend and your child has an upset stomach.

Will your lifestyle resort only offer a shuttle once a day or will they be ready to pick you up when you phone?

We often buy on a whim and thats fine for hats or cinema tickets but when you are spending 6 figures (and more) spend a little time, stay on the resort, I bet if you say that you are not convinced and want to come back, they will offer you a free holiday, I would and do, people who stay at one of our resorts want to come back! Even better why not negotiate to ‘try before you buy’, these kinds of initiative separate the developer from the operator, where possible you want to buy from an operator as they have a vested interest in your happiness!

So firstly you need to analyse your current lifestyle and your past holidays, what you actually do with yourself, then you can think about who you want to be and what you fantasise about doing (hmm).

Finally, always check the competition, dont be fooled by marketing (all that fancy marketing is added to the price of the property) and watch for my blog on how to value Life Style.

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