More people than ever before have had enough of this green and pleasant land. Cheap air travel and high UK property prices are fuelling the fires of expatriation.

An estimated two million Brits now live abroad permanently. That number is swelled further by the nearly one million who spend more than three months of the year abroad. Mortgage providers and conveyancing solicitors worth their salt are now altering the range of their services to take account of this, most usually by partnering with their professional counterparts in other countries.

The most popular countries for owning second properties are Spain, France, Portugal, Italy the USA and Greece. For those thinking of joining this growing tribe there are a few golden rules governing how best to approach a purchase abroad.

Location, location, location

It is not enough to suggest that you want a romantic rustic farmhouse that is ripe for converting with its own land and olive groves if, for example, you haven't got the first clue as to where this property should be. Location, matters just as much abroad as it does here.

Your location will be determined in part by the property's primary use. If it is to be a holiday property for you first and foremost with rental potential the rest of the year then you need to consider who you will rent it to. If it is to other Brits, then consider their ease of access. If it is France, can you drive from Calais Le Havre or Cherbourg in a maximum of four or five hours? If it is further south or in another country, is it accessible from more than one airport? How long does it take from airport to property?

A prime example might be the Lot-et-Garonne region in France. Bergerac airport was well serviced, until recently, by Buzz out of Stansted. Now that Ryanair has bought Buzz, this route is no longer being run. If you owned a Bordeaux-based property in this area and were relying on a steady income stream from renting it out, such a move could have seriously affected your annual income. So, perhaps you need to consider whether there is a choice of routes open to you.

There is also little point in stating rather whimsically that you aim to rent the property out without first having a clear understanding of just who will want to pay good money for your property and during what time of year.

If it is a summer holiday home, then you might have to give up the prime half-term and summer holiday slots to maximize your income and realize that, until everything is paid off, you only get to let your hair down out-of-season. Is the weather good enough to enable you to still take advantage of the property during these times?

Choosing the property

Once you have some clear answers to these questions and have narrowed down your precise location, then you can start to establish the type of property you want and can afford that best suits these criteria. This is where the web really comes into its own. It takes the legwork out of the initial property searching and can give you an idea of how fast the local property market is moving. Many sites have dates of submission on the properties listed there. Some also sound incredibly charming until you investigate further and see the pictures behind the story.

Here is one such example.

"Charming rarely-found townhouse in traditional French village where local life is enjoyed at a slower pace" could be translated as "semi-derelict hovel that backs onto fetid canal in village that locals have long since deserted to find work elsewhere".

However, small obstacles like this will not be enough to deter you from chasing your dream. When you find the right property, in the right place, at the right place, then the fun really begins.

It would be interesting to hear from anyone here who has bought and now live or rent a property overseas, and can maybe add their experiences to this thread on how to avoid certain pitfalls, the best value for money, up and coming locations, etc.

IT... One point you, and most people producing television programmes on this subject, don't mention and which is of the utmost importance, if one is
buying property abroad, be it as one's principal residence or 'maison secondaire' as the French refer to holiday or second homes, is the availability of healthcare in the place one hopes to live abroad. I have met lots of Brits
who have retired around the age of 60 to rural France and discovered that once their health starts declining, after about the age of 65, the attraction of
living in the French countryside is not as appealing as it once was. Many of them have returned to Britain for this reason. The same may be true of other rural locations.

midknight,

VERY good point, and not one too many consider I bet.

And then there's the possible problem of having to try and describe your symptoms to a doctor that doesn't speak English!

I think it's a nice dream, but in reality I think you must also have a base in the UK, no matter how modest, just in case.

Andy,

And no matter what people say about the NHS,
expatriates, a fancy word for British immigrants or emigrants,
start appreciating the NHS when they find themselves in that situation!

midnight

Good point.

Anyone who is considering staying/living abroad should first take the necessary steps to cover themselves with adequate health/accident/life insurance cover first.

Insider Trader
As most things while it is in fashion it will always be popular but a lot of people have re-mortgaged their homes to buy properties in foreign countries.
There are 2 things that are going to affect this
1) The housing market in this country is slowing therefore it will be more difficult to raise cash if UK properties are not rising a squickly.
2) The euro has appreciated markedly against Sterling over the past 2 years which has made Foreign property considerably more expensive.
As the English have been one of the biggest purchasers of homes in Spain recently it won't take long for these factors to have an impact on prices in these countries for UK citizens coupled with strange property law it makes it a much more risky proposition than a couple of years ago but you can't beat the old adage as you say, Location, Location, Location as Kirstie & Phil would say!!!!!

Guru

Another risk, and again I speak from the experiences of those who have encountered this problem, is that faced by people who sell up in Britain
and buy property abroad, France, Spain, Portugal etc with a view to living off
their pension, if pertinent, or the sum left over from the sale of their
UK property. Should they have to return to Britain at a later date, they
may not be able to afford to buy the type of property they sold to go abroad,
as property in the UK tends to appreciate far more and faster than it does in
the countries favoured by those seeking sunnier climes. As Andy says,
one should maintain a base in Britain to be on the safe side!

Good article, worth a look, in the Business last Sunday (6 July) about foreigners (mainly Brits and Dutch) fuelling French property boom. French property prices rose 10% across the country last year and have risen 3% in the first quarter this year.