How to Make the Best International Real Estate Deals Find You
Date: 04/06/2007
International Living Postcards– Saturday Edition
Saturday, April 7, 2007
The best real estate deals never reach the real estate agent’s window…or, in the case of the modern world, the agent’s website. When shopping for a property in Europe, you can literally go window shopping. Real estate agents put in their windows the best-looking properties, to get passers-by to stop…and hopefully step into the office. These window properties are not the greatest deals; they are the properties that photograph best.
The best deals generally don’t even make it to the listing sheets. When we bought our apartment in Paris, we spent all day looking at a dozen properties with five or six agents. Finally we got the last agent to better understand our criteria, as she rewarded us with "hmmm…I may have something for you that is yet to come on the market." It took a bit of prodding, but she agreed to show us the apartment…which we bought. Not only did it meet our requirements, it was a great deal, too. That apartment was never going to make it into the window.
To ensure you hear about the newest and best deals available–get on the list. Developers and real estate agents have mailing lists. When I bought a pre-construction condo in Spain, I went on the developer’s list. When they announced their subsequent project, I was one of the first to receive a mailing with the details (that was before the proliferation of e-mail; almost all alerts are now sent by e-mail). When you’re on these lists, you get first dibs on the best deals, a chance to upgrade, or a second chance on something you missed.
A friend bought into a pre-construction building last year. He was too late for the higher floor he wanted, so he reserved a unit on a lower floor. But now he was on the list. When he received the next alert on the project, he saw that one of the upper-floor units was now available, and he simply switched units.
Gran Pacifica in Nicaragua made an offer in December and January of pre-construction golf course lots at a great price. All the available lots sold out quickly. However, like many pre-construction offers, some of the buyers didn’t follow through with their contracts or deposits. Last week, I received an e-mail announcing that Gran Pacifica had 10 lots come back on the market. Without being on the list, I wouldn’t have known the lots were available.
I’ve lost count of the number of lists I’m on, but I never remove myself from those lists At any time, one of the offers coming through might strike me as interesting. Meanwhile, the e-mails are easy to delete.
Of course, just because you are on the list doesn’t mean you are ready to buy. Be sure that you have done your research, so that, when the deals come through, you are ready to take action.
Lief Simon
For International Living
P.S. If you’re interested in those Gran Pacifica lots I mentioned, five lots have a financing option–for each lot it’s $3,990 down and 36 monthly payments of $1,000. If you have cash to buy, the remaining five lots are $33,990 each. For details, click here.
Important note: In the interest of full disclosure, we want you to know that International Living receives commissions from sales at Gran Pacifica. As with any development in progress, please remember always to buy what you see…not what is promised.
