The Dangers of Investing Abroad

Index

• Experience 1: The apartment
• Experience 2: The Weoley Castle Property
• Experience 3: The Willenhall Property
• Experience 4: The Crewe Property
• Analysis of the Property Market 2010 
• Analysis Update  
• The one that got away
• Repossession Report 2010: 36,400
• The Dangers of Investing Abroad
  

In Brazil, for example, many European investors lost their investment funds in a pre-construction luxury resort in north east Brazil (near Natal).

The developers’ glossy brochure promised 30,000 homes, a marina, golf course, sports centre, spa, heliport, shopping centre and even a plastic surgery clinic – all on an idyllic beachfront location surrounded by a lagoon. The problem was that no construction was ever built and the money miraculously 'disappeared'. Amongst a complex legal battle, the investment fund has still not been recouped to over 500 investors and the developer remains in a Spanish prison.

Don't forget the mud slides in Brazil, the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and parts of the USA, the cyclones of Eastern Australia, and the fires of Western Australia. I'm glad I didn't invest in the Nata project - I was seriously considering it but, at that time, I had run out of money. I'm remortgaging my oldest properties to continue building my portfolio. I will release more money in 2012 and 2013 when the others mature. As LTVs continue to increase, further money can be released by virtue of that increase.

Naturally, all this money will be reinvested in the UK where it's safer. This reminds of Dr. Martin Weiss of Wiess Research when he coined the phrase "be worried about the return OF your money rather than the return ON your money". The Brazillian experience of losing ALL your money underlines that phrase.