Overseas Investment Property - How to Make Big Gains with Low Risk

If you want to make money from overseas investment property you need to keep one major factor in mind when doing so – most overseas investors don't and get burned.

If however you can learn to avoid this common mistake, then you can make huge gains – overseas property can be cheap and have huge profit potential for the savvy investor if they play it safe.

The risk of emerging markets

Each week it seems there is a new property investment destination to look at that could give you huge gains.

The problem here is with the word "could" - most new destinations simply don't emerge.

Sure, you hear about the people who became millionaires by being in first, but their small minority.

If you want to be a pioneer go ahead, you could get rich but remember most of the pioneers got arrows!

Buy an established trend.

You will hear this phrase a lot in the stock market and its true, a trend in motion is more likely to continue than reverse.

It's the same in buying overseas investment property.

Once a market has taken off, it will continue for years or decades, as most people buying or living overseas want to be surrounded by the comforts of home and people who they can relate to.

When the market develops it becomes more popular, as the infrastructure expands to provide what is in effect a home from home.

Central America

Consider the favourite country for US investors Costa Rica.

The growth that has been seen in Costa Rica in the last 15 years has been stunning.

For example, a $30,000 property bought just 15 years ago near the popular town of Jaco is worth as much as $800,000 today.

In fact property prices have increased by 300% in the last 10 years.

Costa Rica remains popular as it has the best infrastructure and home comforts for Americans and cheap affordable beach front property at up to 80% less than in the US and its only a short flight away, so the odds of the trend continuing are high.

30% + gains or more are still be made by investors with low downside risk.

Now you can get the property cheaper in say Nicaragua, but it's poorer, lacks the infrastructure and involves more risk.

If you want to be surrounded by street children and poverty it's great – but Costa Rica is the safer bet.

Its property boom has been running longer, the trend is up and infrastructure makes Americans and other foreign nationals feel comfortable.

With beachfront property still great value, the baby boomer generation retiring and the opportunity to make a rental income as well as great capital gains and you have the recipe for further great gains in the years ahead.

The lesson in overseas property investment is

Trade established trends you can make great gains with low risk.

Everyone wants to be in first and make a killing, but more often than not this leads to financial disaster.

In most cases tomorrow's property investment "hot spot" soon becomes yesterdays and is forgotten by everyone, except those who have lost money.

If you want big gains trade the trend and get bigger profits with low risk.