NEVER TRUST YOUR OVERSEAS REAL ESTATE FRIEND

Many near-pensioners and youngers in the US are thinking of moving abroad to where they can live well on less income (e. g., shrinking pensions) while paying no (or minimal) US taxes. Here is some invaluable advice for those folks:

"Buying and even shopping for real estate in another country takes nerve. The rules of engagement are completely different than back home. To be successful, you’ve got to arm yourself well in advance with an understanding of how this game is played.

The first thing to know is that the real estate agent is not your friend.

I’ve worked with real estate agents in dozens of countries. They are all friendly guys, and most are good company. I even keep in regular contact with some and value those relationships. But none of those things changes the fundamental truth about real estate agents in developing, unregulated markets: They’re wolves.

Stepping into a real estate agent’s office in these countries, you’re stepping into the wolf’s den. Believe me when I tell you that, when it comes to business (that is, the purchase of real estate), the agent you’re working with is not working for you. Buyers' agents don’t exist outside of North America. In many of the markets I recommend, real estate agents aren’t regulated or even licensed. The guy showing you around could have been a travel agent in Iowa three months ago.

Furthermore, not only are these guys not working for you...but they’re not working for the seller, either. They are working for themselves, and their goal is to extract as much commission out of you as they can. Understand that going into the conversation, and you stand a much better chance of coming out of it uncheated.

Here are some other tips to help your search go smoothly:"

From long experience, I can vouch for the truth of this advice. Invaluable for the now or future international resident, or traveler, from the excellent resource International Living.

Via

BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG WINDOW

I never really thought much about why spiders spin their webs where they do, beyond basic practicalities like: hey this is a nice spot, out of the rain, excellent view, decent commute, cheap rent, convenient, great for the kids, whatever, but the other morning while looking out the big kitchen window I began to wonder: why has that big, obviously well-to-do, well-fed garden spider put her web almost flat against the glass?

The web had been there awhile, the large landlady had several large pantries dangling here and there in her much repaired - therefore very busy - web, even another mid-sized garden spider that had tried to horn in nearby was now toast, and her web had been incorporated into the green lady’s growing real estate holdings.

But the web was not out there in the prey-bearing breeze, covering a goodly span from tree to bush to tree, as is the usual preference among local garden spiders. Finishing my breakfast, I put that thought and the accompanying wonderstuff in a trunk up in the attic and went about taking day-to-day care of my own web.

Last night I turned on the light over the kitchen sink and saw that the green lady in fact had her own Spider Ginza out there, with mobs of insects attracted by the night life implied by our kitchen luminance... Bright lights, big window.

Still, there's no way the empress of spider realty could have built her web in anticipation that the light would go on for some time every night, attracting more customers than she could handle, unless she knows all about the habits of houses, but spiders don't live that long. Or do they camp out at various places, even in the dark, to count wing traffic and check the location potential before they build their webs? They clearly do have some intuition regarding the old entrepreneurial saw "Location, location, location..." But our kitchen window Ginza is prime realty. Smart lady.