Overseas Property for Sale

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Roger Beecroft bought his first house in Barnsley, Yorkshire in 1999, borrowing £12K from his bank. Nearly a decade on, Roger owns over 100 properties in Yorkshire and runs a successful rental property company.

After experiencing a lull in UK rental-returns, Roger decided to extend his impressive portfolio to include off-plan property in the United Arab Emirates. Here he describes to Residential Property Investor magazine how he decided where and what to buy and what returns he hopes to achieve.

When did you first become a ‘career’ landlord?
I bought my first house in Barnsley in 1999. I had worked in the travel industry for nearly 15 years and the owner gave me some great advice about property investment. I borrowed from the bank and started investing. After 12 months I had numerous properties which was great, but becoming a landlord meant I was getting calls 24/7 from tenants and letting agents. This lead me to set up my own letting business in 2007.

Where did you invest? What type of property?
Until I invested in Dubai, I’d never bought outside of Barnsley! I have always looked to the cheaper end of the market, buy-to-let properties that would give me steady rental income. In Barnsley, a £60K property returns £400pcm and a £160K property £550 pcm. Simply put, I would rather buy two cheaper ones and double my income!

How has the UK landlord market changed since you started investing?
10 years ago there was a lot of property for landlords to choose from, today it’s very different. Everyone seems to be getting on the gravy train, investing in property is the ‘new thing’ – it’s always on the TV and has become a buzzword.

Auctions used to attract a selective crowd, now there’s hundreds of ‘professional investors’ looking for their next project. I guess it was going to happen, shares and pensions just don’t deliver anywhere near the same returns as they used to – it makes property investment a much safer choice.

When and why did you start to look at property overseas?
Coming from a travel industry background I had always kept one eye on the overseas market and with the UK market starting to slow down my interest grew. I then took a holiday in Dubai with my family and saw the amount of activity going on there. I thought that the overseas market was something to take seriously, so I started to look around and researched the potential in the Dubai property market.

Where did you do your research?
Mostly on the web. I broke the cardinal sin and fell in love with a property on a website! It seemed perfect and was cheap because it was inland. Then I went to Puerto Banus and realised the real money gets made on the beachfront, marina and coastal property. I had heard of the beachfront ‘Palm’ development in Dubai, but this was out of my reach financially. I wanted something that wouldn’t date, that was near the water
and had good restaurants, and something that I could get into before prices shot through the roof. That’s when I came across The Point on Dubai Marina.

Where have you invested so far?
I bought 4 off-plan apartments in The Point development and 5 in Bay Central, all on Dubai Marina. I have just taken another 4 units in a brand new development 45 minutes from Dubai. It’s another off-plan development called ‘Pacific’ – it has been likened to The Palm in Dubai, but its much more affordable and I couldn’t miss out again!

What rental returns do you hope to achieve?
I compare the £400 pcm I make in Barnsley for a terraced house to the £1400 pcm landlords take in Dubai Marina for an apartment! I have invested in smaller properties, studio and one bedroom apartments, as they make the perfect holiday home for my family and the perfect rental investment. My plan is to rent them to professionals on long term rental agreements. Select Property has a rentals team that help you to set this up and I liked the fact that they handle re-sales too.

How did you finance your first overseas property?
I didn’t want to have to go through the lengthy process of raising money in the UK to get a deposit so I bought my first properties using a 15 year non status lengthy payment plan. It was hassle free as the finances were already in place. I’m not tied in to any length of time so can settle or sell-up at any point. It also enabled me to invest in more properties as it spreads my capital further.

What would you say to a UK landlord considering buying rental property abroad?
It goes without saying – choose your destination wisely. I recommend looking at emerging markets and make sure that you have done all your research thoroughly. It’s also advisable to keep your options open with regards to tenants, for example; Dubai offers both tourism and professional letting options. I also recommend choosing a development that has the finances in place to offer a favourable payment plan – this helps bridge the gap between off-plan payments and rental income starting on completion.

For more information about overseas property investment contact us now:
Tel: 01226 340 110 or email:info@bawestates.co.uk