Properties of the World - How We Work - from Start to Finish

At Properties of the World we recognise that buying a property overseas or in the UK can be a daunting prospect even for experienced business people and professionals. Properties of the World's aim is to find the property investment that is right for you and to guide you through the buying process from start to finish.

Here's what you can expect:

The starting point is the four P's.

We will begin by asking you some questions:

• Price - how much do you want to invest?
• Product - are you looking for a house, flat, villa, land, or other type of investment?
• Position - do you prefer a beach front property, or one in the city or countryside, and do you favour any particular countries?
• Purpose - are you investing your pension, trying to find a holiday or retirement home, seeking income through a buy to let or is capital growth your aim?

Next is the fifth P which is for 'Personal'. We want to find out about you.

Understanding your goals, not just in terms of property, but for your whole life is crucial. A property investment is not an isolated transaction; it exists in the context of your life - your hopes, dreams and aspirations for the next 1 to 5 years and possibly the rest of your life. Are you a conservative or adventurous investor? Where does property investment fit in the context of your other investments, your pension and your lifestyle choices?

Based on this information you will receive recommendations of properties or investments, which we think are right for you and why

You will probably have quite a few questions at this stage and we will spend time going through these with you.

For example, you may want to know who the developer is and what their track record is like; why this would be a good investment and how it stacks up against comparable properties. Or, whether the country is a good one to invest in and why, the yield you can expect to achieve and how sure you are to achieve this in the future?

Also what the likely capital growth is and what your exit strategy is?

We will be on hand to go through all these questions, and more, with you.

If you want, we can also arrange a personal no strings attached visit to see the property you are hoping to buy before you commit yourself.

We will also discuss with you your financial commitment and how you can get finance for your purchase.

Once you have chosen your property we will help you complete the reservation form and liaise with the developer or master agent to make sure your reservation goes through smoothly.

Aftercare is a crucial part of our service and we will support you on legal issues and with currency transfers and (where relevant) will keep in touch to make sure you have construction updates and stage payment reminders.

Case study

Sarah James was introduced to Jean Liggett by a former satisfied client in spring 2010. Sarah is in her mid 40s and runs her own corporate training and coaching consultancy. At the time Jean met Sarah, she had recently re-married and her son David was intending to go to university within two years. Sarah's primary reason for investing was to provide extra income for her son.

At the initial meeting, Jean also established that Sarah's medium term goal was to grow her business without compromising her work/life balance. Sarah was conservative when it came to risk.

As well as income, Sarah was looking for capital growth from her investment over the medium term. Ideally, Sarah also wanted to be able to use the property as a luxury holiday home.

Jean followed up by sending a detailed note of the meeting to Sarah and then met her again to propose a specific investment. Jean's recommendation was that Sarah should she buy a fractional at Halcyon Hills, Samos, Greece as an investment. This is a luxury 5 star resort subsidised by the European Union. Jean felt that the investment met Sarah's criteria for the following reasons:

• the fractional investment fitted her budget
• the annual return of 8% far exceeded bank deposit rates
• the developer offered a guaranteed exit strategy after 5 years at 150% of the original investment giving her the capital growth Sarah was looking for
• the developer was highly reputable, being one of the founder members of the Association of International Property Professionals (AIPP).

Sarah agreed that the proposal 'ticked all her boxes' but was uncertain about investing in Greece. Jean emphasised that Sarah should not proceed unless she felt entirely comfortable and after thinking about it for some time Sarah decided not to go ahead at that time.

Jean remained in touch with Sarah and a few months later Jean helped Sarah buy a fractional in an apartment on a Château estate, Château de la Cozine. Château de la Corzine is a 5 star spa, golf and leisure estate which is in the course of being renovated. Sarah receives interest of 5% per annum on her deposit, which is more than double the return she was getting in the bank.

The investment satisfies all Sarah's criteria. It will provide income of 6% net per annum and also has a buy back guarantee after 5 years at 150% of the original purchase price. Sarah is also delighted that she gets free use of the apartment for one week every year as one of her dreams is to spend time in her own luxury property in France every year.