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Due to the lack of properties for sale at this moment in time, this has lead to prices stabilising and also – in certain parts of the country – property sellers are receiving more from their property than the house valuation.

This rise in property prices has generally been noticed in areas such as London and Oxford as buyers are scouring the market to find the right property in a market with a severe shortage of housing for sale at this moment in time.

These findings have been backed up by The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors who declared a 16 per cent drop in property which has remained unsold on estate agents’ portfolios. As buyers return to the market, demand is high in areas of the South such as London. We’ll have to wait and see if this spreads to other areas of the country.

Over the past four blog posts I have been going through some of the things you need to consider when buying property overseas. The last few points I would like to make are regarding legal and tax issues.

The process of purchasing the property does vary depending on the individual country and their national laws. If the language of the country is not predominantly English, it would be prudent to consider using an English-speaking lawyer working overseas to represent you in buying the property.

There may also be some tax implications as a result of your property purchase; these may be in the UK as well as the country where the property is located. You may need to speak to an accountant to clarify these tax issues.

Now you have visited a few locations and have decided upon a shortlist you can consider the long-term implications of the overseas property move.

What is the transport access like? If this is going to be a second home, then access to a nearby airport and low cost flights would be important. This will help you to narrow down your choice further.

Will you need to remortgage in order to buy the property, or can you afford to just take out a mortgage on the overseas property? The choice of lender or broker is crucial and there are many services out there.

Once you have sorted out your financial situation regarding the purchase of overseas property you need to visit the potential locations you are considering investing in. This will obviously add to your costs, as you jet around the world looking at property. However it is important to look at a number of properties and where they fit in to their surroundings.

You should also do some research into the country itself and to speak to other investors who have already bought property in the area. This advice is invaluable and will help you to pre-empt any issues you may face during the process of purchasing the property.

If you do not get advice from others in a similar position, this can put you at an instant disadvantage and at a higher risk of being taken in by an unreliable agent.

In the last post I was explaining how you need to consider certain factors when looking to purchase property abroad.

Here are the main things you need to take into account;

First you need to work out and plan your budget. This can all depend on your reasons for purchasing the property in the first place; is it as a main or second home? Or, will you be renting out the property as a source of income?

You also need to consider the total cost including all the other expenses and fees it will cost to purchase the property. There may be transaction costs to complete the purchase, plus professional fees from the use of lawyers.

There is also the home insurance and other maintenance costs. If the property is in need of repair then these costs can easily escalate.

You may need to obtain advice from a financial advisor to make sure you have covered everything.

A lot of people dream about owning their own villa or apartment in some exotic location, where they can just hop onto a plane and visit their luxury home from home whenever they feel like it. However, when turning this dream into a reality, there are many things a prospective property buyer needs to take into account before parting with their money.

Even the most careful of homebuyers have seen the value of their property investments plummet during the recession.

In the next blog article (Part 2 out of 5), I will be looking at the points you need to consider when looking to buy property.

First it was British Airways asking staff to take unpaid leave, and now it is BT’s turn to offer staff an incentive to keep them in employment. BT is allowing its staff up to a year off work, on 25 percent pay upfront, and parents can work during term time only. There is also an option in the form of a cash incentive to work part-time.

This can be rather unsettling for the staff involved. In one sense they are being paid a nominal amount to take a holiday, but are they really expected to just forget about the uncertainty surrounding their job and just hop on the nearest plane to take a long break?

The Manchester Evening News has reported that both the Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir David Frost have agreed to take stakes in aAIM Capital Finance which is snapping up property in the UK and through Europe.

The £1bn property investment venture is also backed by Middle Eastern investors and the Sirs are committed to a Gulf roadshow at the end of September to drum up further support from wealthy families out there.

The venture may turn out to be an excellent commercial investment opportunity with low market prices to be found all around Europe at this present moment.

The weather over the past few days has been sweltering hot and almost unbearable – this is the view from a person stuck inside an office without air conditioning, I might add. If the weather was to stay like this over the summer then I’d be tempted to save my cash and take a holiday in the UK instead of looking abroad.

With the recession still in full force and unemployment still rising, many people are deciding to stay closer to home for their holidays, if taking one at all. This may not seem like too bad an idea – if this weather continues that is. But as we are only too aware, in this country you never know.

With the recession showing no signs of abating, property owners have been advised to look to auctions in Spain and the United States for property.

The markets in these two diverse countries have all but dried up and so owners are now trying to offload homes they can no longer afford to keep. Online property auctions are becoming increasingly popular and remote bargain hunters are keeping tabs on developments.

Spain is the prime destination for British buyers, but the stagnant US market has lead to auctioneers in New York and Florida offering properties at low prices.

Buyers are still advised to do their research and not rush into anything. There could be hidden liabilities involved. Also, many auctioneers expect buyers to have finance arranged beforehand – however banks are reluctant to offer mortgages on properties bought at an auction.