There are many reasons why people will buy a property. The USA is still a firm favourite with British buyers (mainly in Florida) I have lived in the USA and can fully understand why a retired Brit or other Euro retiree may wish to consider it as a retirement option. It has a lot going for it.

For these people it won't matter who owns what locally, in fact, from a purely pragmatic view the loss for the Americans works in favour of the foreign buyer. It also would not matter so much how their property appreciates - they are there because they wish to live there not because their purchase is going to make their heirs a fortune - whilst nice this is not the main motivation for them being there.

Southernbelle is the local expert, she knows better than any of us, sometimes opinionated foreigners, what is happening in her back yard - I'll put my faith in her judgement.

Living on a property is not the same as investing in a property. If I invest in area XYZ, I care about cash flow, what the appreciation is. If I were to buy to live in, then I focus on comfort, neighborhood. It is true that I may not possess as much knowledge as Southerbelle, but unless you know the area well and there are plenty of information that you can locate on the internet, how else will you know if the area is good for investment or not?

Exactly, we seem to be making the same point. Investment to some people is not the holy grail of buying a house. It is just a pleasant place to live, in a nice area to work and have children in and eventually grow old in.

By the way I can reliably inform you there are areas of N. Carolina/S. Carolina and Georgia which fit the above criteria and make sensible (although not get rich quick) investments also.

Think about this - the dollar has taken a beating, the confidence of a large slice of the American public has spiralled downward and many are tightening their belts and not looking to be careless with their money, financial institutions are keen to lend (providing you are a worthwhile risk - they have had a bloody nose with the imprudence of previous years and will not risk having their their throats cut) The USA has in no time in its history been easier to get to from other areas of the globe. There are many hundreds of thousands of motivated sellers in what was already a relatively cheap market when compared to most parts of Europe. Now if all of that and maybe a few points I've missed don't point to opportunities for the canny buyer then maybe I'm in the wrong business and should do something else.

If you want information to decide what is best for you - go over take a look talk to the local people, look into the agents windows, look at the job adverts in the local paper, ask around to see what wages are like locally, look at crime stats, schoolstats, Is there a marina planned, a golf course, evidence of industry moving in, an airport withing an hours drive, rail/bus network. the list goes on. Then if you want to go to NC to take a look - after you've done your homework - give Donna a call and see what she has that fits yours budget - Not rocket science my friend - more common sense.

Hope this answers your questions and helps. Good luck.

Hi Southernbelle,

I'd be interested in speaking with you. I'm located in Asheville NC so it sounds like I might be just around the corner. There might be an opportunity here.

My response is Why would anyone NOT want to live in Florida? The weather is ideal, beaches are beautiful, restaurants abound and as of today, real estate is very affordable. You can purchase a lovely 2 bedroom 2 bath condominium in a Golfing community for $200,000 (American dollars). What's not to like? Come take a look!!

Hello everyone, I thought I would add my tuppence worth as I have purchased just across the water from Florida on Grand Bahama Island (The Bahamas) and for me it has the advantage of easy reach to U.S.A. but on a beautiful Caribbean island,without the millions of people,great prices,NO CGT,NO property tax,NO inheritance tax and many duty free concessions if operating a business within the Port Authority area.Most investment in the Bahamas has gone over to Nassau but it tells you something when they (people from Nassau) are buying up land and property in G.B.I.
I bought a new 3 bed on the water on a quarter of an acre for £150k and can return 10% yield on a long let if I wish. See Ginn and Harcourt developments they are investing here too.
P.S. Decided to move over here for six months to try out the property-loving it !!

As people are discussing about Florida, no doubt that Florida is a good place to live but California is also a good place to invest money in.

Now you do not have to worry about taking money from banks but you can use your saved money i.e. IRA. It will help you in investment, and will give you tax ramification.

This is the right time to invest money in real estate as prices are down and will increase in coming years.

wealthyira is organizing a seminar on 3rd December at San Francisco. Seminar is all about Investing IRA in real estate and that is legally. You will also get to know more more tips on investment in real estate. For more information on this seminar please visit wealthyira Real Estate IRA Investing Information Real Estate IRA Seminar

As people are discussing about Florida, no doubt that Florida is a good place to live but California is also a good place to invest money in.

Now you do not have to worry about taking money from banks but you can use your saved money i.e. IRA. It will help you in investment, and will give you tax ramification.

This is the right time to invest money in real estate as prices are down and will increase in coming years.

wealthyira is organizing a seminar on 3rd December at San Francisco. Seminar is all about Investing IRA in real estate and that is legally. You will also get to know more more tips on investment in real estate. For more information on this seminar please visit wealthyira Real Estate IRA Investing Information on Real Estate IRA Seminar

What a bafoon...sorry, but that's the plain and simple truth. Don't know much about North Carolina do you? Best to just keep quiet than open your mouth and remove all doubt of ignorance.

The place to invest are the small to medium size towns that are getting ready to boom. How do you know which ones they are?? Great question!! Wish I knew! But I, for one, can tell you places like Morgantown WV, a small town with a population of just under 100K, with a university that has a population of 38K, has absolutely BOOMED over the last 5-7 years! It's been listed in the top 10 places in the U.S. for quality of life and the real estate market has absolutely went through the roof. I know, I was born and raised there. And dozens of my friends/family are millionaires today via a direct result.

Hi people,
I have heard some people saying their Florida investment has been a total let down,
in some case they have lost money.
I am not talking about USA as a whole just the Florida market.
Anybody else experienced this?