This question accompanies me in nearly every consultation. It fills Facebook groups, circulates in forums, gets asked at conferences. And it's always the same script: within two minutes everyone turns into an authority on international real estate.
“An apartment in Athens by the sea!”
“An innovative project in Bucharest!”
“A villa in Portugal with a pool!”
“A private house in Orlando for Airbnb!”
It all sounds hot, urgent, promising.
But there is one small question everyone misses: why invest at all?
Roni's story
A week ago Roni sat across from me. Troubled eyes, like someone carrying a heavy package and looking for a place to put it down.
“Ilan,” he began, “I have 60 thousand euros waiting in the bank. Every day I see people around me buying apartments in Greece, villas in Portugal, houses in Florida. Everyone's making money, everyone's happy. I want to get in the game too. So tell me - where is the best place?”
I stopped him mid-sentence. “Roni, before we talk about where, I need to ask you something else: why?”
He looked at me the way you look at someone who has started speaking Chinese.
“What do you mean why? To make money, of course! Everyone's doing it.”
“Roni,” I said gently, “making money is as broad a notion as ‘eating something tasty.’ There's a difference between fast pizza and a romantic evening at a chef's restaurant.”
Three tracks, three universes
We sat in the little café in Tel Aviv and I began explaining the three worlds to him:
Track 1: ongoing yield
“It's like buying a coffee machine for the office,” I said. “Every day it makes you coffee. Every month the property brings in money. No fireworks, no quick profit, but a steady cash flow that gives you peace of mind.”
Track 2: flip
“Here you buy a neglected apartment, invest in renovating it and sell at a profit. It's like being a startup entrepreneur - exciting, challenging, and if all goes well, the exit can be significant.”
Track 3: future appreciation
“Here you play a long game with time. You buy in an area that hasn't developed yet, wait patiently, and hope the metro will arrive, the high-tech will come, the tourism will flourish.”
Roni was silent. I could see the wheels turning.
“And there's a fourth option,” I added. “Investing through a fund.”
“What does that mean?”
“Instead of buying a property in your own name, you join a group. Like setting up a real estate kibbutz - everyone brings money, a professional manager looks for deals, and everyone benefits together. Less control, more security.”
The small revolution
Roni looked at me and said: “Listen, that's my biggest fear. That I'll get into something I don't understand, and then discover it's not what I wanted.”
“And that's exactly why,” I explained, “whoever doesn't ask the ‘why’ question at the start ends up discovering that his money is working against him instead of for him.”
He was silent for a moment and then said: “I think I want ongoing yield. A steady income that will give me security.”
“Excellent,” I said. “Now the second question: with whom and where.”
The second question is no less important
“Listen, Roni, even if you chose the right track, everything can still blow up in your face.”
He got scared. “How so?”
“Simple. You may find a perfect property for ongoing yield, but if you work with a broker who eats your commissions or a lawyer who doesn't understand the local tax laws - even the best deal will turn into a nightmare.”
I showed him a photo on my phone of a gorgeous villa in Romania.
“This client found a ‘deal of a lifetime’ through a forum. He bought a villa in Bucharest for next to nothing. He just forgot to check that the contractor who did his renovation disappeared halfway through, and the broker who promised him an 8% annual rental yield never got back to him.”
The bottom line
Roni left the café with a different look in his eyes. Not with the address of a “dream apartment in Athens,” but with clear homework:
1. Figure out what I want - steady cash flow, quick profit or a long-term investment
2. Choose the right team - an experienced lawyer, a reliable broker, a local accountant
3. Check everything twice - contracts, documents, licenses
What about you?
Real estate abroad doesn't start with the words “where is the best place to invest.”
It starts with the question: “What do I want to achieve with my money?”
Because in the end, the best property in the world won't help you if it doesn't fit what you are really looking for.
So let's play a little game: if you had to choose only one goal - monthly cash flow, quick profit, future appreciation, or an investment in a managed fund - what would you choose?
Write to me in the comments. I'd love to hear from you.
Stories are based on real situations, with identifying details changed. Not legal advice.
Translated from the Hebrew original. עברית