The Ten Questions Investors Ask Before Buying Property Abroad, and Why They Are Right

Most of my first meetings with investors open the same way. A serious person, who has done the research, flown out and seen the apartment, sits down across from me and says one sentence that begins with “what if”. What if the developer disappears. What if they change the law. What if the shekel gets stronger.

In the industry these questions are called “objections”, and the aim is to take them apart. I think that is a mistake. Since I started working in Romania in 2007, I have learned that the client's first question is usually the right one. The problem is that they ask it too late, or ask the wrong person.

I have gathered here the ten questions that come up most often, in the order of the journey: from the decision, through the contract and the money, to the day after you get the keys. For each one I have added what research and the press of recent years say about it, and three questions I would ask in your place.

11. “I don't know the market. They'll charge me more.”

The gap between a foreigner and a local exists. It is simply smaller than people think, and it closes with experience, not with luck.

This concern has been studied by academics. A study by Agarwal, Sing and Wang on commercial real estate found that foreign investors pay an average premium of about 3.7%, and that it stems from an information gap. The more important finding, as I see it: the premium narrows significantly for those who have already made purchases in the same market. Another study, on foreign buyers in Paris, found that part of the excess price has nothing to do with naivety at all. It reflects the economic situation in the buyer's home country.

In other words, the first deal is the most expensive one. And anyone without experience in that market should rely on someone who has it.

What I would ask in your place

• Is the price I am paying compared with deals that were closed and registered, or only with prices advertised on websites?
• Who is the valuer and who is the local lawyer, and who chose them: me or the seller?
• If I sold the property tomorrow morning, what would it sell for?

22. “I want to have something there. Just in case.”

A property bought out of fear should be assessed by the criteria of a safe haven, not by the criteria of yield.

People do not say this sentence at the first meeting. But it is there. In 2018 Badarinza and Ramadorai published a study on London and found that when risk rises in a given country, prices rise in the London neighbourhoods where many people from that country live. People buy out of anxiety, and they buy near people like themselves.

There is nothing wrong with that. But someone who buys in order to feel safe tends to check less. And a property meant to be a safety cushion must first of all be properly registered and liquid. Its yield matters less.

What I would ask in your place

• What is the purpose of this property: income, a visa, a home for the family or a safety cushion? And what is the order of priorities?
• If I need the money within six months, can I sell at all, and at what loss?
• Would I buy exactly the same property even if things at home were calm?

33. “I paid, I have a contract. It's mine, isn't it?”

A contract is a promise to register. Registration is ownership. Years can pass between the two.

In Cyprus, the Interior Minister reported to parliament in May 2025 on 9,497 “trapped buyers”. 5,417 of them had not received a title deed, mainly because of missing permits. 4,080 had paid the full price, but the land is still mortgaged to the developer's bank. A reform was passed there in 2025, and in February 2026 penalties on banks and sellers came into force. Complaints continue in reports from 2026 as well.

This is not only a Cypriot problem. In Mexico, communal land that the law prohibits from being transferred to foreigners is sold to them. In Montenegro there are buildings built without full permits. In Northern Cyprus, a buyer in an off-plan project initially receives a limited right, not full ownership.

But note that word: the land. The charge can sit on the land of the entire project, not on your apartment. It will not always appear in the land registry extract for the apartment.

What I would ask in your place

• What does the land registry extract show today, for both the apartment and the land, and who holds a charge?
• Is there a building permit and an occupancy permit, and which of them is still missing?
• Within how many months of handover will the property be registered in my name, and what does the contract say happens if it is not?

44. “What if the developer collapses halfway through?”

A payment plan tied to dates shifts the risk to you. A plan tied to verified construction stages returns it to the developer.

In Dubai, the real estate courts have cancelled contracts and ordered developers to refund money because of delays. In one project there, buyers who bought in 2005 were still demanding that the regulator take over the project after a 16-year delay. In Spain, more than 1,000 buyers from Britain and Ireland lost about £45 million when the company that marketed properties to them was wound up in 2009. And Dubai has another side too: a buyer who misses a payment under a payment plan may lose all their rights in the property.

What I would ask in your place

• Where does my money sit until handover: in an escrow account, behind a bank guarantee, or directly with the developer?
• Which projects has the developer completed and handed over, and how many months late?
• If construction is delayed by 18 months, what does the contract give me: compensation, cancellation or nothing?

55. “The company is Israeli, they speak Hebrew, there was a webinar. It's safe.”

When you invest through a company, you are not buying a property. You are buying a right in a corporation, and sometimes that corporation stands in line behind the bank.

This is the issue that has occupied me most this year. In October 2026 Calcalist published an investigation into several Israeli companies that raised money from the public for projects in the USA, the UK and Spain. According to the investigation, one property was bought in 2021 for £11 million and sold in 2025 for £4.5 million. In another property, most of the sale proceeds went to the lending bank, and the investors were left with almost nothing. At another company, a property bought for $17 million was sold for about $2 million.

The pattern the investigation identifies is simple: purchases in years of cheap money, high leverage, and then interest rates that rose within about a year and a half from zero to five percent and more. And in the investment agreements, according to the investigation, the investors signed that they understood they could lose all their money.

These investors were not reckless. They read a presentation. But the document that determines what will actually happen is the bank's loan agreement, and most of them never saw it.

What I would ask in your place

• What do I actually hold: registration in the land registry, shares, or a loan to the company?
• What is the project's leverage ratio, and who stands ahead of me in line if there is a forced sale?
• Of all the company's projects, how many have actually returned capital, and how many are in proceedings today?

66. “What if they change the law after I buy?”

A regulatory benefit is a situation, not a right. A good deal should hold up even on the day it disappears.

The past two years have been a practical lesson on this subject.

• Spain abolished its golden visa on 3 April 2025. In January 2025 a tax of up to 100% on buyers who are not EU residents was also proposed there, and in November 2025 a purchase ban was discussed. According to the sources we checked, these proposals have not yet been enacted.
• In Greece, properties bought under the golden visa route are barred from short-term letting, with a fine of 50 thousand euros and the possibility of the permit being revoked. In central Athens, registration of new apartments for short-term letting has been frozen.
• In Romania, VAT on new apartments rose from 9% to 21% on 1 August 2025. Buyers who signed a preliminary contract by the end of July 2025 received an extension at the old rate, but only until 30 September 2026. Anyone whose handover was delayed beyond that date fell outside the window.
• In Portugal, real estate has no longer qualified for a golden visa since 2023, and tens of thousands of applications are stuck at the immigration authority.

What I would ask in your place

• If the benefit I am buying for (a visa, short-term letting, reduced VAT) disappears in a year, is the deal still worthwhile?
• Does local law protect those who have already bought, and what exactly are the conditions?
• Does the contract have a date after which, if handover passes it, I lose a benefit, and who bears the cost?

77. “The apartment went up in euros, and I lost in shekels.”

A property abroad has two prices: its own price, and the rate at which you will convert it back.

On 15 April 2026 the dollar fell below 3 shekels for the first time since 1995. According to Bank of Israel data, in the second quarter of 2026 the shekel strengthened by about 5.9% against the dollar and by about 6.6% against the euro. An investor holding a property in euros can see its price rise and still record a loss in shekels.

But this risk works in both directions. Someone who buys when the shekel is strong pays fewer shekels for the same property. No one knows where the exchange rate will go, so the deal has to be built to hold up either way.

What I would ask in your place

• What is my yield in shekels if the shekel strengthens by another 10%, and what is it if it weakens by the same amount?
• Would local financing in the property's currency reduce my exposure?
• In which currency do I plan to use the income: euros, dollars or shekels?

88. “The money is declared, and still the bank holds up the transfer.”

The bank does not ask where the money comes from because it suspects you. It asks because the law requires it to. What will determine the timetable is the documents you bring.

Under the Prohibition on Money Laundering Law, banks in Israel are required to request documentation of the purpose of the transfer and the source of the funds. A transfer to buy real estate abroad is exempt from withholding tax, but not from documentation. A two-week delay in a transfer sounds like an inconvenience. Under a contract that sets a payment date, it can be a breach.

What I would ask in your place

• Which documents will my bank require, and when did I last ask it?
• How many working days do I have between the payment date in the contract and the transfer date?
• What does the contract say happens if the payment arrives ten days late?

99. “They promised me eight percent.”

Gross yield is a marketing figure. What reaches your account is the net yield, after management, an empty apartment and tax in two countries.

Full management of a rental property costs, according to professional guides, between 8% and 15% of the rent, depending on the country and the type of letting. An American couple who bought an apartment in Tuscany told Fortune that it stands empty most of the year and that the income barely covers the costs. In Dubai, Moody's estimated that more than 150 thousand new apartments would be handed over between 2025 and 2027, and expected a moderate price correction. Even when demand is strong, a large supply puts pressure on rents.

What I would ask in your place

• Can I see an income and expenses statement for an existing apartment in the building, rather than a forecast?
• How many months a year did I assume the apartment would stand empty, and on what basis?
• What is left for me after management, building fees, insurance, local tax and Israeli tax?

1010. “Who will look after the apartment? And what happens the day after?”

Almost all the checks are done before signing. Most of the losses I see begin years afterwards.

This question covers three issues that come up late, and are therefore checked least.

Remote management. On expat forums, property owners describe the same problem: even with a management company, you cannot get there when something breaks, and tenants know the landlord is far away.

Tax in two countries. An Israeli resident is liable to tax on income from all over the world. On rent from a residential property abroad there are, as a rule, two tracks. On the 15% track there is no deduction of expenses other than depreciation, and no credit for tax paid abroad. On the regular track you can deduct expenses and receive a credit for the foreign tax. The choice depends on the country where the property is located, so it should be made before the purchase and with an accountant.

Inheritance. In the European Union, the law of the deceased's last place of residence usually applies, and a will can choose the law of nationality instead. But some countries have “reserved share” rules for heirs, and courts have enforced them even when a foreign law was chosen. In addition, inheritance tax may apply in the country where the property is located. Israel does not levy inheritance tax, so there is no Israeli tax to offset it against.

What I would ask in your place

• Who will take the call at two in the morning when there is a leak, and how will I know the problem has been fixed?
• Which tax track did I choose, and what does it actually cost me in this country?
• Is my will valid in the country where the property is located, and has a local lawyer checked it?

11In place of a conclusion

When I read the investigations of the past year, I do not see investors who were too afraid. I see investors whose fear was aimed at the wrong place. They checked the apartment, not the land registry extract for the land. They asked what the yield was, not in which currency and after which tax. They checked the company doing the marketing, not the bank doing the financing.

Your first question is usually the right one. You just need to ask it before you sign, and ask for the answer in writing.

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