Building Wealth Through Property

At Compass Point, We use our expertise to source great value deals in property hot-spots and emerging markets. Focussing on you, the Client, we offer a complete service for your property investments, dream retirement property or that ideal holiday home. We currently have hot property investment opportunities for you in these great locations:

Countries:
• Spain
• Bulgaria
• SE Asia

Choosing an Investment

At Compass Point, we realise that the opportunities to purchase property overseas can be mind-boggling, and not all represent the best financial investments. So we do the research for you, based on strict criteria – particularly value for money, quality and investment potential (not forgetting the ‘Wow’ factor!) – and hand-pick the best, working with trusted local partners who are the first to hear of new opportunities. We are also able to offer a terrific selection of properties to suit every taste – just click on the relevant category to see the wide range available!

The Purchase Process

We aim to take as much of the hassle of purchasing as possible away from you by careful preparation and by working with experts in the UK and locally. Advice on purchase process is presented on the relevant country pages of this website but a typical purchase of an off-plan or new-build apartment goes like this:

1. On our Web pages, find the property that looks right for you – you can up-load an Acrobat file giving more details for many of out properties.

2. Contact us about availability sales@compass-point-properties.com or call +44 (0)1372 453758.

3. Reserve the property by telephone or email, and make the reservation payment to Compass Point Property Investments Ltd. Compass Point immediately transfers your payment to the Vendor to hold the property. This payment is non-refundable.

4. If you have not already done so, you may wish to travel to the location of your purchase on a viewing trip. We can arrange this for you.

5. If you intend to purchase but are as yet unsure of the exact property to target, we can set up a Commitment Fee, which you can use to cover viewing visits and which will be discounted from your eventual property purchase.

6. The Vendor will send you the Preliminary Contract (in English). We recommend that you use a local lawyer to carry out independent checks on your behalf and can recommend one if you wish.

7. Sign the Preliminary Contract and return it to the Vendor – you can usually appoint a Lawyer under Power of Attorney to do this, if you wish. This contract is usually subject to a final Sale & Purchase Contract, which is signed on, or close to completion of the property or the sale.

8. You make the first payment to the developer by international bank transfer. At this stage, agency commission to Compass Point Property Investments Ltd is due and may vary from 0% to 5%.

9. You make the installment payments required to purchase the property.

10. If you intend to rent out the property, you should select a furniture package through Compass Point and decide on the property management and letting arrangements.

11. For completion of the purchase, you will either need to travel to the location of your purchase to sign the final contract or appoint a Lawyer with a power of attorney to do this for you.

12. That’s it – the property is now yours!

Our fees

Our fees vary between 0% and 5% of purchase price, depending on the development or property.

1. For off-plan and new-build apartments, our fee is up to 5% of the purchase price, payable on signing the initial contract – this will be made clear in the documentation we send you.

2. For resale properties, land and commercial properties, our fee is usually 5% of the purchase price, plus fees payable locally (for company registration, taxes, legal fees, and document translation and legalisation fees associated with the process). 50% of this fee is payable at the signing of the Preliminary Sale & Purchase contract with the balance payable on completion. Our minimum fee is £1,500.

Mortgages

Whenever we offer a development to you we will work with an appropriate mortgage broking firm to offer you the most competitive mortgage products available in the relevant market. They will do appropriate research and due diligence and will be in a position to advise you accordingly. Remember that the mortgage is only required for completion of purchases – as in the UK, you will only get a mortgage offer perhaps six months prior to completion. But it is worth checking out the status requirements as you would not want to put money down only to realise that cannot get a mortgage. There are a few general rules about non-UK mortgages at present:

• The markets may not be as sophisticated as the UK, so non-status lenders are rarer.
• Repayment mortgages are more common than interest-only mortgages. Although this increases the monthly outgoings, in time it does reduce the interest payments, as well as steadily building your equity in the property.
• Interest rates in are linked to the European or Asian Central Bank base rates, or local equivalent, rather than the Bank of England’s.
• Some lenders stipulate a maximum age by which loans need to be repaid, so monthly repayments could become quite high to meet this requirement. In some cases investors have made arrangements to place the property in the name of a trusted younger family member.

Compass Point does not offer financial, legal or mortgage advice but we would be pleased to put you in touch with appropriate advisers, if you so require. You can find some of these on the Useful Links page.