Some Key Due Diligence Points.

Check out your proposed Area and Specific Development.

These will provide you with some essential key pointers of what you should be considering either in the UK, USA or anywhere abroad before parting with your hard-earned cash.

• Visit the country / specific area / city and check out the area from both a holidaying, residential and local indigenous demand factors.
• What is the climate like at different times of the year?
• Is it in an earthquake zone and if so what are the structural construction methods and requirements currently in force.
• If the building is of an older style and construction how will it stand up to the effects of tremors, rainfall, river & sea levels etc.
• What are your possible exit strategies if you decide to pull out or sell later on?
• Are local people already buying or living there and are they likely to want to buy and live there in the future?
• Visit the developer at their office, view any past and present sites they have completed or are working on other than the one you are interested in.
• Carry out enquiries about legislation over land tenure, planning rules and approvals as well as building construction regulations for the area.
• Speak with other local property sales and letting agencies.
• Look at current and past constructions, partners, funding, banking, security, land legals, locality, access.
• While you’re there, check out the development. How far advanced is it, how is it going to be monitored for build quality and design standards, how does it fit in with the surrounding area.
• While you’re there, speak to as many local people as you can.Find out how many investors are in the block or development.
• How long between the finishing of the first phase and the last phase?
• How long before any external infrastructure comes on line and what if it is late?
• Airports, roads, railways, bus & coaches, taxi services, shops, restaurants, bars, hotels, beach facilities, swimming pools, banking, post offices, phone lines & mobile internet services, etc.
• Is any part of the development work being outsourced, and to whom?
• What are the backgrounds and details of the sub-contract suppliers.
• Make sure contact has been made with the electrical, water and drainage suppliers and that the development can be connected with all of them. Who will pay the connection fees and carry out the work and when will it be done?
• Be careful about the adjoining properties and what the other owners might do with their sites.
• What are the local taxation systems. Are there any specific visitor or resident taxes likely to be applied?
• A development should only be chosen after you have done significant research into the country, and then the region, and then the locality.

Note: This is not an Exhaustive list and will be added to over time. You must be certain to carry out your own due diligence on any investment you are making and if necessary take local legal advice.
Whilst we will always endeavour to carry out our own detailed checks and reviews we can not be held responsible for events that happen that are beyond our control or situations caused by companies that we may recommend but over which we have no influence.
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