Further Reading


Guide To Purchasing Homes In Guam

by Alison Ward

If you have the intent to buy property abroad, you should follow a set of methodical and systematic process, based from careful analysis, planning and execution. But, most homeowners are often overpowered by their emotions rather than their rational considerations, which in turn allow them to make impulsive purchasing decisions. Unluckily, such hasty actions often lead to serious consequences. The inability to take real estate purchasing methods leads to the procurement of a property that has no habitation license, state refusal of utilities, poor house construction that ends in accidents, inability to resell the house or the property being demolished.

The mistakes that one make when he or she buy property abroad could result to legal troubles, stress and uncertainty that could stretch in the future results that any prospective homeowner would not like to experience. Purchase a property abroad hastily and you would surely lament your decisions in the near future. To avoid these mistakes from firing back at you, getting things done properly could mean doing things one step at a time and doing a lot of property-related researches. Once you are able to do things accordingly you would definitely enjoy the fruits of your patience without getting caught up in any legal problem.

It certainly is tempting to look for property investments while you're in a holiday, and it certainly makes sense to buy a property in a place you know and fond of as opposed to purchasing a property in an unknown territory. However, you should consider that holidays are not the right time to do your property scouting as you're not virtually on you rational mind during these periods, meaning you have to set the right time to truly indulge in property-hunting visit. It is also advisable to search in different locations for varying real estate investments for comparisons that would help you with your decisions. A well acknowledged location that holds functional property investments that you could try are the homes for sale in Guam.

The amount of homes for sale in Guam are low to moderate compared to property investments in other countries, although the biggest costs could be procured from real estate agents that ranges from 4% to 10% of the property value that would be shouldered by the seller, while the buyer is responsible for all the other fees including fees for title insurance, recording and escrow. Generally, there are no restrictions when it comes to foreign property ownership; however Guam laws only permit foreigners to buy one owner-occupied property under their names if they are not US citizens or have no intent of becoming permanent residents of the island.

Let's just say that you finally found your dream house in one of the homes for sale in Guam, the next thing that you would have to do is to check if there are associated issues with the property you like to purchase that could posit future problems on your side. The first action that you have to take is to have the property inspected and surveyed in order to analyze its physical condition and know if there are structural problems such as subsidence or if roof replacements are needed, which will cost extra finances for you later. Once there are no issues, there is some form a title, written records of who owns what, and series of contracts that have to be signed, which falls into two stages: preliminary contract stating the owner's commitment to sell the property and the buyer's commitment to purchase it accompanied with some form of deposit, and second, the completion of closing contract that would seal the deal. With all the legal aspects that you have to oversee, it is essential for you to seek the assistance of a personal legal representative and not the one suggested by your selling agent so as to ensure that your interests are legally represented, property bounds are well delineated and that ownership disputes would not arise in the future.

If you would be purchasing a property, for instance in Tamuning, and your main purpose is to use it as a profitable investment, then you should focus more on its financial elements. If your objective is to use such property to earn through rentals, you should check on the local rental market for you to be able to establish your expected returns. It is also advised to take a consumer research to have an idea about the rental occupancy rate in the area of your prospect property as oppose to nearby locations that offer same property investments as well as the costs of utility bills, taxes and housekeeping to make realistic estimation whether you would profit from such property or not. Generally, there are many pitfalls that one could encounter when purchasing a property abroad especially if you are a naiż1/2ve prospective home buyer, but this should not be a reason to put you off since owning a property of your own is far more rewarding than any other experiences that you might have.

If you are to buy property abroad, let's say you've chosen one of the homes for sale in Guam specifically in Tamuning, it is important that you follow a systematic real estate purchasing method in order for you to get the best deal out of your money. Remember not to buy a property hastily as this could lead to stress, uncertainty and legal troubles that you would have to deal with for a long period of time.

Published August 16th, 2010

Filed in Real Estate