They Were Looking in the Wrong Country the Whole Time

Eighteen months. That's how long they'd been searching in their city.

They knew their market in the way you only know something after you've been frustrated by it for a year and a half.

The problem was the market itself. What they wanted, a three-bedroom with outdoor space in a reasonably central location, existed in their city. It just didn't exist at a price they could reach. The properties in their budget were too small or too far. The properties in the right location were out of reach by a margin that wasn't closing.

They weren't doing anything wrong. The market was just expensive for what they needed.

The shift came from a conversation, not a search. Someone mentioned that the same brief they were running in their home city was producing completely different results in other markets. They opened House48 one evening, half out of curiosity, and ran the same criteria in two countries they knew and liked from previous visits.

The results were immediately different. A three-bedroom with a garden in a coastal city in one of those countries came in at about 20% below their ceiling. It met every requirement. The country also had an active Golden Visa programme that they hadn't previously considered relevant to their situation, but which now made the investment significantly more interesting.

They messaged the seller directly. The seller responded the same day. Three months later, they'd completed the purchase and submitted a Golden Visa application they hadn't even known existed when they started their search.

Read: Golden Visa vs Regular Property Investment

They still live where they've always lived. But the property they own is in a market that gave them more for their budget, generates rental income while they're not there, and has opened a residency conversation they're now taking seriously for their children.

Eighteen months of searching in one country. Three months of searching in two. The brief was the same. The geography was the only thing that changed.

Search beyond what you know at thehouse48.com