You have to worry about getting an honest agent and lawyer. You have to worry about property conveyance issues that are different from what you have come to expect at home. And what you really have to worry about is the price of what you buy. Ex-pats tend to overpay, and then when they want to sell, they have to sell to another ex-pat, because they have priced themselves out of the local market. As long as the ex-pats keep coming, you are OK. If they stop, you may find the property difficult to sell without taking a big loss.

One advantage, though, is that if you do buy into an area that is growing in popularity, you can make a lot of money. That said, we chose to wait before buying.