Anyone who’s familiar with the UK property investment sector will know that Manchester is one of the country’s key urban hotspots – and has been for much of the past decade as investors increasingly seek out better purchase prices and yields than they can find in London.
But what about those who are looking at investment options beyond the UK’s borders? How easy is it to find a good property investment overseas? And do you need to use document translation services as part of your investment strategy? Read on to find out – and to discover why sourcing the right document translation could be key to your success!
Overseas property investment and the role of document translation services
Investing in property is a sound, long-term investment option that compares favourably with pretty much any other type of investment. With buy-to-let properties, the double income potential (from rent and from capital gains when you sell) means that your investment can deliver income in both the short- and long-term.
Spend five minutes in front of a search engine, however, and you’ll easily be overwhelmed by the vast array of exciting and supremely lucrative promises that you can find in relation to investing in property overseas. Some of them will be entirely genuine. Others… not so much. So how do you sort the wheat from the chaff?
This is where document translation services come in. Don’t just accept the marketing spiel that’s been prepared in English for you. You can use translation services to do your own due diligence, checking out the investment company, the location, and the development in question.
Utilizing document translation services
If you’re looking for official document translation services, you don’t have to limit your search to your local area. If I need a translation agency, Manchester would certainly have plenty to offer, but if you’re not based in a big city then there are plenty of online services that work with customers around the globe.
How do you translate a document professionally? Ofer Tirosh, CEO of Tomedes, explains how to get the best out of your document translation services when working with your language agency online, as well as how to achieve a professional, high-quality translation:
The key to successful document translation is to take a partnership approach with your chosen translation agency. We’re all used to remote working now, so don’t let geography be a barrier to choosing the right language service provider. Select the right mix of language skills and relevant experience to suit your needs and always be sure to use a native speaker of the target language, not the source language – it makes for better quality document translation services.
One thing to look out for when hiring a translation agency to help during the investment process is their experience with real estate document translation. Be clear from the outset that this is a requirement so that you know your translator has relevant experience.
Investment and translation – a working example
When it comes to document translation and investment overseas, there are several ways in which translation can help. Say you want to invest in property in Brazil. You can use a Portuguese to English translator to help you undertake due diligence on the investment company.
Google Translate can only get you so far. You can use it pretty effectively to start researching a company online, but it won’t be long before you need a more professional, human translation service to help you out. By working with a Portuguese translator, you can find out the investment company’s history, group structure, track record, press coverage, and more. You’re no longer limited to the information that the company has chosen to translate but can investigate the investment opportunity in the source language as well.
The same applies to development. Your translator can help you find out its history, what rental demand is like in that area, how property prices have changed there in recent years, and what the local government’s longer-term plans are for that location. All of this has a bearing on the property’s potential as an investment, so requires accurate document translation services, rather than sketchy machine translation!
Once you’ve found the ideal investment property, it’s worth using your translation agency once more for their assistance with the legal paperwork. You may need certified document translation services for anything from contracts to identity documents so that you can ensure all of the required paperwork is in order.
Using document translation to future-proof your investment
Another excellent use of document translation services is horizon scanning. Your translator can help you to look at the longer-term picture of the country in which you’re considering investing.
In the UK, for example, changes to taxation rules for landlords have resulted in a significant drop in the number of people willing to act as such. Hamptons International reports that the number of landlords in Great Britain has dropped by 266,000 since 2017. Understanding any similar upcoming changes in your chosen investment country is essential.
Investing in overseas property is big business. Real Capital Analytics reports that acquisitions of income-producing commercial real estate hit $963.7 billion in 2018. There’s huge potential to make a profit by investing your money overseas, but also some major pitfalls for the unwary. By working with a professional linguist on your document translation, you should be well on your way to avoiding some of the biggest.
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