2. Take care when calculating rental income
Even in the most apparently promising locations, such as Paris or Barcelona, never assume an income of more than ten monthly rents over a year. You also need to make room in your calculations for unwelcome — and for many people unbudgeted — extra taxes and charges. This is especially the case in new, non-urban developments, such as mixed golf and residential estates, where a foreign local authority will make homeowners pay for improvements to access roads, for example.

If you use a letting agent, you may notice that the electrician’s and plumber’s bills are steeper than they might have been had you had the chance to select your own workman. It all adds up. Be clear, too, about your tax obligations. This advice should be shouted from the rooftops in the case of Florida, where the bulk of property tax is levied annually (2 per cent of its value at last sale), rather than as a steep one-off transfer tax, as in France, for example. Rural properties are always a little more difficult to market as holiday lets year-round, but you will clearly increase your chances if there are two distinct holiday seasons — areas such as the French and Italian Alps offer the extra letting opportunity of winter sports.

3. Become a profiler
If you plan to let your property for profit, think hard about what kind of person is likely to sign the lease. For example, studio flats work well in cities bursting with civil servants, such as Brussels and Berlin, because these workers are more likely to consider a pied-à-terre for Monday to Friday. Think twice about investing in a buy-to-let that does not have covered parking, especially if it is a new-build property.

4. Small is beautiful
Looking for a foreign buy-to-let? The next time you see a price list for a new-build development, try this test: take the smallest and largest units on offer and calculate their price per square foot. In every market I know, the return per square foot generated by a small rental property (say, a studio) is proportionally higher than that of larger accommodation.

5. Buy in a place you like
It’s late at night. Your overseas property has been burgled and you prepare to fly out to sort matters. Do you book your ticket on the familiar low-cost airline with a heavy or a relatively light heart? Foreign property ownership can make (or lose) you money. But you are almost certainly embarking on a relationship with a given community, its business practices, language, food and people (which is why the French countryside will always be popular with owners of second homes). Buy into a place close to your heart and the profit you make will be all the sweeter.

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