FOREX RATES – THE “SECRET INGREDIENT” OF OVERSEAS DEALS ZIV MAGEN
6.
Keep following exchange rates. Do not withdraw your income "when you need it". Ideally, your overseas
investment is a hedge to your portfolio, or at least not over 20-30% of it, and you have other sources of
income, so that should never be an issue. Instead, transfer it back home WHENEVER RATES JUSTIFY.
7.
ALWAYS leave at least 10% of your income behind, even if you're not planning to purchase anything further
at the moment. Not only can unexpected expenses occur, but unexpected things may happen regardless.
For instance, your tenant may move out, it may take several months to find a new one, and suddenly your
annual property tax bill arrives.
Not really that complicated, is it? Follow all of the above and I guarantee you'll always stay on the upper side of
the exchange rate fluctuation swing. Deviate from it and your "daily special" will eventually disappoint you, at
least to some degree. The best part is, if you diversify to several of these overseas markets, it usually means
that once rates go down in one place, they go up in another. Meaning, once it’s advantageous to withdraw your
funds from one place, there's now more than one option of where to send that money off to and you get to
choose the best one to make a tidy extra profit in the process.
Don't worry too much about interest bearing account setups if that's too difficult. This sort of exchange rate play
will always net you far more than these accounts will, if you keep on top of rates and hedge accordingly.
BACK TO SQUARE ONE
All of the above only holds true, of course, as long as you invest in a stable, documented, regulated environment
(see the first article in this series - "The Basics of International Property Investing"). Things may go up and down
for shorter or longer periods of time, but you will most likely not lose your entire investment funds as the
currency is completely devaluated overnight. Google search "currency of Zimbabwe" to see what can happen if
you invest in those kinds of places.