And those countries are:

• Hungary
• The Czech Republic
• Poland
• Estonia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Lithuania
• Latvia

Many people - and you may be one of them - have come to take this momentous change for granted.

The collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the communist bloc it came to symbolise can seem like a distant memory.

Even so, for the most part, the names of many of those states that last year joined a greatly enlarged EU still conjure up images of underdeveloped, poverty-stricken, uninspiring places.

Strictly speaking, of course, some of these countries are technically in Central Europe and others are in Eastern Europe.

But, for our purposes, they're all in Eastern Europe.

Just reel off those names again.

How many people, in all honesty, could point to these places on a map? Poland, Hungary, perhaps. Maybe even the Czech Republic. But Estonia? Latvia? Slovenia?

So, these obscure places hold little or no interest for anyone interested in making a great real estate investment. Right?

Wrong!

In fact, these places are far more than merely interesting to investors, because what some of these eight countries could well represent is that holy grail of real estate investment - the basement-level opportunity.

Even before EU entry actually happened in May 2004, there were examples of annualised double-digit growth in real estate prices, as the 'EU effect' was factored in future price predictions.

In the time since accession took place, growth has continued apace.

So, perhaps you're thinking that you are already too late. If you haven't already made your investment move, have you been left behind? The answer is clear - absolutely not!

That's the eastern promise of these potential goldmines - despite the fact that prices have already begun to rocket in some places, there is still so much more potential for similar, if not better, growth.

There are good, sound reasons for this that are mainly to do with how far behind these countries are economically - even the most advanced - from the EU average.

But, let there be no mistake, these new EU-member countries are not investment targets for the faint-hearted.

Maybe investing in fairly well-established markets such as those of Prague in the Czech Republic, or Budapest in Hungary, may not be particularly daunting, but many people will balk at the thought of pouring their hard-earned cash into properties in Estonia, for example, or Lithuania, or Latvia.

But, in truth, locations that are lesser known to investors from overseas may well represent the best buying opportunities.

This is all fine and good. Except there are a few hurdles to overcome before you can wisely put your property investment cash to work. How do you find out how the property market works in these places?

How do you discover what kind of returns you can expect? What about other major costs? How does the tax system work? What are the best locations? Will there be language problems? Where do I look for properties? How can I spot an up and coming area? How can I make sure I'm not ripped off?

In short, how do you take a sensible and measured approach to locating and buying the best property?

Just as important, how do you make sure you avoid making a horrendous investment mistake?

It's not important that you may not have even visited the country you decide to target as an investment.

What is important is that you are able to make an informed decision about your investment.

You need form a rewarding property investment strategy for these eight EU newcomers - and PropertySecrets.net can help you!