By Tony Booth

1. Adopting a High Risk Strategy

The lure of high returns from emerging countries has a tendency to blind some investors - always remember that higher return often goes hand-in-hand with higher risk. By their nature, newly emerging property investment locations around the world have no history to prove they are likely to be consistent or reliable. Some emerging countries may also have unstable political, financial and regulatory systems.

There is often an advantage to following others along a known path, rather than venturing into potentially unstable and uncertain regions where the gains may be high, but so too are the risks. Adopting this type of win-all or lose-all strategy is akin to playing financial Russian roulette - and only those who are prepared and can afford to lose everything should consider taking part.

2. Believing What The Salesman Tells You