Huge gains

Of course those hotspots offer the tantalising prospect of huge gains for the experienced investor - but, as a relative novice, you may feel uncomfortable about doing business in a country where there may be only one flight a week to the UK, or the language barrier seems insurmountable as the natives don't even use the same alphabet as you!

If that is the case, buying in France, Spain or Italy would be a much more sensible proposition. And the good news is that there are still bargains to be had in those countries. But they won't come looking for you - you'll have to put in lots of groundwork and seek them out yourself.

Spain

In Spain, for example, to get anything decent at the lower end of the market you'll have to set your sights on seemingly less desirable inland locations as anything remotely near the Costas will be out of your budget.

But a three-bedroom house at Xativa, between Alicante and Valencia, is currently available from Real Spain (0871 871 6755 -  http://www.real-spain.net) for just £37,500. This three-storey house has three bedrooms, two reception rooms and an open-plan area on the top floor. And, importantly, the town has good road links to the airports at Alicante (see new terminal story, below) and Valencia.

Further south, Andalucia is still excellent value and property values there look set to increase, thanks to the increased accessibility guaranteed by cheap flights to Jerez.

Hill-top villages such as Ronda have their own unique charm but you can still buy ruins near them from as little as £15,000. Even a habitable home won't set you back much more than £50,000. And if you must stick to the Costas, head for the Costa de la Luz, which is still much more affordable than the Costa del Sol.

France

Brits have been buying anything and everything in La Belle France for nearly 20 years now - and very few areas can offer anything worth having at the £50,000 level.

However, courtesy of airlines easyJet and Ryanair, undiscovered areas such as Aveyron, a couple of hours by car north of Toulouse and south of Limoges are becoming more accessible.

Poitou-Charentes in the south-east offers cheaper rural properties, while the Mayenne, the northernmost departement of the Loire, is a farming region often ignored by British buyers intent on investing in nearby Brittany and Normandy.

Mayenne Properties (00 33 243 043680 - http://www.mayenneproperties.com) has on its books a lovely old house with two main rooms in the market village of Couterne for a mere £17,000.

As you would expect, at that price it requires a great deal of tender loving care but the upside is that the attic could easily be converted to create two further bedrooms.

It is around an hour and a half's drive from the ferry ports of Caen and St Malo, with their direct crossings from Portsmouth, and the train journey from Paris takes around 80 minutes.

Greece

Many areas of Greece remain unspoilt but you should be aware that access problems in rural areas could increase restoration costs substantially.

And although summers there are generally glorious, during the winter, which can be cold, tavernas may shut up shop, and flights and ferries are often reduced to skeleton services.

Crete offers the promise of empty beaches as well as a good entertainment scene with its combination of traditional holiday resorts and sleepy villages.

£50,000 would buy you a sizeable older property with character in decent condition. Crete Property Consultants (020 7328 1829 - http://www.creteproperty.co.uk) has four-room traditional stone-built houses with great views and services connected at Fournoferago from £21,000, while two-bedroom apartments at Makrigialos 200 metres from sandy beaches, tavernas and small shops cost £30-£35,000.

Italy

Bargain hunters are now sniffing around Marche, east of Umbria - encouraged by improving roads, the expansion airport at Perugia and cheap Ryanair flights to Ancona.

There, around £45,000 will buy you a two-bedroom bolthole in an unspoilt village sandwiched between the Apennine mountains and the Adriatic. Properties within easy reach of the Sibillini mountains, convenient for winter skiing and the coast, are best. Remember, however, the region is not within easy reach of prized cities such as Rome, Siena and Florence.

Brian A French (0870 730 1910 - http://www.brianfrench.com) is offering for sale a conveniently located stone village house over three floors with two bedrooms and two receptions for £46,667.

Cheaper still is Calabria, in the south - yet few British buyers think of buying in this glorious region even though the property market is less developed and prices are low.

Croatia

Because it is set to join the European Union as early as 2007 buyers are flooding into this erstwhile war-torn nation. It is probably rightly regarded as having the safest investment potential of any of the eastern European accession countries.

Investors are even buying up some of its 1000-plus islands. Hollywood stars such as Robert de Niro, Clint Eastwood and Sharon Stone are even thought to have snapped up homes there.

Here, for example, £41,000 would buy you a house within walking distance of the sea in Banjole.

Dubrovnik with its beaches and Venetian-style homes has a picturesque old town, while the Slovenian Alps villages attract winter sports fans.

English is widespread in the tourist resorts but communication could be difficult elsewhere. And because it is regarded as a safe bet, prices are higher than in other Eastern European countries.

Also, to buy property, you either have to set up a company or obtain permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which can take up to a year. And don't even consider property on one of the islands - or indeed an island itself - unless you have your own boat. The transport infrastructure is too poor.

Prices have been rising fast - in 2003 they jumped by 40 per cent - and you should move fast to secure sub-£50,000 properties before they become history.

Flats in new developments are still available at about £50,000.

Domus Abroad, for example (020 7431 4692; http://www.domusabroad.com) has new apartments within walking distance of the sea at Banjole, an Adriatic resort six miles from Pula Airport, priced from £41,000.