Hi Everyone, For fear of throwing myself to the wolves - I want to tell you what I'm thinking of doing and hopefully you will have an opinion which you are happy to share with me (after you've finished sniggering perhaps!) Ok. I am a bit slow and have only just discovered Saida in Morocco (which was touched upon in these forums last July), in particular Le Jardin Du Fleur developments. I haven't visited yet but intend to. The resort excites me - I'd like to think that it's not because of hype but for logical reasons - year round climate, golf courses, indoor pools, extensive sports, equestrian centre, on the med coast, marina, cheap flights etc etc.. It doesn't matter that it's Morocco, it could be anywhere, there is very little reason why anyone should want to venture outside of the complex. It ticks lots of boxes and I think it's somewhere that I would be interested in visiting (and I travel a lot and am pretty fussy *g*). I currently spend a small fortune each year renting a villa in Vale Do Lobo Portugal because my teenagers want to go there because all their friends will be there. I have looked into buying there and it's prohibitively expensive (£1m for a very small 3bed). I often wish that I'd known about it at the beginning, but I was just a baby then) I personally feel that Portugal is an ugly place, but the resort is green and beautiful - although the Atlantic is cold and rough and I will never go in it! Anyway, I think Saida could go the same way but with a more appealing coast. I am thinking of buying a Grande Villa for the following reasons: there are only 24 of them, only 19 of those front line golf course and lake. They have their own exclusive club house, outdoor pool, indoor pool (I think!) and they are going to be very private. No apartments next door. They are supposedly the largest on the whole of the complex (is this LJDF hype?) and they are close to the marina. It is being dubbed 'Millionaire's Row'. In my mind this would make them very attractive to the sort of people who already spend a lot of money to holiday in quality villas. Indeed if so desired, two families could share a villa (they are certainly big enough), halve the cost and still enjoy the exclusitivity that staying there gives them. If wealthy people are attracted to the resort they are going to want the best. Top designers, Gucci etc have already signed up for shop space. NeoLimited have just released their 'invitation only' development of 60 large villa's. I don't know prices (I wasn't invited!) but these are the ones the footballers are supposed to have invested in and are right next to the sports facilities (good thing or bad thing?. Is this enclave of 60, more attractive than the enclave of 24? Hmmmm, personally I think not but I intend to find out more about them. I can see that an exit strategy for apartments might not be very strong, after all there will be a couple of thousand of them all competing for rent/sales, but I would think that once the cranes have gone, the resort is looking established and is firmly on the map - there will be demand for top end villas (to the sort of people like me who have considered buying somewhere on Vale Do Lobo), therefore a leap in capital appreciation (small supply) would result. These are spectacular villas that you just couldn't buy for this money in Spain/Portugal etc. I realise that rental will be scant to begin with (not ideal but I can cover this) but would hope that it wouldn't be like it for too long. If it paid its way I would hang on to it for long term growth. The only thing I'm not happy about is the 40% paid out up front with completion in 2 years (I'm sure £250k could be put to better use!) although I'm wondering if they would reduce this amount? I would take out a morgage for the balance. I haven't yet invested in any overseas properties, but would like to. I am looking for capital growth but need to be very careful that I don't spread myself too thin with too high a gearing once everything completes. Some of my investments will need to be high yield or a safe buy to flip with exit planned within the next couple of years. Sorry, this is a bit of a ramble. Hope you can make sense of it and give me your twopenneth worth. I also stumbled across Sahl Hasheesh and in particular the very upmarket Serennia development - WOW! But perhaps that another discussion altogether?.....*g*

Hi Liz For what it's worth my opinion is that you seem to be confusing what you and your family want for a holiday and what may be a good investment. Not always mutually exclusive but it helps to take off the rose tinted specs and decide what you really want. In investment terms, the amount of deposit, the overall cost and the uncertainly about a) future growth, b) rental demand, c) exit route in my view means that you're far better off looking elsewhere and spreading your risk in a number of different investments for your money. Firstly, however, you need to decide whether it is an investment or a holiday home. If both, for the money I would go for a "blue chip" area like the south of France. Huw