But Where?

Perhaps you have a long honed fantasy of a beachfront Malibu bungalow or a sleek Manhattan condo, a hilltop spread overlooking the valleys of Northern California or a luxurious nouveau-palazzo in Florida.

Or perhaps you haven’t a clue.

If one were to believe the standard buzz, all “foreign” buyers in the States are limiting themselves to scooping up condos in Florida and New York City. I believe the term 'self-fulfilling wishful fantasies' might apply, since those are two markets with some of the highest inventories of unsold properties in the country.

Now I will admit to having very firm preferences of my own, but that comes from having lived almost everywhere in the States. Seriously. Boston, Connecticut, south-central Pennsylvania, the suburbs of Washington DC, Baltimore, Savannah [Georgia], Michigan, Texas, San Diego, LA. OK, I’m starting to appal myself.

I have also holidayed in Orlando and Captiva in Florida, Hilton Head in South Carolina, Philadelphia, Chicago [seriously!], Manhattan, Atlantic City and Cape May in New Jersey, and, well, to hell with it, let’s stop there and just assume I’ve made my point.

If you’re planning on spending any time at all in your American property, then it really is important to have – even above and beyond the numbers - a sense of the place. The world of difference between, say, a New England village and a city like Los Angeles goes far beyond the obvious disparities of geography and size. It would be more akin to the contrast between a retreat in the Cotswolds and Ankara.

While you will most certainly be plied with sterling numbers and avowals of profitability, you will also meet with naïve assumptions of your thorough familiarity with a property’s neighbourhood, mores and culinary heritage.

My suggestion is to spend as much time learning about the above as possible, even if you’ve actually visited, and fallen in love with, the place. At the very least read the local newspaper, especially the adverts [if you find an abundance for bail bondsmen, cheque cashing services and furniture rental emporia, then you know you’re in the wrong place, or at least in the dodgy end of Savannah or San Diego. Or, frankly, in an increasingly large portion of the American panorama.].

Depending on your fancy, you may wish to see if there’s a library in town or a non-franchised “Irish” pub, a ban on outdoor smoking and/or drinking on the beach [seriously], more houses of worship than restaurants and criteria of similar ilk.

As for me, it would be a very old stone cottage set in the rolling, smoky hills of Connecticut, but, then again, I came back to Ireland.