Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine all 3 still offer much better opportunities to 'buy & hold' than overpriced real estate in the West. http://www.mybulgaria.info/property-prices-bulgaria.html
uk is still a buy. prices wont ease any time soon. too much demand and too little supply, especially of 1/2 bedroom flats in the middle of posh areas.
Once a man has the taste of independence and created the proper skills to "live off the land" in modern times he simply cannot go back. You are a 21st century hunter/gatherer.
My friend, UK is crap for yield nowadays, only smart redevelopment provides opportunities which are worth the effort, demand is for 1/2 bed flats in places like Docklands in E14 is driven by the rental market which is now stale due to masses of flats already in the market, buying off plan is pants now, if IR rise this & next year - what growth would be talking about then? Of course Eastern Europe is a riskier market, but consider this - for a price of a second hand car you can buy a flat there.
why don't you go get a university degree in something related to what you want to do? that is a good resume builder if you don't have the current experience. an MBA will carry you into anything corporate-related, including real estate (you can specialize in real estate within an MBA) 30 is about the right age too to get the degree
i'd be a buyer in central london, especially sw. been strongly advised by friends, insiders that work in the estate mkt, lawyers etc. to get in now; and i am extremely well connected being in this biz for almost half a century. i regret not to have bot a few yrs back but trust me, prices will continue to rise. there aint no talk of bubbles nowhere. come back in a few yrs time and then we talk again.
You should never listen to others B, it's fair enough if you've been in the industry yourself for such a long time. I know same folk as you, they were very wrong at the time of the 'dot-com bubble', property is no different, they don't understand much when it comes to overpriced areas of any market, they just keep on buying until the end, the vast majority of them.
that's bs. those are advisors that i have been consulting for decades, close friends of mine, all insiders. i wouldnt own half the piazza in the city i live if i and them didnt know what we were talking about. chelsea has always been overpriced since the early 80s, prices never eased, never will much. that's a safe investment.