THE PROBLEM
Charles and Geraldine Cooper write: "We are now in our late fifties and have always promised ourselves a home abroad when we near retirement. We do not want somewhere permanent, just a place we can take fairly long holidays during the summer.
"We live in Norfolk, from where we run a mail order company. We have worked very hard throughout our lives and the `carrot' has always been a villa in the sunshine for our retirement.
"Although we are not yet ready to give up work completely we are certainly slowing down. Our son is taking over the business and we thought that with prices rising rapidly overseas, now might be the time to purchase.
"Prices seem to have risen most in places like Spain, Italy, Cyprus and Portugal, so we were starting to wonder if we would be better off choosing one of the newer popular destinations like Bulgaria or Croatia. We have looked at homes along the Algarve and the Spanish Costas but recent ads seem to show major development and magnificent homes which have been gradually slipping out of our price range, which is around pounds 70,000 - perhaps pounds 75,000 at a push.
"We have recently been to an overseas homes exhibition and were amazed to see the prices of new and used homes in countries that are alien to us, such as Croatia and Turkey. They appear really competitive and on the face of it look like excellent value for money. What we would really like to know is whether these countries are safe for investment and would we be making a right move?"
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