Chat Ed : Hello everyone and thanks for coming to take part in our webchat with A Place in the Sun presenter Amanda Lamb! Each week Amanda helps people who want to pick up their lives and move them abroad. She takes them through the property search in their new chosen country and tries to find their place in the sun…
Constantine1970 : Good Evening Amanda
Sam : hey there Amanda
Tasha : hey Amanda
rich : hi Amanda
Amanda Lamb : Hello everyone, fire away :)
DaveyD : Hi Amanda
Sam : In terms of earning money on your overseas property investments - where is the best place to invest money in property at the moment?
iain : what country do you recommend buying a property in purely as a business proposition?
Amanda Lamb : Oh Sam that is a good one! America is still quite a good bet, especially Florida. In Orlando for example you've got all the theme parks and a lot of the management companies there will offer you a guaranteed amount of weeks that your property will be filled each year so you'll know how much money you will definitely make from them. Also the Spanish Costas because us Brits seem to love it there so you will always find that people will want to rent in places like Marbella and Malaga and that appeals to people who don't want to travel as far as Florida.
Julie Brown : Like Jamie I would like to know where the best place to invest is, after a visit we're thinking of Croatia
Amanda Lamb : Julie, Croatia is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited. It's a bit of a risk because it's a fairly new market and you have to be careful because there aren't any official valuers there. So the vendors make up the price on their own property which means you have to be careful that you're not paying over the odds for a property. But, in terms of a great place to buy, I think it's one of the new up and coming areas and in five years time I think we'll all be kicking ourselves that we didn't buy there.
jackie : Amanda, it's Jackie, we went to Bulgaria with you with house trapped in the sun, did you find your clothes ?
Amanda Lamb laughs
Amanda Lamb : Hello Jackie! Yes I did thank you very much! As we went to departures they turned up in arrivals!
KERRI : Evening Amanda - how easy is it to buy a house/ migrate to the Caribbean - is there much red tape involved? Are there any special requirements?
Amanda Lamb : It's relatively easy to buy out there. The best thing to do is to check with the embassy on the red tape - research as thoroughly as you possibly can.
stevie : what parts of Bulgaria are the best for maximum profit for when the country goes into the EU in 2007
Amanda Lamb : I would say Varna and Sofia would be the best places. You can buy very cheap properties in the countryside in Bulgaria but it really is the countryside - there are peasants living there - it's not civilisation as we know it in the UK.
PJ : Hi Amanda, do you think buying a small apartment from Plan in Budapest is a good investment?
Amanda Lamb : PJ - as long as there are guarantees that you won't lose your money. In Spain developers have to have a bankers guarantee so if they go bankrupt the bank will give you back your money. So check that out definitely.
AndyB : OK Amanda you've got the best job in TV how did it happen?
Amanda Lamb : Gosh. I was a model for seven years and my agent who spotted me as a model suggested that I put a show reel together and Freeform TV was the first job I went on for. I used to be an estate agent and they were looking for someone with estate agency experience so I think that helped as well.
flea : What are the best and worst bits about your job(s)?
Amanda Lamb : The travel and the travel ;) The best bit is that I get to see countries that I would never normally go to and helping people buying property is fantastic as they are often so happy, so it’s rewarding in that way. The worst bit is the constantly being on and off planes, being in hotel rooms all week and missing my friends and family.
ScallyNickos : are the places always sunny?
Amanda Lamb : No Scally, they're not - it's the magic of TV! We are very lucky actually. Nine times out of ten they are sunny. In the new series we'll be in Europe in the middle of November so it'll be a miracle if we get any sunshine for that!
kelly : is it you that appears on the Scottish widows ad?
Karen Kev : Was you the model for the Scottish Widows ad?
Tarantino : I just realised, you are neither Scottish not a Widow.... faaaaake.. :)
Amanda Lamb : Yes it is :) Did you win the bet? People always have bets with each other about that? heh...
Amanda Lamb chuckles at Tarantino
Mark Flood : Amanda, you've admitted a couple of times on the show to being tempted into buying some of the properties yourself, have you ever taken the plunge?
Jamie : Amanda do you invest much in property??
Amanda Lamb : I would have bought one in Normandy about three years ago but the house hunters bought it! : My Mum has a house in France though so I go there sometimes.
Mark Flood : Damn guests of the show!
Amanda Lamb : There is so much involved in doing it and you need to be around in the country a lot and I'm just not. I'd just like to buy one in southern Spain in the future though.
OTL : Do you have a favourite country where you would like to buy a holiday home?
andy mc : where is your favourite place
Amanda Lamb : I've got too many to mention, my top three are: France (northern), Australia and Croatia.
Huggy71 : Hi Amanda. Do you ever get annoyed when you show couples houses that are just what they said they are looking for and then don't like any of them?
Amanda Lamb : Yes, I'd be lying if I said I didn't, but there are often times too that we show them a property and we don't really think they will like it and they end up LOVING it! So it's very hard to predict the final outcome.
Brian : Hi Amanda - my wife was wondering where you get your dresses from as she thinks you always look fantastic (and so do I !)
Simon : Hi amanda, just wanted say that i think your little earring looks cool
Amanda Lamb : Thank you Brian! I have a wonderful lady called Andrea who trawls the high street for me and buys all the clothes for the series and she comes round to my house and we go through each show and what would look good on each one. I can sometimes wangle a pair of Jimmy Choo's out of her - although not often!
moker : Do you get to keep the Scottish windows cloak?
Amanda Lamb : moker - no I didn't, they have a bout five of them and they are never let out of their sight so I just turn up and wear them. They weigh about a stone and half each - they are very heavy!
Pejoterdy : Has travelling to so many places as a job put you off travelling at all? You know what they say - the last thing the owner of a chip wants to see after work is a fish and chip supper!
Amanda Lamb : Well, put it this way I had one weeks holiday this year and I went to Somerset! To me a holiday is lying on my couch and reading the Sunday papers. I love England although I am going to Australia for a month at Christmas which is going to be wonderful.
anneka : where is the next country you have to visit?
Amanda Lamb : I'm in it now, as we speak - I'm in Spain, in a region called Treula. Apparently it is the cutest place in Spain.
janebures : tonight’s programme are the prices current or was it filmed some time ago
Amanda Lamb : That one was filmed in January of this year. It's a really good place to buy land, even if you have no intention of building a house on it, just buy it and sit on it for a while because the land prices are going up and up.
CanadianBacon : Is it necessary to speak Spanish in the islands (close to Honduras) that were featured in tonight’s programme?
Amanda Lamb : Not necessarily no but it does help. Those islands attract such an eclectic mix of people - there are lots of Americans and Canadians there so you should be ok with a name like CanadianBacon ;)
Damon : I enjoyed the programme. Did you warn them about the hurricane risk? I say this because I was involved in hurricane relief on the island of Gunaja which was hit badly by Hurricane Mitch in 98
Amanda Lamb : Yes we did warn them. We always warn people if they are in a danger zone.
Richard Cumming : Do you think that the English buyers are being preyed on because of our property boom ?
Amanda Lamb : Hmm interesting... I think we probably are a bit because we've got excess cash to spend because English property prices have gone up more than anywhere else in Europe. So be careful, get your research done and get a good lawyer. 75% of Brits that buy abroad don't get surveys done which we wouldn't dream of doing in this country, you know, it's crazy, you HAVE to get one done. And don't be too trusting, I know that sounds cynical, but I do see the bad side of it too and see how people can get caught out.
Sally : where is the best place in Spain to retire to.
Amanda Lamb : It depends on what you want... If you want peace and quiet I'd personally say Costa de la Luz but there you would need to learn to speak Spanish, but it's very beautiful and quiet. But if you want a home from home then Alicante or Malaga because most people speak English there and the weather is always lovely. Take lots of holidays out there in the name of research!
Sally : complex apartment with gated community
Amanda Lamb : Ah ok in that case I'd say Malaga or Marbella - there are lots of complexes there.
paula : hello, me and my husband want to move to Cyprus. My husband is a builder and wants to build his own house in Cyprus. We were told you have to be qualified to a certain extent to build out there. Do you know what qualifications you would need?
Amanda Lamb : Gosh I don't, I'm really sorry. You have to be so careful with Cyprus. I do another programme called Housetrapped in the Sun on Thursday nights, you should definitely watch it - there are cases of Cypriot estate agents selling the same plot of land to five different couples. Get yourself a good lawyer and check everything thoroughly.
robert shaughnessy : Rob Shaughnessy Following your program last year I have purchased a number of lots on Roatan , Thank you very much for the new life
Amanda Lamb : I'm very pleased robert, well done, you will be very rich in a few years time!
Brian Ludwig : Hi Amanda - just like to say a big thanks for taking the time to speak to us - it made my evening hear in Scotland !
Amanda Lamb : Aaaah bless you Brian, no problem!
Chat Ed : Well that’s it from us for tonight folks, thanks for coming in Amanda and thank you to all of you for your great questions…
sven : Cheers Miss Lamb, Keep up the bikinis, sarongs and windy beaches
rich : love the show amanda, keep up the superb work :-)
Amanda Lamb laughs
Amanda Lamb : I'll try, sven!
jackie : thank you Amanda for your advice in Bulgaria
OTL : Keep up the good work Amanda.
Amanda Lamb : Thank you all very much for taking the time to log in and remember get a survey done!!
Pejoterdy : best of luck!!!!
portsmouth lad : bye amanda xx
Amanda Lamb leaves the room
