Q. I noticed a story on Today Tonight about buying property in the USA this week. It seems very cheap, what are your thoughts in regards to this?

A. With any property or other investment purchase you’re taking a risk. If you want to increase that risk then buy in an area that you’re not familiar with - and if you really want to take your risk to the extreme then buy in another country.

My general rule of thought on buying OS property is that if the property deals really are as good as they seem then the locals would buy them.

Ask yourself this question - Why do sales people and marketing companies spend thousands of dollars promoting properties to overseas buyers? It’s not because they want to give overseas buyers a good deal, it’s so they can make money and the best buyer is the uninformed buyer.

In short beware! My advice is to steer clear of OS markets. There are plenty of opportunities for you to invest well, right here in your own backyard.