Are you about to start your search for a place in the sun? If so take this simple test to see what and where you should be buying. Ten minutes spent now could save you a lot of time, stress and money later on.

Question 1.

What are you buying: a holiday home?
Yes or No

If yes, move to Question 2. If No, move to Answer 5.

Question 2.

How often will you be using it?
'Now and again' or 'a lot' (i.e. more than four times a year)

If 'now and again', move to Question 3. If 'a lot' then move to Answer 4.

Question 3.

Will you be visiting it only in the summer (or high season) or also in low season?

If 'only in the summer' move to Question 4. If 'also in low season' then move to Answer 3.

Question 4.

Assuming you are a couple, will it be just you using it or will your children be coming with your along with other friends and family?

If 'just you' move to Answer 1, otherwise go to Answer 2.

Answer 1.

What you should consider:
You will only be using the property now and again, so ideally it needs to be within a resort or purpose-built tourist development.

Because you will only be using it during the high season (i.e. the summer hols) then you can consider buying in one of the more far flung destinations such as Egypt, Cape Verde, Florida, Brazil, Canada or Morocco. This is because if it's infrequent visits your making then a long-ish journey won't grate too much, and you'll probably need to 'lock up and leave' your property so a purpose-built resort is ideal because security is higher than buying in a remote village or town. And because you'll be using it infrequently, and just for yourselves, consider an apartment rather than a villa or townhouse - ideally that comes with access to a swimming pool. The good news is that these countries offer apartments from just £45,000 and villas from £75,000.

Answer 2.

What you should consider:
Your criteria are the same as Answer 1 - so give that a read. But because you'll be accommodating friends and family, your money will go further in these countries compared to the more expensive (but closer) destinations such as France, Spain or Portugal and therefore a villa will be within your budget. For example, a detached villa in on Morocco's Mediterranean coast will cost the same as a small apartment on the classier parts of the Spanish Costas.

Answer 3.

What you should consider:
Buying in one of the year-round winter sun destinations - such as Cyprus, Cape Verde, Morocco, Florida, South Africa, Thailand, Dubai or the Caribbean. Why? Because many parts of southern and eastern Europe cannot guarantee warm temperatures and blue skies from early September onwards until at least early May. However, long-haul means more expensive flights and not all of these destinations offer cheaper property. For example, you'll need approximately £180,000 to buy a resale three-bedroom villa in South Africa or Florida these days - although off-plan properties can be bought for less.

But Cape Verde, Thailand, Dubai and Morocco are the most affordable - and in these markets starter holiday homes can be snapped up for under £50,000 - although less so these days in Dubai.

Answer 4.

What you should consider:
Because you will be travelling frequently to your place in the sun, it's got to be somewhere closer to home - and on one of the regularly used flight paths.

So the chances are you will be considering one of the more popular and best-served (flights-wise) parts of Europe. The most popular among the British is France and in particular the Lot, Garonne or Tarne regions (from Tolouse airport) the Dordogne (via Bergerac) or the Cote d'Azur (via Cannes or Nice).

Other popular destinations include Spain's Costas, on which the most sought after (but therefore most expensive areas) are the Costa del Sol (via Malaga or Gibraltar airports); Costa Blanca (via Alicante); Costa Almeria (via Almeria airport) and Costa Brava (via Girona). The third country popular with owners of holiday homes abroad who want short flights and cheaper fares is Portugal. Its two coasts to consider are the Algarve (via Faro) or Silver coast (via Lisbon). But being in a popular and close destination has its downsides - unless you are prepared to buy inland, prices for even a small one-bedroom apartments can begin as high as £100,000 - and much higher than that in places such as Marbella in Spain or St Tropez on the Cote d'Azur.

Answer 5.

What you should consider:
If the property you are buying isn't going to be a holiday home, then it's very likely you will be hoping it's a money-spinner - in the short or long term.

There are two ways to make a profit from property - rental income or by waiting for a property to go up in value (called capital gain).
Some overseas buyers use the rental income from their property to pay the mortgage on it while they wait for its value to go up - and this criteria will determine where you buy.

Many of the mainstream overseas markets such as Cyprus, Spain, France, Malta, and Portugal offer owners the likelihood of regular income, mainly because they are very popular tourist destinations and rental demand is high.

On the other hand, emerging tourism (and property) markets such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Dubai, Greece, Egypt, Montenegro, Morocco and Cape Verde are less certain as sources of regular rental income - mainly because they are less popular destinations for most tourists (although this is changing) and their tourism industries are not so developed.

Remember Monarch flies from the UK to many of the main property markets mentioned here - including Alicante, Almeria, Murcia and Barcelona on mainland Spain; the islands of Ibiza, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Palma Mallorca, Menorca and Tenerife as well as Gibraltar and Cyprus.

For more information visit A Place in the Sun Live, the UK's biggest overseas property exhibitions, sponsored by Monarch Airlines, at Manchester Central (GMEX) from 29th February to 2nd March 2008, ExCel London (25 to 27 April 2008), NEC Birmingham (26 to 28 September 2008) and Earls Court London (3 to 5 October 2008). www.aplaceinthesunlive.com or call 0871 945 9400.