I live in a HCOL where very basic apartments go for about US$1m.
Instead of being tied down to living in one of these expensive shoe-boxes, I was considering buying one in a relatively LCOL overseas as an investment, renting it out to some yuppy family, and using the rent to pay the rent of wherever I wanted to live in HCOL. The net effect of this could mean I use the whole rental income to pay off my rental expense (unlikely I'll be able to cover the full rent in HCOL, but it could help).
Advantages: I can live wherever I want and if I don't like the neighbours I can move, buying overseas will mean diversification away from a HCOL which is now the most expensive residential market 7 years running.
Disadvantages: hidden costs (?), added complication / having to manage a property, renting a property won't feel like home.
Has anyone done this? Thoughts?