If you are wondering where you should invest, you need to know what type of investor you really are. Then you can match your profile against the myriad of opportunities and create a clear way forward.

By the end of this article I promise that you will be able to make a clear decision on the right way forward; you will only have to decide between two distinct choices.

First step, decide how much of your cash and/or equity you want to invest in property (asset allocation, if you want to sound good down the pub!) Once you have an idea of the amount of cash or equity you have to spend, there are some key questions you need to ask yourself (and answer!) for step 2:

* Attitude to risk. Are you I really want to go all out buying as much as possible anywhere, or more I just want a good solid investment that will be a nice bonus come retirement?

* Attitude to borrowing. Do you hate the thought, or cherish using someone elses money to make you wealthier?

* Do I want somewhere for pleasure as well as an investment?

* Which is more important, capital growth or rental return?

* Do I need the property(s) to pay for themselves, or can I afford to support them?

* How near or far am I comfortable owning a property (flight time)

* Which countries, if any, do I have an interest in or knowledge of?

* What do I really want to achieve, and in what time scale.

As well as the above, you should also consider how important rental guarantees are, if you want to try and get a discount and are you happy buying off-plan?

So, once you have created your own profile, it is worth summarising your objectives and strategy in one or two sentences, creating your own Personal Plan, for example Using X,000 I want a portfolio of five off-plan properties in high risk, high growth areas where the rental return will cover mortgage payments and at least one of the properties I can use for holidays

Now comes the fun bit! Research, followed by more research! Step 3 is to research the range of countries where you could invest. The key task is to continuously match the facts about the countries against your own profile. There is a range of information you should be researching , but essentially you are looking for a country that allows you to fulfil your summary statement. This boils down to 4 areas:

1.What are the fundamentals that are going to drive capital growth?

2.What is the level of risk associated with any given country, and is it over or under-valued?

3.Does the finance available, property prices, buying costs and rental yields make it financially viable?

4.How strong is the resale and rental market

Once you have a country in mind, step 4 is to hone down to specific regions or locations, and then find out what sort of opportunities are available to you. If you are struggling, then either that country is not right for you, or your personal objectives are not realistic and need revising.

If your strategy is to stretch your limited cash as far as possible, then your decision on which country will be largely driven by the need to find more innovative finance deals. For example, your search could uncover an opportunity in Southern Cyprus with 90% mortgage and the 10% deposit payable over 2 years, or in Sofia (Bulgaria) where there is 100% finance available and guaranteed tenants for houses in the suburbs. If your strategy concentrates more on rental return, then you might uncover a 10 year guaranteed rental return in Thailand, with a minimum 10% nett return, or 15%+ returns in the United States.

So, what are your two distinct choices going forward (as promised)? Simply put, either you commit to following the path outlined in this article, or you find someone who can do it for you. That is the most important decision for you to make now.

The mistake many people make is to tread the middle ground, where they have enough information to get themselves confused, but not enough to make an informed decision as part of a clear strategy. Consider the advice from one great (shares) investor. When asked what the average investor should do, he replied: The average investor should find a great investor to do his investing for him, and then go do something he really loves to do