Finding yourself an investment opportunity that gives fruit over time requires a great deal of research, your own analytical skills, and a third eye to vet the project’s legitimacy. The first question that comes to mind is if the investment is safe? Like most overseas investors, you seek a profitable, secure opportunity with stable returns. But more importantly, the process needs to be transparent, accessible, and one that enables you to invest from the comfort of your home.

Worry not as this article explains the modern way of investing digitally vs. the traditional approach!

Under the traditional approach, you should become a member of the Overseas Pakistani Foundation

Overseas Pakistanis settled abroad since 23rd March, 1979 on valid work visa by the Protectorate of Emigrants, Bureau of Emigrations & Overseas Employment (BE&OE), and Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC) are registered with the Overseas Pakistani Foundation and can avail its services. It requires a small fee of PKR 2000, and you become an OPF member as long as you stay abroad.

OPF provides detailed financial and legal guidelines for overseas Pakistanis wanting to invest in Pakistan. These guidelines are available on the OPF’s official website.

• Whenever doing any financial transactions with business partners, always pursue legal channels

• Verify all necessary documents before investing

• Prepare a written agreement discussing rights and duties of all shareholders/ investment and business partners. This partnership agreement must be duly signed by all concerned

• If you are purchasing property from an individual person, verify the registry title of the seller from the local authorities

• Next step is to get it registered with government’s business regulatory services like Federal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) or Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP)

• Never sign any blank paper

• Do not give a copy of your national identity card (CNIC or NICOP) or any other important identification document to anyone for any purpose. Whenever necessary, put a cross on it and write the purpose on it.

• Lastly, never give General Power of Attorney to anyone. If really necessary, only assign Special Power of Attorney mentioning specific purpose. Be cautious that the holder of General Power of Attorney enjoys all legal powers, including the right to sell the property without notifying the owner

Get Power of Attorney (POA)

POA is a key stage of this process where you authorize another person (usually a relative) in the country to make the transaction on your behalf. This enables you to purchase or sell the property without needing to visit the country of investment. Since this role demands a lot of trust and fiduciary responsibility, it is vital to delegate someone credible to represent you.

However, frauds and scams do happen where sometimes even the closest ones deceive you. A prudent way of ensuring your attorney doesn’t misuse the rights is to limit their power to ‘special’, instead of ‘general’. Granting special power to your attorney legally bounds them to inform you before making any decision regarding the sale of your property. In general power of attorney, the holder is not legally bound to take consent when selling your property.

Hiring a lawyer

People often opt for an already drafted power of attorney to save the time and hassle involved in finding a match. However, if the transaction demands more paperwork, approvals, or legal care, we recommend hiring a lawyer to lead the process.

Attesting from the embassy

Yes, this process strictly requires you to visit the embassy of your country with the necessary documents to sign power of attorney.

Once you have attested all documents from the Ministry of foreign affairs, take them to the registrar in district court to register the power of attorney. The power of attorney will be granted for a certain period so make sure you complete the transaction within the specified time, or else it will be considered void.

The modern solution: Invest in prime properties digitally through a trusted PropTech platform!

DAO PropTech’s fastest-growing and award-winning platform has been built on the very ideals of democratizing real estate through modern solutions. Using digital ledger technology, real estate can now be purchased with complete trust and accountability, thereby eliminating barriers to entry and providing complete transparency.

We enable you to make informed real estate purchases that accomplish your financial goals. The projects on our platform are scientifically priced meaning there are no hidden charges and price calculations are based on actual project costs. Not only that, the projects declare everything openly, be it project costs or legal affairs. And with full construction visibility, you can track each project’s progress online and measure it against the set construction milestones.

Harnessing the power of data and technology, DAO PropTech provides

1. Flexible payment options
2. Due diligence reports
3. Indivative future pricing
4. Dynamic real estate plans (Buy to Own, Buy to Sell, Buy to Earn, Buy to Save)
5. Personalized digital platform
6. Regular updates

DAO PropTech offers numerous real estate projects on their platform – with each of them serving different investment needs! Be sure to check them out as these projects have been chosen through a rigorous selection process, hence, are the best in their class.

Join the thousands of overseas Pakistanis taking control of their real estate investment needs!