Investing in real estate markets overseas means venturing into the unknown, where you meet unfamiliar political and economic environments, unstable currencies, strange cultures and languages, and so although the advantages of international diversification might appear attractive, the risks of and constraints on international real estate investment must not be overlooked. However, capital markets are becoming global markets and commercial real estate markets are no exception accordingly despite the difficulties posed by venturing overseas, no investor can overlook the potential international investment holds out. However, what strategies are appropriate for capitalising on this potential? Three issues must be considered: (1) the potential of the countries real estate market in general; (2) the potential of the individual market sectors; and (3) the investment process itself. Although each step in foreign real estate investment is critical, the initial assessment of opportunities is especially important. Various methods can be used to achieve this but a formal and systematic analysis of aggregate market potential should prove particularly fruitful. The work reported here, therefore, develops and illustrates such a methodology for the 51 real estate markets analysed by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) in their Real Estate Transparency Index (RETI) 2004.