Not in My Backyard With the U.S. housing market in a shambles, investors are betting on foreign real estate.

As the son of an international diplomat, Osman Rashid is no stranger to travel. He was born in London and raised throughout Africa, Europe and Pakistan. Although Chegg Inc., the online textbook rental company he co-founded in 2003, has him settled in Santa Clara, California, Rashid hasn't let go of his global ways, especially when it comes to his portfolio.

Rashid owns a total of eight land, residential and commercial properties in developing regions of India and Pakistan. In the past four years, he has seen a 300-percent appreciation of his assets in Pakistan and expects considerable returns in the high-growth city of Mysore, India. Rashid, 38, hopes to double his exposure in those markets in 2008.