The World's Best Quality of Life
July 4, 2010, Paris, France: France boasts the world’s best quality of life.Dear Overseas Opportunity Letter Reader,
We're spending this Fourth of July at 30,000 feet, flying from Panama City to Newark and then, tonight, across the Pond to Paris for four weeks in the City of Light, meeting up with old friends, holidaying with our children, planning editorial agenda for the next six months, and, very important, preparing for our Live & Invest in France Conference later this month.
Our driver is waiting in the driveway, and we're running late for our flight, so I'll be uncharacteristically brief this morning.
The Bloomberg Business Week writer who interviewed me last week began our conversation by asking my pick for the world's best place to live.
Paris, I told him, without hestiation. We're on our way today to spend some time reminding ourselves just how appealing la vie francaise can be.
More tomorrow.
Kathleen Peddicord
----------
You Are Not Responsible For Getting Yourself Into This Mess...
But you are the only person who can get yourself out.
Right now -- and for the next 12 months -- only you can:
Stop the government squeezing more from your hard-earned cash...
Safeguard your assets and actually grow your wealth (even in tough economic times)...
Guarantee a prosperous future -- for you and your family -- and allow yourself the freedom you were born to enjoy...
Because today, I'd like to send you FIVE FREE AUDIO PRESENTATIONS designed to make it possible for you to rise above this economic meltdown and set yourself on a path to financial and personal freedom.
Read here for complete details.
----------
- After cost of living and housing, the question offoreign residency options is a key one to consider as you make your retire-overseas plans.
The truth is, not every country welcomes foreign residents or retirees, and, in those that do, the requirements for qualifying for residency status vary greatly. Some countries (for example, Panama), on the other hand, offer many different options for establishing permanent residency.
The most important thing about residency visa options for any country is to understand the rules before you get too far into your relocation plans. You don't want to begin house-hunting in a country only to find that you don't qualify for any visa option and won't be able, in fact, to take up residence, at least not legally or full time.
Before you begin to research the particular retiree resident visa options for the countries on your list, be sure you understand the relevant issues and terminology...
- Years ago, when I was just starting out covering this beat, I encountered a headline that has stuck with me:
"Why Would You Want A Second Passport?"
At the time, I wondered myself. Why would anyone need or want a second passport?
Today, I understand.
About two years ago, after more than four years of back and forth with the Irish immigration authorities, I received my Irish passport in the mail. I was finally, officially, a dual citizen.
My son, Jackson, born while we were living in Waterford, is also Irish. At that time, Ireland offered jus soli, or rights-of-the-soil citizenship. That is, because I happened to be on Irish soil when Jack entered this world, Ireland rewarded him with citizenship.
Over-immigration caused the Irish to rethink their policies. Today, it is still possible to apply for an Irish passport based on your Irish maternal lineage, and it's still possible still to obtain Irish nationality by residing full-time in the country for five years or longer. However, the country no longer offers jus-soli citizenship.
We didn't move to Ireland so that I could bear a child who would be eligible for Irish citizenship. We didn't even move to Ireland so that we could earn Irish citizenship ourselves. And we didn't relocate to Ireland with the definite intention of remaining in the country long enough to quality for a second passport.
We moved to Ireland to make a home and to build a business. We resided in the country full-time for seven years, expanded not only our business but also our family, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
As an added bonus, we earned Irish citizenship. We didn't set out after it, for, again, I didn't appreciate the value of a second passport 13 years ago when we made our initial move overseas.
Today, I do...
- "I attended a real estate committee meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce of Panama earlier this month," writes resident global real estate investing guru Lief Simon. "One of the subjects discussed was the formal implementation of a multiple listing service in Panama.
"More and more countries or regions are attempting this--to put in place a multiple listing service(MLS). Functional MLS's operate in Buenos Aires, Roatan in Honduras, and in some localized markets within Mexico. I've seen an MLS in Spain, too, but I wouldn't call it functional.
"The difficulty with an MLS system is getting the local brokers and agents to use it. It took years of effort before the system in place on the Bay Island of Roatan became an effective tool for real estate professionals and buyers. Brokers were used to keeping 100% of the commissions themselves, and most weren't interested in splitting commissions, even if it meant that, in the end, they could do more total business and make more money. Eventually, though, thanks to persistent efforts by U.S. real estate agents who'd migrated to this island and who understood the long-term benefits and bonuses of an MLS, the agents on Roatan have come around and the island system appears to be working.
"A functioning MLS has many benefits, one of which is the statistics that it helps to accumulate (assuming everyone is entering correct data into the system). Without an MLS, statistics on sales prices, list prices, and volume of properties sold is non-existent. You have nothing but word-of-mouth from brokers and real estate attorneys to rely on.
"And you can't rely on what the brokers or, often, the attorneys report at all.
"So what is a would-be real estate buyer to do when shopping for a piece of real estate in a market with no MLS? A lot of ground work..."
ALSO From Global Real Estate Investing Guru Lief Simon:
A friend in Europe called this week to ask if I thought myMarketwatch members would be interested in bank foreclosure deals in Mediterranean countries. My friend has been active as a broker and developer in Spain and Croatia for more than a dozen years and has contacts elsewhere in Europe, as well.
I assured him that, yes, this is the kind of opportunity I'm keen to bring my Marketwatch members, and I'm reviewing details for a forthcoming Marketwatch report now.
The kinds of extreme bargains my Euro-market contact is telling me about are available in many markets right now. The key is locating them. You won't find these kinds of deals on the Internet. You have to have "boots on the ground," as they say, either your own or those of a reliable contact (like my friend), someone active in the market where you're shopping.
As another real estate colleague puts it, "The best deals never make it to the window," referring to the listings you see in the front windows of real estate agencies. In an active market like Paris, for example (a market I've gotten to know well over the past half-dozen years), the properties you see posted in real estate agency windows are those the agency is having trouble selling. Typically, these window listings have been on the market much longer than average, typically because they're over-priced.
The best deals, on the other hand, are passed along behind the scenes. This is how we found our apartment in Paris. The agent we were working with hadn't even signed the listing agreement for the place when she told us about it. The price was low, because the about-to-be-divorced Frenchwoman owner wanted a quick sale. We viewed and made an offer on the apartment before it was officially listed for sale.
Yes, we were lucky, but I believe you can help to make this kind of luck for yourself. To be in a position to find out about these kinds of opportunities (motivated sales that haven't even officially made it to market, for example), you need to be "in the market." That is, you need to be on the ground looking, speaking with agents, and making it known that you are a serious buyer. Sending e-mails and promising to fly to the country as soon as the agent finds what you're looking for won't get you far. A serious guy gets on a plane.
By putting yourself in the market, you increase your chances that an agent will think of you first when an especially interesting opportunity comes his way. You don't necessarily need to be physically present in the country at the time, but you need to have built up personal relationships and credibility on the ground.
I'm stating the obvious, but I'm reminded regularly of the importance of making an effort to make yourself known in any market where you're interested in investing. Readers write to say how disappointed they are with the service they are getting from the real estate agent they're communicating with via e-mail in Country X. Or they write to tell me they think the prices they are finding on the Internet are too high and that there are no good deals to be found in Country Y.
I've come to think of the Internet as the virtual shop window for real estate agencies worldwide. As with those listings you'll see in the front windows of agencies in Paris, the ones you find on the Internet are posted for the uninitiated market. Only those who don't know any better, frankly, would buy a piece of real estate sourced over the Internet without first making an effort to get to know the real-world market (as opposed to the virtual one).
----------
Discover Panama, Warts and All!
No marketing hype, no rose-colored glasses.
That's the promise we make with the Panama Letter. Panama is right now one of the world's top retirement, investment, offshore, and doing-business haven. To get the most out of this little country with such an abundance of upside, and to determine which opportunities might be right for you, you need to know the full story. You need to understand all the facts, straight, complete, and current.
You need to see Panama for what she really is.
Let us open your eyes to the good, the bad, and the ugly of living, investing, banking, and doing business in this much-talked-about little country. Only then can you set yourself up for success here.
This is Panama without the sugar coating. From a team of expats, investors, and businesspeople with, together, many decades of experience spending time and making money in the Hub of the Americas.
Go Here Now For The Full Details.
----------
Expert Picks
Top Resources
Kathleen Peddicord's
New Book
The Wall Street Journal says: "If you're thinking about living abroad in retirement, this book is essential reading..."
"Whether you're in the 'what if?' stage, or have graduated to an investigatory visit, or are now seriously intending to live overseas...the book How to Retire Overseas will be one of your essential resources." ---Rapid River Arts & Culture (Asheville, NC)
Order Now
Communities
Overseas Radio Show
Search
Readers Say
— Peter L., United States
— Charles M., United States
Kathleen Peddicord
Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. With more than 25 years experience covering this beat, Kathleen reports daily on current opportunities for living, retiring, and investing overseas in her free e-letter.
Her book, How To Retire Overseas—Everything You Need To Know To Live Well Abroad For Less, was recently released by Penguin Books.
SIGN UP TO OUR FREE E-LETTER
Sign up for the Overseas Opportunity Letter
Receive our editor's latest research reports...absolutely FREE!
The Best Places For Living
And
Investing in the World for 2012