Feb. 21, 2010
Panama City, Panama
ALSO: Cheap The Way Mexico Used To Be Cheap...Your Dry Cleaner Doesn't Have To Get It...
PLUS: Lief Simon On: Foreclosure Buys...Own Lakefront For US$5,000...
AND:
Paul Terhorst On: The Best Of Argentina...
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Dear
Overseas Opportunity Letter Reader,
After retiring from
International Living more than three years ago, Lief Simon continued his global real estate investing efforts, but in a more focused way and for his own account.
When I retired from
International Living about a year thereafter, I proposed that Lief resurrect his
Global Real Estate Investor service for my new Live and Invest Overseas readership. Distracted by an aggressive personal investment plan, Lief declined. He knew from experience how much time and attention this kind of investment alert service requires.
I kept asking.
Finally, more than two years later, Lief has agreed. A couple of months ago, he began putting out the word. He was re-engaging and gearing up to be able to provide again a short list of investors with market insights and investment opportunities in real time.
Lief has been at this for more than 17 years. His global network of real estate investment contacts and resources is unrivaled. That said, even I'm impressed by the response Lief has enjoyed since he began making it known that he's back in business.
If the first half of last decade could be described as the global property investor's golden age, a time when almost anyone with a little capital could make money in almost any market, we've now entered an era of crisis investing. Already, now that he's returned his attention to identifying top markets worldwide for buying for profit, Lief is having trouble keeping up with the opportunities crossing his desk, many of which fall into the category of crisis buys.
Lief shared two such current opportunities with you this week:
Lief reported Friday of
foreclosure sales on offer from a bank he deals with in Belize. Most current offerings are land, including lots in a Nicaragua development where you could pick up most of the parcels for 50% of the list value. The minimum bid on some lots is as little as US$23,163.
Here's the kicker: The bank behind these foreclosure sales will lend on these properties to the successful bidder, up to 50% of the successful bid. That means you could potentially buy one of those Nicaragua lots for as little as US$12,000 down and arrange financing for the other US$12,000.
Full details here.
Earlier in the week, Lief told you about another opportunity in Nicaragua, this one at the private
lakeside development of a longtime contact in that country. Jeff has opened a new phase at his Vistalagos community where you can own right now for US$29,000. This is a limited-time offer that Jeff has allowed us to extend to Live and Invest Overseas readers first.
You can read more about it here.
Lief is researching and vetting at least a half-dozen other opportunities that require immediate attention, in markets from Latin America to Europe to Asia. He will continue to write weekly for the general Live and Invest Overseas readership (watch for his commentary in every Friday edition of this dispatch).
But his full reports and vetted actionable investment recommendations will be reserved for members of hew new
Global Property Investor's Marketwatch service.
Marketwatch Charter Members will have more private and direct access. I've persuaded Lief to include two hours of personal consulting time as part of every Charter Membership.
Three days ago, we made 100 of these Charter Memberships available. When these are filled, we'll have to close Charter Membership indefinitely.
More details here.
Kathleen Peddicord
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P.S.
What else this week?
- Unless you're very lucky, your friends and family aren't going to understand.
When you tell them you're thinking about moving to a new country for your retirement, their responses will likely range from bemusement to shock and horror. They'll think you've lost your grounding and are over-indulging in fantasy...or, worse, that you've flat out lost your mind.
My family still doesn't get it...
- Granada, Nicaragua, and Panama City, Panama, couldn't be more different, and I've been trying to put my finger on, exactly, why that is. Finally, the gentleman who was kind enough to collect me in Managua last night and deliver me to my host here in Granada for these two nights articulated the difference for me.
"Panama City is booming," I was explaining after he'd asked how I was enjoying life in my recently adopted hometown.
"There's so much energy and activity...so many people and so much money flowing through that place right now, thanks, largely, to the Panama Canal expansion work, which began this year.
"Panama City is in your face. Downtown is noisy, dirty, frenzied, and completely alive. This is an exciting time in the history of Panama, and I'm enjoying the chance to witness it from the inside.
"Nicaragua, on the other hand," I began...
"Is swinging contentedly in its hammock," my new friend completed the thought for me. And he got it just right. While Panama is busy remaking itself, retooling for a decade of further and continued growth, development, and expansion...Nicaragua is happy to sit back and enjoy the sunshine...
- My waxing poetic about Nicaragua neglects the practical. Here's the important practicality to recognize about this country: It remains a true bargain.
Twenty years ago, Mexico was truly cheap. Ten years ago, Panama was truly cheap. Today, Nicaragua is still truly cheap.
Harry and I took taxis, ate out, enjoyed our share of Flor de Cana, and made a point of stopping in shops as often as we could. Everything from shampoo, bottled water, and pineapples to electronics, duffle bags, and washing machines is cheaper in Nicaragua than in Panama and, as far as I could tell, a bargain.
Breakfast for the two of us at my favorite Granada haunt, the Alhambra Hotel, was so cheap I re-checked the bill. Two plates of eggs, bacon, and toast, plus orange juice and hot tea, for about US$5, including tax and tip. In Paris, you can't buy two croissants and coffee for US$5...and, in Panama, for 5 bucks, you and your dining companion are eating empanadas out of a cart.
Nicaragua remains the kind of place where everything is so affordable you never have to tell yourself no. Want to dine out? Enjoy late-afternoon aperitifs on the square? Drink and dance 'til dawn? Take a taxi to Masaya or Catarina for a day at the market? Take a boat tour on the lake? Why not? Your budget, even if slight, can handle it.
I'm speaking anecdotally. Our editors have figured the cost of living in Nicaragua more formally. They say you can live well in this country on less than US$1,000 a month.
ALSO THIS WEEK: Intrepid Correspondent Paul Terhorst reports from Buenos Aires:
"Here in
Argentina, the two-month summer season--January and February--is coming to a close.
"Beach and mountain resorts report huge increases in tourist arrivals, as much as 30% over last year. Everyone's making money.
"The local press gives several reasons for the increase. First, neighboring countries have become much more expensive. Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile have revalued their currencies in real terms. Argentina has revalued, too, but much less so. These days Argentina costs more than a year ago and way more than four years ago, but our neighbors see it as a bargain.
"Figure Uruguay, Brazil, and Chile now cost between 50% and 100% more than Argentina.
"Another reason for the tourist boom: Some middle-class Argentines have done very well, and they're enjoying the good times. The recession last year barely touched Argentina. But, because of global concerns, people became more cautious and withdrawn. Now Argentines are thinking more positively, and those who can afford it fill the resorts.
"Unfortunately, the poor have become worse off, mainly because of misguided government policies (see below). But the poor rarely take vacations at the beach even in good times.
"Finally, again according to the papers, Argentines have become weary of their populist, abrasive government. They've decided to act now to get in a better mood, to enjoy life while they can. I love this attitude.
"Argentines even have a saying: "They can't take away from you the dance you've already danced." Argentines dance and dance and spend and enjoy. They let the future worry about itself.
"The future here includes presidential elections next year. The previous president, Nestor Kirchner, was replaced by his wife Cristina in 2007. Cristina's term ends next year, and she says she wants out. We all believe Nestor will run again.
"The Kirchners appeal to the bottom rung of Argentine life. Kirchner people lost badly in last June's local elections, and most people believe voters have tired of them. But I'll go out on a limb and predict that Nestor will win next year. The Kirchners have started new hand-out programs, with monthly checks for the poor. Those checks should buy votes. And the opposition has been in disarray for years, with no new blood in the picture.
"Bet on the Kirchners. Those who rob Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.
"Meanwhile, autumn tends to be beautiful here, and March and April would be good months to visit. Make sure to plan time in Mendoza. Some 80% of first-time tourists visit only Buenos Aires. The others tend to take in the waterfalls at Iguazu, on the border with Brazil. But that's about it, they go nowhere else.
"I recommend you forget the waterfalls and head to Mendoza instead. Enjoy views of the Andes, city streets lined with trees and irrigation canals, and green parks and plazas. Take in the fine arts museum in Chacras de Coria, where Argentine artist Fernando Fader spent summers with his wife's family.
"Best of all, enjoy the local wine. Mendoza has become the food and wine capital of Argentina. Whether in downtown Mendoza, out at the wineries, or in one of the new B and Bs, you'll enjoy local deer, rabbit, frogs, boar, and other game along with your Malbec.
"If you go to Mendoza, fly LAN Argentina from Buenos Aires, rather than Aerolineas Argentinas. Aerolineas Argentinas teeters on the verge of collapse, sustained only by government subsidies to the union people who run it."
