Confessions Of A Paris Landlord
Dec. 2, 2008
Panama City, Panama
PLUS:
- Expat Resources In Costa Rica...
- As We Keep Explaining, Dear Reader, To Find The Best Deals, You've
Got To Invest A Little Shoe Leather...
- Downstairs Floods And Insurance Buck-passing...The Paris Landlord's
Life Is Not Always An Easy One...
- "The El Valle Topic Should Be Reconsidered...A Thinking Person Might
Deduce A Financial Tie"...
- Can You Recommend A Banker In Uruguay?
AND:
- "I Am Looking Forward To Continuing Reading Your Offerings For A
Long Time"...
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Ready To Launch A New Life In Paradise As Soon As You Can Figure Out:
How To Earn A Living Overseas?
Here's the answer.
--------------
Dear Overseas Opportunity Letter Reader,
Our Mailbag runneth over...so, without further ado, we address some of your
recent questions, dear reader. See below.
Kathleen Peddicord
--------------
Best Beachfront Buy
In The New Retirement Paradise
Market events, global and local, have conspired to create an extraordinary
opportunity on Nicaragua's beautiful Pacific coast...the best beachfront buy
in this country, certainly, but one of the best anywhere right now, as well.
Very Limited
Offer at a Very Substantial Discount for Live And Invest Overseas Readers
Only
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MAILBAG:
"I want to connect with a Costa Rica blog.
Can you help?"
-- Harold A., United States
Costa Rica Correspondent David Stubbs suggests:
"Take a look at
CostaRicaCentralValleyLiving Yahoo Group, which has been around since
February 2006.
"Another excellent source of information, with links to many other also good
sites, etc., for the expat in Costa Rica, is
www.escazunews.com. You can join the group in yahoo at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/escazunews."
***
"I really enjoy your newsletters. Sometimes it seems that I'm bombarded with
information, but more information rather than less is preferred.
"I have been kind of wiped out recently, and my budget is modest. I am
looking for the best deal on a rental. I've been told by
some who have lived near Lake Chapala, Mexico, that I need
to walk the streets looking for 'Renta' signs and to visit Internet
cafes or small grocery stores, etc., for local postings. Otherwise, I will
pay way too much for rent.
"Is this the best way to find something? In which case, I need to schedule a
trip to the areas I'm interested in to find something, I guess."
-- Gary J., United States
Yes, dear reader, as
we've reported, the way to find the best deals is to hit the
pavement. Speaking one-on-one with locals garners the best prices for both
rentals and sales. This usually requires speaking the local language, but in
Ajijic (Lake Chapala), many of the local Mexicans speak some English, so you
should be able to get a handle on the local (as opposed to the "gringo")
market even if you speak little or no Spanish.
Remember that both gringo and local rental rates are negotiable, especially
in the current market, so don't be afraid to make an offer if you find a
place you like.
***
"After our most recent stay in our Paris duplex apartment
in August, our local English-speaking agent came round with the cleaning
woman (I think, I hope, not her regular one), and they discovered a leak in
the kitchen plumbing that had emerged after we'd left. The agent turned the
water off and called in a plumber who may not have turned the water on again
before repairing the leak.
"Turning off the water was not a good idea. Ms. W. loves to turn off water
and gas pipes protectively, but it makes it hard when you arrive at the
apartment. And there are other issues. More on this in a minute.
"Then, a day before an elderly couple who had been lured into taking the
place despite its being up one flight of stairs with no elevator, the water
and gas were turned back on. Nobody seems to have stayed around to make sure
the plumbing repair had been done properly.
"France has incredibly expensive plumbers, and I am not sure if our
Anglo-French manager in fact had a licensed plumber check the apartment at
all. The European Union Lisbon Treaty was voted down by the French in a
referendum that, among other issues, focused on stopping Polish plumbers
from practicing their craft in France. (My own view is that I would rather
have a qualified Pole dealing with my drains than an incompetent Frenchman.
But I don't get to vote in France. Another problem with being an absentee
owner.) The situation is not much better for locksmiths and electricians.
"We have to change the locks on our front door periodically because Paris
thieves figure that with a 5-point lock there must be something of value
behind our door in a building without a concierge. In fact, there is nothing
much left, since they stole my son's bike and the TV. The house computer is
a very cheap Dell laptop with keyboard keys that come off; I only wish
someone would steal it.
"Living in a NYC co-op I have the maddening habit of using only licensed
plumbers, central heating technicians, and electricians. I don't mind
Irish painters and plasterers off the books. But not for the essential
services. This has long been a bone of contention between me and Ms. W.
"Anyway, on Labor Day, this poor old couple arrived. They staggered up the
stairs to discover total disaster. Water all over the ground floor of the
duplex and the floorboards coming up. Luckily, the floorboards are not wood,
which would never be reparable, but bamboo (more environmentally sound and
chosen to integrate the kitchen, dining area, and living room). They also
discovered that the maid had not emptied the tea leaves out of the teapot we
had left behind. (Though she did empty the refrigerator and freezer,
essentially stealing the staples.)
"The oldsters didn't use the computer, I think. They sat at a desk upstairs
and wrote with quill pens a complaint about the cracks in the wall in our
17th-century building. They complained that a light bulb went out on the
stairs. Once things go wrong, you can find a lot to complain about.
"We had to give them back much of the rent they'd paid because, of course,
their vacation was ruined. We also had to advance to our agent's friend (and
I suspect lover; these Anglo-Frenchwoman!) cash to relay the floor he had
laid in the first place. I am not sure of the state of the carpets we placed
around the sitting room part of the house, which we just put down ourselves
in August. Ms. W. has never been fond of carpets and likes to roll them up
behind the sofa to cut down on the cleaning.
"There now ensues a period of insurance buck-passing. Ms. W, our agent, says
our insurance company says the leak is the responsibility of the building, a
co-propriete, or co-op. Naturally, the co-op's insurance company will
say it is our fault.
"Turning off the gas is another issue we have with Ms. W. She loves to turn
the gas off so the French firemen will not say it is our fault if we have a
fire. The trouble is that you have to be very careful turning the gas back
on. In another apartment she looks after (which was not modernized as well
or as recently as ours), she managed to blow herself up with the gas and
suffered burns. A rental agent's life is not an easy one."
-- Myra L., United States
***
"Kathleen, I just signed up for two years of your
Overseas Retirement Letter. I enjoy your info and almost
daily updates, but I am growing weary.
"I'm still working and need your info to plan for my exodus in three to five
years. However, your current format will become background noise for folks
like me who aren't yet killing time on a hill in Panama.
"Also, the El Valle topic should be reconsidered. As a new
reader (and a salesman myself), I think you oversold it and are overselling
it still. It sounds lovely for some, but too esoteric to be ranked the #1
place in the world to retire. A thinking person might deduce a financial tie
between yourself and the region. Please don't allow my enthusiasm for your
independent objectivity to become clouded."
-- Respectfully, Joe G., United States
Regarding El Valle, I have to ask: If not this small mountain town in
Panama, then where?
If you consider the whole wide world and challenge yourself to identify one
small spot within it as the Best Place In The World To Retire at any given
time...frankly...why not El Valle?
No, we don't have any financial tie there. If we were going to put that cart
before this horse, we'd have chosen somewhere on the Azuero Peninsula,
where, it's no secret, my husband does have a financial interest.
We're not getting anything out of this El Valle recommendation...and, again,
speaking frankly, the few reader challenges we've received in response to
our position have caused me to feel more confident than ever in our
judgment.
I'm well familiar with a great many places that qualify right now as great
locales to think about retiring. But I can't think of any one place in
particular that I'd say makes more sense than El Valle.
As we've said, El Valle doesn't make sense for everyone. But no place makes
sense for everyone.
If you think esoterically (as you suggest, dear reader)...and
theoretically...casting as wide a net as possible...and you consider all the
options...and all the priorities and agendas of the would-be retiree
abroad...you wind up if not at El Valle, Panama...then somewhere very much
like it.
I could name spots in Ecuador or Uruguay, for example, that would be ideal
retirement escapes for some. But you'd be in Ecuador or Uruguay. Nothing
wrong with that...but those countries don't come with all the advantages of
Panama. That's the plain truth of it.
***
"Hola. I am a resident of Mexico, but I would be interested in developing a
banking relationship in Uruguay. Any references?"
-- Jack D., Mexico
Our local legal eagle in that country,
Juan Fischer, can answer your banking questions and make the appropriate
introductions.
***
"Kathleen, I have always enjoyed your writings, and
today's was especially wonderful.
"The honesty and realism shines through, whether you are telling us about
Jack having trouble finding his 'French voice,' the renting out of your
Paris place, or the reluctance to leave Baltimore after the Thanksgiving
holiday. All are things I can identify with.
"I am looking forward to continuing reading your offerings for a long time,
and, by summer, I hope to subscribe to your
Overseas Retirement Letter..
"Why not now?
"I have lucked into an around-the-world cruise, all
expenses paid, leaving in January. (I will not miss the snow and sleet here
in Massachusetts!) When I return, I will have had a better sampling of more
parts of the world, and I'll be ready to approach my relocation options with
a better idea where to start.
"Meanwhile, I will continue to eagerly read your online updates."
-- Carol C., United States
Thank you for your kind words and ongoing loyalty and support, dear reader.
Bon voyage!
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