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    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
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    • Phuket, Thailand
    • Dumaguete, The Philippines

    Cheap

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    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
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    Affordable

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    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
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    • The Panama City Beaches
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    • Home
    • Countries

      Top Destinations:

      Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

      • Spain
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • Colombia
      • Cyprus
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Montenegro
      • Browse All Countries

      Best For:

      • The Best Places To Retire
      • Health Care Abroad
      • Cost Of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Establishing Residency
      • Gun Laws In The World
      • English-Speaking Countries
      • Safest Places For Retirement
      • Best Places In Latin America
    • Budgets

      How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

      The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

      Super Cheap

      • Chitré, Panama
      • Santa Marta, Colombia
      • Phuket, Thailand
      • Dumaguete, The Philippines

      Cheap

      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Kyrenia, Cyprus
      • Hua Hin, Thailand
      • The Algarve, Portugal

      Affordable

      • Valencia, Spain
      • Cascais, Portugal
      • Las Terrenas, The DR
      • Pisa, Italy
      • La Rochelle, France
      • Mazatlán, Mexico

      Luxury

      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Kotor, Montenegro
      • The Panama City Beaches
      • Paris, France
    • Resources

      Global Living

      • Living & Retiring Overseas
      • Raising A Family Abroad
      • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
      • Offshore & Diversification

      Making Money

      • International Real Estate
      • Banking
      • Employment
      • Investing

      Follow Us:

      • Meet Our Experts
    • Real Estate

      Join our Weekly Newsletter
      Overseas Property Alert

      Sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive expert insights on the best international real estate investment opportunities.






        We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

        Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

        • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

        Explore Our Latest Posts

        • Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

        Go To The Overseas Property Alert Site

        • How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams
      • Conferences

        Upcoming Events

        • Explore Our Events Site

        Live and Invest In Spain Conference

        Offshore Wealth Summit

        Greece Workshop

        VALENCIA, SPAIN

        Sep. 17-19, 2025

        PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

        Oct. 15-17, 2025

        VIRTUAL

        Nov. 13, 2025

        LEARN MORE
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        LEARN MORE
        PRE-REGISTER
        LEARN MORE
        PRE-REGISTER
        • MORE EVENTS

        Contact Our Events Team

        Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
        1 (888) 627 8834
        From Outside North America:
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        Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

      • Store

        Unlock The World

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        Overseas Havens Reports

        • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

        Conference Kits

        • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

        Lahardan Books

        • Titles on living and investing around the world
        • Explore Our Store
        Your passport to a life well-lived abroad

        Services

        overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
        The Simon Letter Wealth Protection Insights
        Global Property Advisor Global Investment Opportunities

        Our Customer Service team is here to assist with any questions or concerns CustomerService@LiveandInvestOverseas.com

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      Home Retirement/Living

      “We Sold Our House, Bought A Boat, And Left The U.S.”

      by Live And Invest Overseas
      Jul 04, 2024
      in Retirement/Living
      0 0
      Saboga Beach

      AdobeStock/Carlos

      Lee and Jennifer Scott were ready to retire when their son graduated from college in 2012.

      “We sold the house, sold the cars, and did what many dream of doing,” says Lee. “We bought a sailboat, left the States, and sailed south to our island property.”

      “I needed the adventure to take my mind off the reality that my only child was not coming home after college, that he would be busy following the career path of his choosing,” adds Jennifer.

      Jennifer had been in the military, so uprooting and exploring new horizons was not as daunting for her; instead, it was exciting.

      Lee’s background is in technology, “But it was always Lee’s dream to literally sail away,” says Jennifer.

      They met on a dating website and set off on a life of discovery, building a home on an island coveted for its beauty and nature.

      “The reason we came as far south as we did was to get below the hurricane belt, which was pretty much limited us to Costa Rica and farther south,” says Lee.

      “We were going to take a whole year to look around,” says Jennifer, “but a friend of mine, an expert on South and Central America, toured around with us and helped us shortcut the decision-making process…

      “The areas we were looking at were known to be underdeveloped, famous for good sailing, and provided easy access to the United States. I wanted to be able to fly back quickly—I did not want the whole 16-hour flight thing.

      “The islands here are so gorgeous. We just fell in love with them, how beautiful and how natural they are. Neither one of us are big-city people; we like to be out with nature. After walking around the island, we redid our vacation to spend more time here.”

      That same year, the couple bought property on the island and made plans to build their dream home.

      There were some stumbling blocks and frustration in the building process…

      “I think the biggest shock for people coming from the United States is that there is no heavy equipment whatsoever to build a house. When they put in the giant beams that hold our house up, six men with ropes pulled the beams in place” says Jennifer.

      Start Your New Life Overseas Today!
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      She adds that all the heavy digging was done one wheelbarrow at a time by three people…

      “That slows things down a lot and makes things a lot less precise, too. Our house is not exactly square, but that’s okay because it works for us.”

      Lee and Jennifer bought the land in 2009, and started building their house in 2011. “The developer told us to ‘come on down, the house will be ready when you get here,’ but when we showed up on the sailboat in September 2012, not even the foundation was completely done,” she says.

      Had they known the house wasn’t yet built, they would have stayed working in the States another year before moving down.

      Jennifer says, “We were probably naïve… we should have asked to see pictures of the house.”

      In general, attention to detail was not quite what Jennifer was used to in the States, so there were some things that needed to be redone.

      “If they’re putting tile on a wall they don’t really care if it isn’t exactly straight across, stuff like that,” she explains. “Fortunately, Lee was there every day, so he was able to do a lot of correcting in the work process.

      “My advice to anyone having a home built is to always be on-site. You can’t just hire a builder here and walk away. It’s just not possible.”

      When I ask what keeps them here, Jennifer answers, “We unexpectedly built a house that was too big and turned it into a bed and breakfast. So we have a very small business. And now that Lee has started a marina project, we will stay and see that through.

      “After the marina is in, it’s very possible that we’ll be thinking about selling and going somewhere else,” she adds, “not because we don’t like it here, but because we want to keep life fresh, travel more, and have other experiences.

      “If somebody walked up to us tomorrow and wanted to buy, then we would be in the ‘consideration pot.’ But to get our attention, it would have to be a million-dollar offer.”

      Sincerely,

      Ilene Little

      Contributor, Overseas Living Letter

      Tags: 'buying property overseas''Expats Overseas''how to retire overseas''retirement planning advice'island life
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      Live And Invest Overseas

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      Live and Invest Overseas is the world's savviest source for top opportunities to live better, retire in style, invest for profit, do business, and own real estate overseas. Established in 2008, the Live and Invest Overseas' editors and correspondents have more experience researching and reporting on top opportunities for living well, investing for profit, doing business, and owning real estate around the world than anyone else you'll find.

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      HOME

      Top Countries

      • Spain
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • Colombia
      • Cyprus
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Montenegro

      Best For:

      • Health Care Abroad
      • Retirement Living
      • Cost Of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Establishing Residency
      • Gun Ownership
      • English Speakers
      • Safety
      BROWSE ALL COUNTRIES

      Budgets

      How Much Will It Cost
      To Live Overseas?

      Super Cheap

      • Chitré, Panama
      • Santa Marta, Colombia
      • Phuket, Thailand
      • Dumaguete, The Philippines

      Cheap

      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Kyrenia, Cyprus
      • Hua Hin, Thailand
      • The Algarve, Portugal

      Affordable

      • Valencia, Spain
      • Cascais, Portugal
      • Las Terrenas, The DR
      • Pisa, Italy
      • La Rochelle, France
      • Mazatlán, Mexico

      Luxury

      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Kotor, Montenegro
      • The Panama City Beaches
      • Paris, France

      Resources

      Global Living

      • Living & Retiring Overseas
      • Raising A Family Abroad
      • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
      • Offshore & Diversification

      Making Money

      • International Real Estate
      • Banking
      • Employment
      • Investing
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      Overseas Property Alert 

       

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