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    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
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    Cheap

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    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
    • The Algarve, Portugal

    Affordable

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    • Cascais, Portugal
    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
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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
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    Follow Us:

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    • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

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    Go To The Overseas Property Alert Site

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Home Real Estate

Diversifying Your Real Estate Portfolio

by Lief Simon
Jan 02, 2024
in Real Estate
0 0
AdobeStock/Iriana Shiyan

AdobeStock/Iriana Shiyan

The news in the United States says times are difficult for home buyers right now… for both first-time buyers and those moving to a new home.

Prices are still strong in most markets (although they’re down by double-digit percentages in some markets like San Francisco), and mortgage rates are still high (although they’ve dropped below 7%).

Is it harder today for an American to buy their first house than it was more than 25 years ago when I bought my first property in the States?

Maybe.

However, the United States is still the easiest place to get on the property ladder thanks to the ubiquitous 30-year fixed-rate mortgages and the secondary market for mortgages that get packed and sold through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The U.S. mortgage industry is a factory industry. Banks hold to term a small percentage of the loans they give out.

Of course, interest rates and property prices play a role in one’s ability to get approved for a mortgage…

The answer for most buyers is to buy something smaller and less expensive and then move up or refinance when interest rates go down further.

That’s the beauty of the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

The borrower has no risk once the deal is done. The risk is with the lender, but the lender sells that risk to the secondary market.

Again, it’s an industry.

Elsewhere in the world, finding a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is a challenge.

Either it will be harder to qualify in the first place and you’ll need a substantial down payment (Germany, for example), or you’ll be looking at a fixed rate for a short period before it converts to a variable rate.

Plus, the term will likely be only 20 to 25 years (or up to ages 70 to 75).

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The other aspect of the U.S. mortgage market that you don’t find in most other countries is the ease of pulling equity out of your property, either through a cash out refinance or a home equity loan or line of credit.

We tried to do a cash out refinance of one of our apartments in France a few years ago and found only one bank that would consider the idea.

However, they wanted a full description of what the funds were going to be used for. They weren’t going to give a loan for us to buy a car or take a vacation (like so many people in the States do with their home equity loans).

That’s smart for both the bank and the property owner.

While it’s easy in the United States to refinance and pull out cash, it’s not usually a smart money move unless you’re using the cash for another investment.

The good news is that while it’s difficult to get a mortgage overseas, especially as a non-resident foreigner of the country you’re buying in, it is possible in some markets.

You’ll need to have a large down payment (think at least 30% to 40%) and prove solid income-to-debt ratios for a foreign bank to give you a mortgage.

Or you can pull cash out of your U.S. property to make that purchase overseas.

As you roll into 2024, consider when diversifying your property portfolio overseas if you should sell something in the United States or just pull out some equity, even at the current interest rates.

With the ease of refinancing in the States, the bank is taking the long-term risk from an interest rate perspective.

Stay diversified,

Lief Simon signature

Lief Simon

Director, Overseas Property Alert

Tags: 'Belize''Diversification Offshore'asset investments real estateMortgages Overseas
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Lief Simon

Lief Simon

Lief Simon has lived and worked in 7 countries on 5 continents and traveled to more than 75 countries. His real estate investment career began with a $5,000 down payment on a three-flat building in Chicago. Less than three years later, Lief sold the building for a leveraged return of 3,000%—$150,000 in profit after closing costs and commissions.

From there, he turned his attention overseas and has bought property in 24 countries including France, Croatia, Portugal, Ireland, Belize, Spain, Argentina, Cyprus, Romania, and beyond. Thanks to his decades-long career as a global property investor, Lief has built a multi-million-dollar portfolio that includes rental properties, significant land holdings, and 7 personal residences.

Lief has established residency in 3 countries and acquired a second passport from Ireland.

In 2008 Lief and wife Kathleen Peddicord made the most important investment of their lives—a 215-acre oceanside finca, known as Los Islotes. There, on Panama’s largely undiscovered Veraguas coast, they’ve installed underground electricity, water, and internet and built a forever family home that sits at the heart of their ultimate vision: a gold standard private residential community for those in search of a true safe haven escape.

Lief’s latest book, “Cowboy Millionaire—The New American Pioneer,” collects all the wisdom he has learned in three decades of living and investing outside America.

He offers advice on international diversification in his twice-weekly Offshore Living Letter and monthly Simon Letter dispatches. For real estate investment opportunities, check out his monthly Global Property Advisor service.

If you’d like to meet Lief in person, join him for one of our upcoming in-country conferences. You’ll find further details here.

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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
Meet Our Experts

Real Estate

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Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

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