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    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
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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

    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 About This Event
    Learn More About This Event
    PRE-REGISTER
    Learn More About This Event
    PRE-REGISTER
    • MORE EVENTS

    Contact Our Events Team

    Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
    1 (888) 627 8834
    From Outside North America:
    1 (443) 599 1221
    Working Hours
    Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

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

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    overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
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Home How to

How I Funded My Early Retirement With Overseas Real Estate

Let Real Estate Fund Your New Life Overseas

by Lee Harrison
Jun 28, 2019
in How to, Real Estate
0 0
Buying Real Estate In A Foreign Country

I bought a beachfront home, directly on the sand, for less than US$62,000.

After furnishing the solid, 2,000-square-foot house, I proceeded to have one of the most enjoyable times of my life while living there. A retirement that dreams are made of.

This house, on a bona-fide tropical island, was not intended to be an investment property. On the contrary, I bought it strictly to enjoy the clear water, sandy beaches, fresh seafood, and great neighbors from all around the world.

I was not counting on the price going up when I bought the house… but, after nine months, I sold it for US$110,000.

So, without really planning on it at the time, the vacation home turned out to be a great investment.

And as it turned out, this wasn’t the only time I made money by making real estate purchases that likewise were not “investment properties.”

I grew up in the countryside, but a year in Manhattan taught me to appreciate the fun and convenience of life in a big city. I enjoyed having great dining and entertainment, and all the amenities of city life at my fingertips, without having to own a car.

And while I couldn’t afford a part-time retirement home in Manhattan, I could buy one in another city that really appealed to me—Montevideo, Uruguay.

Located directly on one of the city’s most attractive parks, it was an easy walk to the local tango clubs, orchestra, theater, street fairs, and some of the city’s best dining. A spacious apartment with two bedrooms—a great place to live and a great place to invite guests… and it even earned a modest rental income when I wasn’t using it.

Again, this apartment was fulfilling a dream… it was not an “investment” property

. But after about four years I sold the downtown apartment, in just one day, for 76% more than I’d paid.

In other words, I have found and shown through my own experience that real estate is an excellent strategy for achieving the retirement of your dreams.

Since I opted for leaving the 9-to-5 workforce in 2001, I’ve enjoyed some of the world’s best locations for retirement… some full-time, and some part-time.

For almost six years, my primary home was in Punta del Este, Uruguay, South America’s #1 beach resort. With its fantastic beaches, fine dining, and nightlife, it’s a mecca for international travelers… and offers a super quality of life for the money.

Since retiring, I have also enjoyed a part-time home in Ecuador’s Valley of Longevity. With pure air and water, the world’s best weather, and some of the Andes’ most staggering views, Vilcabamba is reputed to have the highest concentration on Earth of people over 100 years old.

The house in Uruguay went up 87.5% in value in six years (during the U.S. recession and housing crash)… in Vilcabamba, the home I purchased increased in value 120% in four years.

More recently, the apartment I purchased as a part-time home in Medellín more than paid for itself, earning me US$2,200 per month in rental income when I wasn’t in residence. When I add in the apartment that I bought with my 401(k) as a rental there, my total income was US$4,100 per month… easily enough to live on, from just two properties.

Now these gains and incomes are good (and real) but they’re not spectacular… you won’t see them in blaring, sensational newsletter headlines. But I appreciate the gains even more because the properties weren’t intended to earn money… it was just icing on the cake.

I bought each one of the properties to fulfill my dreams of a better lifestyle. I was creating my own version of the perfect retirement, and each real estate purchase has been an important part of realizing that successful objective.

At the same time, because I’ve also been buying in countries and areas that were on the upswing, the properties paid their own way… each one covering its carrying costs, and generating a profitable cash flow.

Each real estate investment helped to bankroll both my next real estate purchase and the very appealing and adventure-filled retirement I’ve been enjoying all along the way.

I’ve owned and lived in a home in a beautiful riverfront mountain setting… two awesome downtown apartments… a large beach house on a tropical island… and a sprawling home in a famous beach resort…

Collectively, these purchases have enabled the amazing retirement I’ve enjoyed.

Your version of “success” may be different from mine… but you can achieve it just as surely as I did.

Many people—maybe most people—would prefer to buy one carefully chosen overseas property and simply enjoy it indefinitely. The proverbial second home in the sun…

Others would like to retire abroad full-time in a dream location, someplace where they can savor the good life with a low price tag…

And others are interested in making money, pure and simple. Investing in real estate overseas can allow you to take advantage of important opportunities and advantages, including:

  • Reliable rental returns
  • High yields
  • Non-dollar income
  • Strong capital gains

Regardless of the vision you have for your own quality of life or retirement, I can guarantee you that being an overseas property owner will be the most enjoyable way to make it a reality. Whatever your lifestyle priorities or financial objective, buying property abroad will help you realize your goal. By expanding your horizons overseas, you can…

  • Enjoy a dream home… or a dream retirement... while the property “pays its own way”…
  • Gain access to an entire world of properties outside the United States, at prices that you simply can’t find within the United States, meaning you can reinvent your life and your investment portfolio at the same time…
  • Take advantage of a super low cost of living while abroad, in some cases living well on as little as US$1,100 per month…
  • Enjoy the advantages of diversifying part of your assets outside the U.S. dollar (this objective has never been more important than it is right now)…
  • Lay the groundwork for obtaining overseas residency and a second citizenship, if desired… while greatly broadening your world view and enriching your cultural experience…
  • Generate an income to help sustain your dream retirement lifestyle…
  • Access profitable and reliable yield-producing investment opportunities…

In other words, you can have your cake and eat it, too. You can enjoy the property of your dreams… and make a profit while living the good life.

I know it’s possible… because I’ve been benefitting from this strategy personally… and enjoying a retirement I never could have afforded otherwise as a result… for the past 19 years.

Sincerely,

Lee Harrison

Contributor, Simon Letter

Tags: 'Colombia''Lee Harrison'rental managementUruguay
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Lee Harrison

Lee Harrison

Lee has been living overseas for nearly two decades, making his first purchase abroad in the colonial city of Cuenca, Ecuador. After that first investment, he traveled extensively across Latin America and Europe looking for the best property deals possible. Lee’s network of property insiders from those travels, along with his understanding of local cultures and languages, has helped him develop insight into local property markets that only the locals usually possess.

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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

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