By Ronan McMahon
Real Estate Trend Alert
The economies of the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) are in disarray. Europe is in the throws of a banking crisis brought on by (among other things) exposure to Greek sovereign debt. Many of you have been asking if now is the time to jump in.
Unless you’re a new member, you will already be familiar with the Los Arboles Tulum project on the southern edge of Mexico’s Riviera Maya. Last year RETA members bought large, five-acre lots in this jungle community for $65,000 with special member-only, interest-free financing. They have done well—a lot recently sold for $100,000.
The next opportunity here is available to you now…with a discount, special terms, and financing. I’ll share the full details with you in a moment. First, a quick bit of background on how the last deal at Los Arboles stacked up for RETA members.
Today I’ve something important to tell you about productive agricultural land. It’s not something I’ve written much about in the past—simply because I haven’t found that many opportunities that pass the strict RETA analysis I put all property deals through.
As you know I have been watching Ireland closely for some time now. I have been studying….waiting on the sidelines for things to really get interesting. According to a survey of 50 markets published in Ireland’s Sunday Business Post this month, Ireland tops the table for the highest price falls this year. Our waiting and patience is being rewarded. The deals are getting better. I expect we’ll retain high flyer status in this regard. There will be further price falls.
On February 1 you received my report from my scouting trip to Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. I gave you a heads up about a planned new phase at Grand View. I told you that we would be able to get in early at special member-only pricing and terms.
And today, you can get in.
Long-time readers of these dispatches will know that I’m bullish on Fortaleza in Northeast Brazil. It’s now three years since RETA members (me included) first got the opportunity to “buy well” here. I’m happy with the units I have purchased.
The first of our units from those early pre-releases will be delivered early next year. That means we need to start making a plan. We will need to decide whether we want to rent short-term or long-term? What vendors and partners will we choose for fit-out and rental management? These are important decisions. They could have a big impact on the yields we generate. Many of you have been asking about my own plans.
In my last issue, I told you how pleasant I found the city of Medellin, Colombia. The leafy high-end area of El Poblado in particular is a great place to sip coffee or enjoy a nice meal in the shade next to one of the many streams that gurgle down the hillside.
What can you buy here for $100,000?
Following my recent scouting trip to Colombia with Lee Harrison (International Living’s roving Latin America editor) and Eoin Bassett (International Living magazine’s editor), we all got together by phone to debrief on what we learned. Everything was taped – you can listen to it now.
I recently spent some time in Medellin, Colombia, investigating the potential for strong rental yields.
I must admit I was a bit cynical at first. However the morning after I arrived, I was less so.
As a member of our little group, you will know that we look for Path of Progress opportunities. I’m talking about infrastructure projects like a new road…or a new bridge that will make an area more accessible and desirable. When this happens, prices rise. Like we’ve recently seen in Costa Rica’s Southern Zone…and in Tulum, on the southern edge of Mexico’s Riviera Maya.
My colleague at Pathfinder, Margaret Summerfield recently returned from a trip to Costa Rica, where she investigated the impact of a newly upgraded road that stretches out from the capital, San Jose. She returned to her base in Panama excited about a project she had seen in the area.