Anyone Investing in Latin America?

[Paul S.]

Hello BP community, I was wondering if there were many investors out there who have invested in properties abroad. If anyone would like to share some of their experiences I would love to hear about them. I have looked at properties in several countries to include Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama.

One of the issues I have seen is with the financing aspect of buying a property in another country. For starters it can be difficult to get financed for a property by a bank in another country unless you have an account with some money in it as well as have some account history. I have searched for a US bank that will loan money for a property abroad and have not had much success. The interest rates are a bit higher than what is currently available in the US as well. Currently rates in Colombia are around 12% and Bolivia is 6% which 6% is not terrible it comes with a balloon payment at the end. I thought that the dollar would have more purchasing power in some countries but with real estate that is not always the case.

I look forward to reading whatever anyone has to share on the subject.

Paul

[Ali Boone]

I was involved in Nicaragua investing for a while, amaaazing country!, but same financing problems there. There's not really a solution that I've found other than a) pay cash, b) seller financing if available, or c) high interest loans from that country.