Investing Internationally

[Account Closed]

This is very simple, in which countries you're investing and why?

I travel a lot, and have relatives in more than 10 countries so it will be interesting to know your opinions.

[Mark Masiel]

I have lived and worked (not in real estate) all over the world for 20 years in 7 countries. When I first started out I noted how cheap properties were in other locations, which were mostly "third world". Wow have things changed. Outside of say some reasonably priced areas of Europe (and I don't think it would be easy to purchase if you are not a citizen of the EU, but I am not sure) I find real estate as a whole, far cheaper and investor friendly in the US than most places of the world. I was looking at Costa Rica the other day and financing seemed doable but at 9-10 percent.

My family lives in Peru and it is way out of our budget, INSANE prices and they love cash. A beach house 2 hours north of Lima can cost 600000, the quality is nothing great and it can be used due to weather really only 3 months a year. Who buys that in cash? Financing is just taking off but you don't get anything like you would here. with high interest rates and stricter control, which is good I guess as they are hoping not to repeat the past errors in the U.S.

However, I mean does it make sense that my wife and I have an upper middle class US income right now and there is no way we could afford to buy property in Peru but we can buy in SOCAL or South Florida or whatever? And I don't mean just the capital Lima, it is expensive everywhere.

One of the reasons why I have become more interested in real estate lately as that I see that in the U.S., even though there aren't as many deals these days, the property is still so much more affordable than just about anywhere else. I know that is not reason enough to invest but sooner or later something has to change as I just don't see the combination of low interest rate and the relatively low prices of the U.S. practically anywhere else on Earth.

I hope I am wrong and look forward to biggerpockets.com users telling me where to invest, because I love traveling and living overseas!