I have 2 rentals in Ecuador, South America. I lived there for 4 years total and got a good understanding of the market. My competitive advantage in the marketplace was building the properties as opposed to buying them.
Buying a property is 2-3X more expensive for the exact same property; obviously building is much more difficult and it took me 3 years to identify the best materials and people to be able to get the job done before starting.
Both properties:
Duplexes, $60,000 total construction cost, $30,000 interest free loan on the land which will be paid off upon sale of the properties even if its in 20 years (purchased the land from a close family members)
No mortgages on the properties, therefore incredible cash flow, as obtaining traditional funding in Ecuador is virtually impossible unless for a large commercial project.
Cap Ex and Repairs on the property are virtually non existent seeing as the homes are only a couple of years old, but I do put aside a few hundred dollars per unit in a savings account for eventual repairs to the property.
property 1: Unit A, I live in it when I'm there or rent it out on Airbnb for $75-$125 a night depending on the season. If I was never at the property for an entire year I could probably have it rented out for 100-130 days of the year.
Unit B: $1000 a month in rent, $600 in cash flow, they also pay $50 a month to have my cleaning company inspect and clean the unit.
Property 2 I charge $950 and $1050 for units A and B and make $600 and $700 in cash flow monthly, respectively.
Each unit is about 1250 sqft, ocean views, essentially a private beach which is a 1-2 minute walk down hill.
My COC ROI for these properties is about 25% on average. Good luck finding that anywhere in the US, hehe.
