It’s My Rock-solid Safety Deposit Box

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008

Read more about investing in overseas real estate in International Living Postcards—your daily escape

Dear International Living Reader,

It’s not a big piece of land.

It’s only 30 feet wide. But it’s more than 300 feet deep and runs from the coastal road right down to the beach.

My plan was to put a beach house on it. I still might...but even if I never build anything there, it’s mine, and I can stick my toes into the sand, listen to the waves come in, and look out across the Gulf of Mexico.

Florida and the U.S. economic meltdown are over there somewhere across the water.

I have a similar place farther south, down in Ecuador. But instead of an undeveloped beach lot, I have a little condo. And instead of looking out over the ocean, I look out over the soaring mountains and green, fertile valleys of the central Andes.

I have a couple of other little places as well. Properties that I own securely. Properties that were inexpensive enough for me to buy without taking on debt. Properties that I’d be happy to have even if they weren’t in highly desirable, quickly appreciating markets.

They’re my sand-and-stone safety deposit boxes, and no matter what happens with any of my other investments, I’ll always be able to reach out and touch these assets.

When my wife, Suzan, and I first started looking at overseas real estate eight years ago, I hadn’t planned on it being such an important part of my strategy for getting through what looks like the next world depression.

But anytime is a good time to own property free and clear. And right now is a great time.

Just goes to show you...sometimes you do the right thing without even knowing it.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about a service that actually identifies some of the best overseas real estate deals for you. Not only that...it gets you in on the ground floor of major deals in the hottest markets while prices are still almost unbelievably affordable...so stay tuned.

Stay happy and healthy,

Dan Prescher
Publisher, International Living

Read related IL Postcards:

- Economic Security You Can Touch

- As the World Squirms...

- My Lucrative Long-term Investment Plan