Make Sure it's an Apple

Dear International Living Reader,

Cheap is relative.

I am in Florida as I write, looking at universities with my daughter. When I passed a newsstand, I couldn't help picking up the free real estate listing magazines. You can find really cheap housing in Florida...if you don't mind being far from the ocean.

But even in a non-descript area on the beach far from services and amenities, you'll pay $700,000-plus for a small lot on the Gulf of Mexico. No facilities...not even electricity. None of the magazines I scanned included lots on the ocean. I presume these are pretty hard to come by.

If someone were to tell you of beachfront lots going for $355,000, you might not, at first, consider them cheap. And maybe they aren't, absolutely speaking. But, relatively...well, they're half the price of a Gulf of Mexico lot in Florida without any services.

The more undeveloped the market, the lower you expect the prices to be. Those $355,000 lots I mentioned above are on Roatan. Now, if I say, "Hey, Buddy, interested in a $355,000 lot on Roatan?"...your knee-jerk reaction probably would be, "More than $300,000 for a lot in the Bay Islands of Honduras? No, thanks."

But let's put this into perspective. First, it's on the Caribbean Sea...not the Gulf of Mexico. And beachfront lots are becoming rarer on this little white sand-fringed island.

Second, these lots do come with services--all utilities are underground.

Third, Roatan isn't as "developing" a Caribbean destination as you may think. In fact, it has turned the corner from undiscovered divers' secret to emerging resort destination. The infrastructure continues to improve, although there is still room for improvement, and access gets easier every year (Continental now flies daily to the island, and Delta has started direct flights). The expat community here is well established and supported by an ever-growing number of restaurants, hotels, shops, etc.

Recently, the Honduran government awarded management and development of the cruise ship dock on Roatan to Royal Caribbean International. Royal will improve the land around the port area, rebuild the existing dock, build a new terminal building, and construct a second pier. The goal is to increase annual cruise ship passenger traffic from the current 287,000 to one million passengers within five years.

So if I say, "Dear Reader, interested in one of the few remaining beachfront lots on Roatan, with services, near the most developed spot on the island, for $355,000"...maybe your response is still, "No, thanks"...but I want to be sure you understand the opportunity before you take a pass.

And, more than that, I want to make a point. When shopping the globe for beachfront property (or anything else, for that matter), be sure you're comparing apples to apples. A little lot on a gulf with no services...isn't an apple for a sandy lot on the beach with all services in place and a great Caribbean town nearby.

And, in this case, the lesser fruit costs twice as much as the ripe island apple.

Our Roving Latin America Editor Lee Harrison has full details below.

Lief Simon
Real Estate Editor, International Living

P.S. My wife, Kathleen Peddicord, and I are making our circuitous way to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Florida...South Carolina...and Virginia with our daughter, this week, meeting with universities Kaitlin might be interested in attending when she graduates high school next year. From this U.S. South Atlantic tour, it is South of the Border, this weekend, to meet up with IL staff, contributors, editors, colleagues, and friends from all offices and all locations worldwide. In total, more than 50 of us will convene for our first-ever Live Overseas Latin America Conference on the sunny Pacific shores of Mexico. The event itself kicks off Wednesday. Over four days, we'll consider, with the 125 readers in attendance, the best opportunities for living, investing, retiring, and doing business in this part of the world...from Mexico to Argentina, Panama to Nicaragua, Belize to Ecuador, Honduras to the Dominican Republic. I believe spaces are available still, and it's not too late to arrange to meet us. For full details on how to meet Kathie and me and all the IL crew in Puerto Vallarta next week, get in touch with Eric Stapp at events@internationalliving.com. You can take a look at full details of the four-day program here.

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Best Buy Caribbean Beachfront

Dear International Living Reader,

We came to the end of a small country lane, and Craig Harmon jumped out to open the gate. On the other side was the property he and his partners are developing...a property situated in a forest of large, mature hardwoods with a mix of palm trees over by the beach...

We were exploring an area not far from Sandy Bay, an up-and-coming locale on Roatan's north shore not far from West End. This is a brand-new project known as Blue Harbor...a project unique in several ways.

I was struck by the presence of so many magnificent trees... Cool and shady, the forest gives the property a feeling of being private, secluded, and especially quiet--except for the birdsong. The trees go right up to the shoreline, giving the beach that same feeling of privacy and seclusion...and as you walk toward the water's edge, you can hear the calm lapping of Caribbean at the shore.

Blue Harbor is an area known for its tranquil sea, an area where the warm waters are like a warm swimming pool. Maybe the best part is the magnificent coral reef just offshore, making for great year-round diving and snorkeling. Natural "cuts" in the reef are located near each end of Blue Harbor, providing the best of two worlds--the protection and spectacular underwater seascape afforded by the living reef, plus unhindered access to the open sea.

Once Craig pulled out the property plan, I couldn't help but comment on the lot sizes. At about a half-acre each, they're more than double the typical size of beachfront lots I've seen in the area. Plus, each of the beachfront lots has about 100 feet of beach frontage.

The lots on the second row (there are only two rows) are equally big, quiet, and wooded. These lots are staggered in such a way that the homes on them will have unobstructed views of the sea.

To my mind, Blue Harbor is geared toward people who want peace and privacy. Accordingly, instead of planning shared amenities, the owners have made each lot big enough for a private pool and related structures. The lot owners will share a community dock with several boat slips at its end, where the crystal clear water is at least 4.5 feet deep at low tide. The development will include a central sewage system (the first development-wide central system on Roatan), a central water distribution system served by two deep wells, a masonry wall enclosing the development on three sides, and a card-access gate (also a first on the island). Utilities are going in underground, and plans exist for cable TV, Internet service, and landline telephones.

The large beachfront lots at Blue Harbor start at $335,000; the lots behind them start at $180,000.

Who would be happiest at Blue Harbor? Anyone who appreciates world-class diving and snorkeling--along with boating, swimming, and relaxation on the beach--but also values a feeling of seclusion and privacy...while still being just a few minutes from the restaurants, bars, and services in the town of West End (the most developed area on the entire island).

For more: http://www.il-ireland.com/il/questionnaire/blue-harbor/.

Lee Harrison
Roving Latin America Editor, International Living

Important Note: In the interest of full disclosure, we want you to know that International Living receives commissions from sales at Blue Harbor.