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They Laughed When I Talked About $100,000 Houses, But When They Come to Visit…

International Living Postcards--Saturday Edition

Saturday, Feb. 10, 2007
Paris, France

Last week I talked about good value properties for $50,000 (see below). Let's up the ante this week to $100,000. Again, you can buy property in the States for $100,000…but consider what you're buying.

I did a quick, non-exhaustive search of what you could buy in the gulf area of Alabama and Florida for this price range. Slim pickings. Under the "as is" section of one website, I found a distressed, 1,100-square-foot property in Florida, built in 1943, listed for $96,900. Based on the photo, the house might be nice, once you put the work into it. I'm guessing this isn't in a good neighborhood. However, it is in Pensacola, and, therefore, not far from the ocean.

In Alabama, I found a two-bedroom, two-bath house for $99,900. This house looked like it was in okay shape, but you could be anywhere in rural USA. I've never been to this part of the country; I can't say what kind of amenities and quality of life you could expect there. But you can do better in Panama, Uruguay, and elsewhere around the world.

Here are a few examples:

A house I know of in Uruguay has already sold, but it's a good example. This small chalet-style house on the beach sold for $88,000. Although the house doesn't look great, it is better than the photo I described above…and it is on the beach (as opposed to sitting miles inland). For $88,000, the lot on its own would be a good price. And the infrastructure in Uruguay is at least as good as that in Alabama--good paved roads, and two international airports less than an hour and a half from this Uruguayan town. Amenities here provide all the services you'll need, including restaurants and grocery stores. You might not find another house on the beach for less than $100,000 in Uruguay, but this country will be the next one to take off in Latin America for North American retirees.

Across the river in Argentina, you can buy new construction, a loft-type condo for $97,000. Loft buildings come "unfinished" in Argentina; you'll need to fit out the interior. That can run a few hundred dollars per square meter--maybe around $15,000 to $20,000 in this case, depending on your taste. The building is in the north suburbs about 15 minutes away by commuter train…and only seven blocks from the train station. The interior size is 81 square meters (870 square feet) with another 52 square meters (560 square feet) of terrace and gardens. Reynolds Propiedades in Buenos Aires can tell you more: Argentina@internationalliving.com.

In Europe, the current exchange rate does make it more difficult to find anything decent for around $100,000. However, in Croatia, Iva at Croatian Sun (info@croatiansun.com) told me about a fully renovated semi-detached stone house for 129,000 euro ($168,000). At 860 square feet plus a small garden and terrace, you are looking at $195 a square foot to live in a beautiful stone house 10 minutes from the sea and the town of Porec.

Hmmm…live in a renovated stone house near the Adriatic for $168,000…or in a 64-year-old fixer-upper near the Gulf of Mexico for $96,900. I would find a way to come up with the extra $70,000 of funds. In fact, you can now get a mortgage in Croatia to cover that $70,000.

You can even live on an island for $135,000. A small cottage on a half-acre on the water in Fiji is listed for sale here. Of course, it isn't a short flight from Fiji to the U.S., but you can easily access New Zealand and Australia, and you don't have the same hurricane risks you have in the Caribbean.

You don't have to spend a fortune to live overseas. In retirement, you don't need 3,000 square feet unless you plan on shipping all the unused and useless items you are storing in your basement, garage, and spare bedrooms. However, if you still want a 3,000-square-foot house on the beach, expect to pay for the premium of being on the beach and the extra cost for the larger house. In most cases, you will still spend far less overseas for that dream house on the ocean than you would for a comparable one in the U.S.

Lief Simon
For International Living

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