Perhaps you’ve got a lot of investing under your belt and you’re looking for a picturesque place to retire. Maybe you’re interested in a second home or a vacation spot. Or you’re part of a new generation of nomads, working from exotic locations across the globe.
Whatever your situation, finding your paradise shouldn’t just be a far-off dream. In this episode of The Real Estate Guys™ episode we’ll discuss lifestyle investing … and why now may be the prime time to invest in your own personal paradise.
On the show today, we chat with an American ex-pat who now makes his life … and his living … on one of Belize’s beautiful Caribbean islands, Ambergris Caye.
You’ll hear from:
- Your pro-paradise host, Robert Helms
- His not-so-picturesque co-host, Russell Gray
- The Paradise Guy, real estate pro William Narod
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Making the leap from stateside to the Caribbean
William Narod spent 26 years selling real estate in the United States.
After all that time in one country, William got the diversification bug. He started doing research, then headed down to the Caribbean to scout out several different markets.
That’s where he met The Real Estate Guys™ … lucky for both us and him, William joined us on a field trip his very first day in Belize.
William wanted to find an investment opportunity outside the U.S. … and he ended up finding a new life as well.
Today, William lives with his wife and kids on Ambergris Caye.
But he didn’t make the move without a significant amount of research. Before he settled on Belize, William looked at the leading indicators … tourism numbers, prices and appreciation, and so on.
Like William, the very first step you should take when you’re considering making any sort of investment outside of your native country is getting educated.
Every country has different laws, protocols, and customs.
We certainly went through the ringer the first time we took our investments out of the country. It took a while to get our heads around ideas like land trusts.
The key to successfully educating yourself? Don’t get overwhelmed.
Instead of focusing on the HOW, figure out WHAT you want and WHY.
No one else can tell you what you want or why you want it … but once you know your goals, you can find someone who can help you out with the how.
Your scenario, your goals … they won’t be unique. And that’s a good thing! Because it means the issues you’re facing have been faced … and conquered … before.
A paradise that pays YOU
It’s important to note that William Narod didn’t move to Ambergris Caye to retire. He moved there to invest, work, and help other people invest … but he also moved there to have fun!
We want you to think further out than the immediate future. Imagine your life in 5, 10, even 20 or 30 years.
Are you saving right now to pay for a paradise when you retire? Why not flip that idea on its head and let your paradise pay YOU … right now!
Start by figuring out what you’re looking for. What activities and lifestyle options are most important to you? Where can you see yourself thriving?
In his real estate advising business, William Narod often sees two types of investors.
The first are the retirees … folks who headed to the islands to retire, only to discover they weren’t satisfied spending their days just scuba diving.
The great part about where William is located is business opportunities abound. “You almost need to put on blinders down here because there is so much opportunity,” he said.
So folks who moved down to Belize intending solely to enjoy their retirement days lazily strolling the beach often end up getting involved in local business and real estate.
The second type is people who’ve been in Belize for 24 hours and want to buy right away. For these folks … and any new investor, William recommends taking three key things into consideration:
- What your objectives are (i.e. what you want your investment to do for you)
- How you’ll use your investment (and for how long, with what time frames)
- How you want your property managed
Speaking of management, finding the right management solution is key, especially if you’ll be operating mainly offsite and need to be less hands-on.
Not in Belize? What you’re missing out on
Like many Caribbean destinations, Belize is a strong market with escalating prices. For people who want to retire there in 10 years, now may be the time to make a move before prices spiral out of control.
William told us that folks come for many different reasons. He gave us a run-down of some of Belize’s strengths, which include:
- Warm sparkling water for scuba diving, snorkeling, and swimming.
- A location that’s very close to the United States (two hours from Miami)
- A primarily English-speaking population
- A large, welcoming, and very friendly American ex-pat community
- Fantastic, affordable food
- Potentially low cost of living
- Excellent school systems
- A very diverse culture with very little prejudice
Although Belizean culture can be quite different from fast-paced American lifestyles, William loved the slower-paced environment of Ambergris Caye from the beginning … enough to move his entire family there.
Today, his kids attend schools that William’s wife, a teacher, has given two thumbs up.
They play in the ocean, scuba diving, snorkeling, and fishing a few days a week. Other days they splash in the best pools on the island.
Every day is a play day … and even better, his kids get to grow up in a melting pot full of people from around the world, a place where everyone is treated as an equal.
A paradise within your reach
We chatted with William about some of the current development happening in Belize.
Despite its rising popularity, Belize hasn’t seen interest from big developers until recent years.
The new proactivity of these big brands is a strong indicator of the future of the area, William says. It indicates that interest is there … and is strong enough that bigger corporations see opportunities for growth.
Development outside the U.S. can sometimes spell disaster … irresponsible decisions that harm the local environment, for example, or cut-rate developers who can’t cut it in the States.
But in Belize, developers work with local communities to ensure responsible developments that fit with the environment.
Like William says, “There’s only so much opportunity you can turn a blind eye to.” The entrance of big names onto the scene spells out a short period where properties will be accessible to the little guys … before Belize gets too hot to handle.
If you build the right team and execute your vision strategically, your future in Belize is really bright, William says.
Belize sound like the place for you? Listen in for exclusive access to a report William Narod compiled just for our listeners.
Not sure if Belize is the place to go? Take a look anyway! The report offers great perspective about questions to ask and things to look for as a fledgling lifestyle investor.
And if all this talk of Belize has really piqued your interest, take a look at our discovery trips … educational events in a picturesque location that offer you the opportunity to check out everything Belize has to offer for yourself.
There are so many ways to be a real estate investor.
Investing shouldn’t just be about surviving … it should be finding ways to thrive!
Whether Belize appeals to you or not, we encourage you to ask yourself the questions: What do I really want real estate to do for me? What is my ultimate paradise?
Whatever your idea of paradise, we want you to think about whether it has to wait. Chances may be that paradise is within your reach … today!
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