Digest: French Village Homes from €66,000…
and Why We’re Scouting Uruguay

In this week’s Overseas Dream Home digest…

• Homes in Scenic Hiking Havens Around the World from $71,000

• Own in Charming French Villages from Just €66,000

• Tickets for The Gathering XI Were All Snapped Up Fast!

• Did You Get Your Free Asian Beach Homes Report?

• Your Questions Answered on Northern Spain and Northern Portugal

My team and I have pretty much locked in our scouting itinerary through the end of the year…

And let me tell you, we have an insanely busy travel schedule coming up.

We’ll be hitting up at least six countries…three continents…an indeterminate amount of towns and villages…

All so we can find for you the “next places” and the best opportunities…

Uruguay, Guadalajara, central Italy, Panama City, Oaxaca, the Greek islands, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Cozumel and Mahahual on Mexico’s Caribbean coast… these are all on the list.

My scout Eoin Bassett is just fresh from a busy trip to Panama. As soon as he’s filed his full report he’s planning to tackle Greece… we’ve narrowed down our search to three locations…all offering stunning beaches and incredible real estate.

Another of my scouts, Ciaran Madden, is heading to Uruguay, “the Switzerland of South America.” His is a mammoth mission in search of opportunity. One rental car. A bunch of contacts in hand…

Uruguay is so safe…so stable…that it’s kinda boring! It’s an investor’s darling. After drilling on things in the capital Montevideo, Ciaran will be heading down the coast to Punta del Este, a prestigious resort destination, and then onto the wild beaches of Rocha. Ciaran’s also keen on the farmland play and Uruguay offers the best “green gold” real estate investments for folks like us.

And before Uruguay, in just over a week, Ciaran is also going to be hitting central Italy. There he’ll be scouting a village named the most beautiful in the entire country in 2023…a town that’s had success attracting foreign buyers with a headline-grabbing €1 homes scheme…and a third that’s generating serious buzz among digital nomad/work-from-anywhere folks for its rich lifestyle and highly affordable real estate (think, spacious, modern sea-view apartments for €100,000 to €220,000).

That’s not all…

I’ve also asked a seasoned real estate investor and member of my Real Estate Trend Alert group based in Venezuela to scout Margarita Island, a stunning Caribbean destination where beach condos list for insanely low prices like $15,000.

Margarita Island is in Venezuela, which has been mired in political and economic crisis for a long time. That’s the reason condos on Margarita Island are so cheap.

But that wasn’t always the case with Venezuela. It was once one of the richest countries in the world (it still has one of the largest known oil reserves on the planet), and Margarita Island used to be a tourist hotspot. Then turmoil overtook the country and the tourists stopped coming.

Could they return? Could Margarita Island return to its former glory days? If so, is a $15,000 condo a once-in-a-lifetime crisis investment opportunity? I’m sending my man in Venezuela to find out…

Then there’s my scouting…

Soon I’ll be heading to the Riviera Maya…Mexico’s Caribbean coast. There, I’ll be scouting the latest developments in the thriving, cosmopolitan city of Playa del Carmen and the chic beach town of Tulum. In both destinations, I’ve brought incredible deals to my Real Estate Trend Alert group and members are sitting on uplifts like $225,609, $234,895, and $309,018. (Details below.) Now I’m looking for more deals…

I’ll also be scouting the island of Cozumel…a massively popular cruise ship destination off Playa del Carmen that’s seeing growing interest from wealthy retirees, expats, digital nomads, and the work-from-anywhere crowd who want to stay there part- or full-time. That could be a big opportunity…

And I’ll be scouting Mahahual, a beach town on the Riviera Maya that’s been dubbed “the next Tulum.” Is it the real deal? I’ll let you know…

As you can see, we have incredible scouting plans…lots of irons in the fire.

Be sure you stay tuned for all the updates from myself and the team as we scout the world to bring you the best opportunities…

Homes From $71,000 in Hiking Havens Around the World

As the crisp air of fall settles in, there’s no better time to lace up your boots and hit the hiking trails. This time of year is perfect for getting out for long walks to marvel at fall’s array of firey colors.

But what if you could make breathtaking trails part of your daily life?

If you’re looking to combine a love of hiking with a new home, there are stunning destinations around the world where you can be close to some of the most incredible hiking routes.

I asked my team to look for homes near spectacular hiking trails in countries on my real estate beat and they found some incredible bargains…including a charming village, with mountain and sea views, where you can own for just $71,000.

Read the full article here.

Own in Charming French Villages from Just €66,000

Speaking of real estate bargains…

This week, in Your Overseas Dream Home, my team dug into the question, what does $100,000 buy you in the French countryside?

You’ll find the full answer in our article here. But the short version is, a lot!

In pretty hamlets in Brittany, with their thatched roofs and coastal charm, or hidden towns in the Loire Valley, surrounded by lush forests and medieval castles, prices can be shockingly affordable.

France has a declining birthrate. This coupled with the movement of young people to big cities means there are ample historic properties for sale throughout the countryside and smaller towns and villages for less than $100,000.

Village homes, historic townhouses, even country villas with pools with stunning views…

You’ll find many homes like these in the $100,000 range. Check out a full range of sample listings in our article here.

Tickets for The Gathering XI Were All Snapped Up Fast!

Over the past several weeks, I was telling you about the annual meetup of my RETA club, The Gathering.

The Gathering is our annual in-person get-together where I bring my whole team, and all my real estate contacts, insiders and experts from across the world to meet RETA Lifetime members.

It’s not a conference, it’s an intimate and private event. And it’s relaxed. We eat. We drink. And we have fun. I keep numbers attending small to ensure it stays that way. Tickets aren’t even priced to make money. All I ask is that attendees help cover costs of renting the hotel meeting space, food and drinks, etc.

The next edition, The Gathering XI, will be held in February next year in Playa del Carmen, on Mexico’s stunning Caribbean coast. And for the past while, I’ve been trying to give fair warning that the 250 seats would disappear fast.

Well, this week, seats were released, and as with our best RETA-only deals on real estate, most seats for The Gathering XI got snapped up in the first day…by day two, there were only eight left… and they didn’t last long.

It’s testament to the seriousness of my RETA club, our club event sold out fast…just as our deals get locked down fast…

Did You Get Your Free Asian Beach Homes Report?

I want to make sure you didn’t miss this…

Recently, my team pulled together a special report on owning in some of Southeast Asia’s most famous beach towns. In this report, you’ll find listings like…

• A modern sea- and mountain-view condo in a luxury building with a rooftop lounge, infinity pool, and fitness club overlooking the Gulf of Thailand for only $50,000.

• A luxurious open-air Balinese villa with a private plunge pool surrounded by lush foliage, for $126,398.

• A two-bed condo in Da Nang that’s walking distance to the beach and has panoramic views of the water for $141,729.

To check these out, click here to access our newest Your Overseas Dream Homes report: Dream Homes in Stunning Asian Beach Towns from $50,000.

Asia is famous for its white-sand beaches, tranquil tropical landscapes, millennia of rich history and culture, and incredible cuisines. It’s also known for its wildly affordable real estate. Whether you’re looking for a home near one of those picture-postcard beaches, a condo in a big city with a buzzing restaurant and nightlife scene…or you’re after a villa in a quiet corner of a tropical island, you’ll find it here.

Now, to be clear, owning real estate in Asia is often very complicated. Not impossible, but there are things you need to be aware of…for example in some countries foreign ownership is only allowed under certain circumstances.

This report will also walk you through the property ownership rules in the countries featured.

You’ll find all that info as well as lots more listings in this special report: Dream Homes in Stunning Asian Beach Towns from $50,000.

Your Questions Answered

Have a question or comment for me or my team? A question about owning overseas? An insight to share on our upcoming scouting? Share it here. I’d love to hear from you. Here’s a question I got from a reader…

Lary K. writes: Dear Ronan and Team, I’m interested in northern Spain, specifically Galicia, Cantabria, and Asturia. I’d like beach and mountains in close proximity, ideal climate when considering climate change, and cool towns.

Ronan says: Hi Lary, northern Spain is a place that I would like to explore more of in the future. Last year, I spent some time there and I shared some findings with RETA members in an issue of RETA. And this summer, after spending time at my base in Ireland, when it was time to head back to my condo on Portugal’s Silver Coast, I took the ferry from there to the Spanish city of Bilbao.

I drove across northern Spain, but I didn’t stop to explore this region as I wanted to head straight to northern Portugal and follow up on the incredible opportunities my team had uncovered there earlier in the summer.

Northern Portugal is actually very similar to its next-door neighbor when it comes to all the things you’re looking for, Lary.

You’ll find stunning beaches, with hardly anyone on them…charming towns like historic Caminha, which sits right on the border with Spain (on my most recent trip to this town, my phone kept telling me I was in Spain!)…and the climate here is far more temperate than further south. The daily highs in summer average about 75 to 80 F, with lows of about 60 F. Personally, I like this kind of climate, particularly during the summer months. During the day, it’s warm, but not too hot, when you want to be outside doing activities.

This region has long flown under the radar and so it still offers some of the best-value real estate in the entire country.

All of this is to say that, it might be worth taking a look at northern Portugal too. To get started, I’d suggest reading some of the dispatches from the road that my team and I sent. Start here and here.

And when it comes to northern Spain, it’s somewhere on my radar and a place I plan to scout more.

Ronan McMahon, Founder, Overseas Dream Home & Real Estate Trend Alert

P.S. The beach destinations of Playa del Carmen and Tulum have been firm fixtures on my RETA beat for many years. And I’ve brought members some incredible deals in each location. Some examples…

• Uplift of $225,609 in Playa del Carmen—Back in 2017, I brought RETA members a deal to own two-bed condos in a community called Siempre Playa for $193,800. In November 2023, retail prices for two-bed condos in the community started from $419,409…that’s $225,609 more.

• $234,895 Boost in Tulum—In 2019, RETA members could own two-bed condos in a community called Gran Tulum from just $175,000. In 2023, two-bed condos there were listing at retail for $409,895. That’s $234,895 more.

• $309,018 More in Playa—In 2021, RETA members had the chance to buy two-bed condos in a community called Singular Dream in Playa del Carmen from $265,304. In early 2024, a two-bed condo in Singular Dream was listing for $574,322.