In this week’s Your Overseas Dream Home Digest…
- VIDEO: Boots on the Ground in Uruguay
- Earn a Huge Yield (as Much as 34.5%) for Owning in Uruguay’s Stunning Capital
- The Best Places to Invest in Real Estate in 2025
- Your Questions Answered: The Best Cities for Colonial Architecture
Just before my team and I broke for the holidays, my scout, Ciaran Madden, spent two weeks digging into opportunities in Uruguay.
Wedged between Argentina to the west and Brazil to the east, the tiny country of Uruguay rarely makes the headlines…it’s so safe and stable that it’s kinda boring! But it’s an investor’s darling, a well-organized country and renowned safe haven where folks can cut their tax burden and get easy residency options.
Quiet, pristine and peaceful, Uruguay is a well-organised, safe haven…and a country that’s extremely welcoming to foreigners and foreign capital.
Some people call Uruguay “the Switzerland of South America.” Indeed, it’s a phrase I’ve used in the past. But increasingly I think “the Portugal of South America” is more appropriate.
This is a country where foreigners and foreign capital are welcome…a place of wild beaches, cool pine forests and rolling sand dunes…a safe, stable, and sophisticated place far from the world’s turmoil and troubles. Much like Portugal. It even has a similar climate.
I’ve scouted there myself in the past and brought Real Estate Trend Alert members some outstanding opportunities. But it’s been a while, so I felt it was high time to get a scout back with boots on the ground.
Ciaran explored new opportunities right across the country, from incredible-value homes in Uruguay’s trendy, upmarket capital to true beachfront homes on a pristine coastline that’s right on an accelerating Path of Progress.
Before Ciaran caught his flight back, we recorded a call to discuss what he had seen. I already sent this to RETA members, but wanted to share it here too…
I recorded a call with my scout, Ciaran, at the conclusion of his two-week scouting trip to Uruguay to discuss what he uncovered. Click here to watch.
As we discussed in the video, Uruguay is a country rich with incredible opportunities…
- We chatted about the stunning transformation of Punta del Este, Latin America’s premier beach resort destination, into a true city…and the incredible luxury projects under development on the coast to the east of Punta.
- Ciaran tracked the Path of Progress east to Rocha…a region of unspoiled natural beauty where you’ll find cream-colored beaches, glistening lagoons, nature reserves, and boutique, bohemian beach towns. The elite are turning their eyes to Rocha because it has the same pristine beaches and natural environment as you’ll find around bustling Punta, but it’s more low-key. And prices there are still highly affordable…for the moment.
- We also chatted about an opportunity to own 12 to 14 acres of land where you can build a farmstead home in a stunning inland location.
RETA members will be getting Ciaran’s full, in-depth Uruguay early in the new year.
If you’re not a RETA member but would like to get your hands on that report, there’s still time to join here and be among the first to get their hands on it. Join RETA here.
Earn a Huge Yield (as Much as 34.5%) for Owning in Uruguay’s Stunning Capital
Stick with Uruguay…
While Ciaran was scouting the country’s capital of Montevideo, he uncovered an incredible opportunity—a way to own for less than $200,000 and earn a massive rental yield…
Montevideo is a vibrant capital city, but it flies under the radar despite having stunning colonial architecture, leafy parks and inviting plazas, and glistening golden-sand beaches right in the heart of the city.
Where the city meets the sea…Montevideo is a buzzing capital city that has been ranked as the most livable city in all of Latin America and the Caribbean.
In one of the city’s neighborhoods, Cordón, rapid gentrification is taking place. Students started moving into this area a few years ago and they’ve made it a trendy place to be.
And now Montevideo’s young professionals are taking notice and they too are starting to move here. Stylish, amenities-rich condo buildings are going up…but Ciaran found another opportunity here.
One that involved a traditional three-bed house in the heart of this neighborhood that’s listed for less than $200,000. In case you missed it, you’ll find all the details here.
The Best Places to Invest in Real Estate in 2025
Where’s the best place in the world to invest in real estate for income potential?
Where on my global RETA beat offers you the best quality of life should you choose to spend time there?
Which destinations have the lowest holdings costs and the easiest access to finance for non-resident foreign buyers?
These are all questions I’ve answered in my new 2025 RETA International Real Estate Index which I released to RETA members earlier this month. It’s my ranking of the 25 best places in the world to buy real estate for next year.
For the past several months, my team and I have been busy evaluating and ranking destinations on our global beat across 10 categories, ranging from Relative Value and Quality of Life to Climate, Income Potential, International Appeal, Holding Costs, and more.
The Bay of Kotor in Montenegro is a place of astonishing natural beauty, where soaring mountains surround a glistening bay. This rapidly emerging destination ranks among my top 25 places to buy real estate in 2025.
This week, I’ve been sharing some of the winners of those categories…
We looked at the top three performers in the Income Potential category…these are locations where, if you buy the right real estate, you can turn your home into a money-making machine. Rental income is one of my primary reasons for investing in overseas real estate. And I still get a sense of quiet satisfaction every time I see rental income hit my bank account.
Check out the winners in the Income Potential category here.
I also shared a sneak peek at the four locations on my global real estate beat that give you the best bang for your buck. Most of the destinations listed in the index offer excellent value when compared to major markets in the U.S. and Canada. But in some, the value is truly exceptional.
Take a look at the top locations in the Relative Value category of my 2025 Real Estate Trend Alert
I’d like to point out that this RETA index is much more than you’re seeing here. It’s a comprehensive, 20,000-word report featuring maps and detailed introductions and analysis of all 25 destinations. And in the index, you also get access to the raw data so you can tailor it to your needs and use it to pinpoint the right overseas destination for you.
If you’d like to get your hands on the full 2025 Real Estate Trend Alert International Real Estate Index, you need to be a RETA member. Join here today and you’ll get instant access to the full report.
Your Questions Answered
Have a question or comment for me or my team? A question about owning overseas? A destination you’d like us to scout. Share it here. I’d love to hear from you. Here’s a question I’ve gotten from a readers recently…
Ann C. asks: I’m very interested in learning more about colonial or other elegant architecture and where it can be found. Thanks!
Ronan says: Hi Ann, there’s something enchanting about colonial towns, isn’t there? The narrow cobblestone streets, quaint plazas and leafy parks, beautiful buildings with their centuries of history… These are all characteristics of a colonial town. And there are a number of these charming places on my international real estate beat.
To my mind, one of the most beautiful colonial cities in the world is Mérida, Mexico. It’s known for sparkling clean avenues and leafy cobbled plazas, art-filled galleries…live music…amazing restaurants. It’s a city I love to spend time in.
Mérida is renowned for its incredible, colorful colonial buildings and vibrant art and food scenes.
Mérida is a great strolling city as it’s mostly flat and you’ll see a lot of public art and sculptures. Plus there are cafés all over for a pitstop. The art scene is big in Mérida and there are museums of anthropology, popular art, contemporary art, the national music center, the city museum….
All this art and culture help to attract tens of thousands of part-time expats and a rapidly growing number of vacationers too. And it’s been ranked as the second-safest in all of North America (behind only Quebec). Learn more about Merida and all it has to offer in this free report: Own a Colonial Home in Mexico from $126,000.
Another city with beautiful colonial architecture on my beat is Panama City. I’ve been scouting here for 20 years, and though it has gone from a sleepy backwater to a truly global city that’s attracting wealthy and well-heeled folks from all over the world in that time, you’ll still find evidence of its past.
Casco Viejo is Panama City’s historic district—a vibrant neighborhood rich in colonial charm and cultural heritage. The cobblestone streets here are lined with colorful buildings that showcase Spanish, French, and Caribbean architectural influences. In recent years, many of this area’s impressive colonial-era buildings have been lovingly restored.
Panama City’s Casco Viejo is being returned to its former colonial glory…a reminder of this city’s past as it becomes a successful global hub.
A UNESCO World Heritage site, Casco Viejo is bustling with lively plazas, trendy boutiques, and a mix of local eateries and upscale restaurants. Casco Viejo’s vibrant nightlife, with rooftop bars and live music, makes it a dynamic cultural hub.
The Dominican Republic is a newer location on my real estate beat. Although mostly known for its stunning Caribbean beaches, the capital of Santo Domingo has that beautiful colonial architecture. As one of the oldest European settlements in the Americas (founded in 1498) it boasts numerous well-preserved buildings from the Spanish colonial period, including the first cathedral, monastery, and fortress built in the New World.
The Dominican Republic not only offers some of the world’s best beaches but it has a capital that’s full of colonial charm.
About a two-hour drive east of Santa Domingo, close to the world-famous Punta Cana, is Cap Cana, 30,000 acres of meticulously planned tropical dreamscape and a master-planned community set along three miles of glistening white-sand beach, and miles more of stunning Caribbean coastline.
This was the location for a recent RETA deal where members could buy luxury two-bed condos just steps from one of the most stunning beaches in this area from a RETA-only price of $382,400. I bought alongside members in this deal. Not long after we launched this deal, the developer sent word he was already raising prices and two-bed condos similar to those available to RETA members from $384,400 were now listed at $440,000. That’s an uplift of $55,600 in less than two months!
If you’d like to be the first to hear about all the new RETA deals I’ve got coming down the pipeline in 2025, and would like the opportunity to get in on them, you must be a RETA member.
And we have some spectacular opportunities coming up next year… I’m working on something special in Cabo (that’s coming very soon)…Costa Rica’s Gold Coast is set to deliver another incredible deal…and I’m expecting exciting things to happen in Playa del Carman on Mexico’s Riviera Maya.
Don’t miss any of these…become a RETA member today. All the information you’ll need to join is here.
Ronan McMahon, Founder, Overseas Dream Home & Real Estate Trend Alert
P.S. If you have a question about buying real estate overseas or have suggestions for destinations my team and I should put on our scouting list for 2025, drop me a line here.
