- Beach Homes in Sicily from $80,000
- Caribbean Island Condos from $15,000
- The Ultra-Luxe Marinas of Montenegro
- Plus, Your Questions Answered
As you read this, I’m somewhere in the Atlantic, on a 30-hour ferry journey from Bilbao in northern Spain to the port of Rosslare in the southeast of Ireland…
This is a novel way to move between the two countries. I know from talking to my team that not many people are even aware it’s possible. But it’s perfect for me since it means I can bring my car from Portugal when I’m moving to my primary home in Ireland.
Plus, it’s nice to indulge in a little slow travel every now and again…
My ferry route from northern Spain to southeastern Ireland. At around 30 hours, this is not the fastest way to get to Ireland, but I can bring my car and the ferry is luxurious, with excellent food.
The ferry is quieter and more civilized than dealing with airports…no heaving passport lines or tedious security checks. Instead, I can stay in a luxury cabin, enjoy the amazing food on offer, and watch schools of dolphins swimming alongside the ship.
The journey also gives me a chance to reflect on my recent scouting on Portugal’s Silver Coast…
The weather is perfect during spring on Portugal’s Silver Coast, with warm afternoons and cool evenings, but the beaches are quiet. It’s an ideal time to visit…
For the past week or so, I was spending time at my condo on Portugal’s Silver Coast. I was there to re-energize, but also to take stock of the incredible rise of the real estate scene.
Real estate on the Silver Coast has gone from strength to strength in recent years as vacationers and second-home owners look for quieter escapes away from Lisbon and Portugal’s ever-popular southern Algarve region.
Right now, I’m compiling my notes and reviewing everything I’ve seen and uncovered from my time in Portugal.
In the coming week, I’ll be sharing a special Portugal series with members of my Real Estate Trend Alert group, offering a full update on the Silver Coast and other key destinations in the country and revealing my insights on where the best opportunities lie today.
In the coming week, I’ll be sharing a special Portugal series with members of my Real Estate Trend Alert group, offering a full update on the Silver Coast and other key destinations in the country and revealing my insights on where the best opportunities lie today.
I’ll also be bringing you some thoughts here in Your Overseas Dream Home. Stay tuned for those…
Today, though, lots has been happening across our global beat this week and I’ve been getting excellent questions from Overseas Dream Home readers. (Have a question or comment…I’d love to hear it. Click here to share it now.)
In a moment, I’m going to answer a question from a reader about safety in Mexico, but first, here’s a brief wrap-up of some of the opportunities and reports I’ve shared with you over the past week in Your Overseas Dream Home…
Beach Homes in Sicily from $80,000
There was a theme to our scouting this week in Overseas Dream Home and it was bargain beach homes.
We started in northern Sicily…
The Italian island of Sicily—the biggest in the Mediterranean—boasts historic cities, ancient temples, quaint little villages, towering mountains, and stunning beaches on every shore. Yet, in towns there set amongst lost-in-time landscapes, you can find homes for astonishing prices.
My scout, Ciaran, just returned from more than a week scouting Sicily. He drove hundreds of miles across the island, looking at bargains in hill towns in the island’s mountainous interior. (You can read about some of those here.)
Before concluding his trip, he also scouted along the north coast. This is a stunning region, framed by the glistening Mediterranean on one side and lush, rolling hills on the other. Along this coast, Ciaran found bargain beach homes from incredible prices like $80,000. He shared the details in his report here.
(Note: Ciaran is currently working on a full, in-depth scouting report for RETA members on everything he found in Sicily. This will include our best analysis along with links, videos, listings, and contact information for local agents. That’s coming soon…)
Sicily’s stunning northern coast is dotted with historic towns and cities. And property prices there can be remarkably affordable…
Caribbean Island Condos at Bargain Prices
Elsewhere on our hunt for bargain beach homes, we looked at two destinations in the Caribbean…
First, I shared details about the brand-new RETA issue on crisis investing in Venezuela.
Venezuela should be one of the world’s wealthiest nations. It has the largest known oil reserves on the planet, rich agricultural land, incredible natural wonders like the tallest waterfall in the world, and glorious Caribbean islands perfect for attracting tourists, including the breathtakingly beautiful Margarita Island.
But for the past decade, the country has been mired in political and economic chaos. That means you can get properties by the beach there, even in the country’s most incredible resort destinations, for mind-blowing prices like $15,000.
Of course, the key to investing in a crisis market like Venezuela is identifying whether things are turning around—you need to see a clear path to recovery.
That’s what this issue of RETA is all about…my analysis on whether the time is right to buy in Venezuela.
Set in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela, Margarita Island is home to scores of breathtaking beaches. This was once a tourism hot spot. And under the right conditions, it could be again…yet you can buy condos here for as little as $15,000.
Also on the Caribbean Sea, my team has been digging into the latest developments on Roatan…
Roatan is part of Honduras in the western Caribbean. The island boasts stunning beaches and a near-perfect tropical climate, with average high temperatures ranging from 77 F to 90 F throughout the year. This makes it a popular destination with tourists and snowbirds from North America.
It’s also home to the largest barrier reef in the Northern Hemisphere, so it attracts snorkeling and diving enthusiasts from across the world. And it’s easy to get to, with direct flight connections to cities across the U.S. and Canada including Houston, Miami, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Denver, and Toronto.
Despite this, property prices there remain highly affordable…
One of the reasons for this is that the island is part of Honduras, a politically unstable country with high levels of crime. That said, Roatan has always been insulated to a large degree from the turmoil on the mainland and has for many decades been a safe place to visit and own real estate. And prices there are a fraction of what you’ll pay elsewhere on the Caribbean
My researchers found condos and homes near the beach for prices from just $95,000. Get all the details here.
Roatan boasts picture-perfect white-sand beaches, but prices there are remarkably affordably compared to most other destinations in the Caribbean.
Scouting Europe’s New Monaco
Elsewhere on our beat, our RETA photographer, Alan, has just returned from Montenegro…and he’s been sharing some breathtaking photos of this incredible country with our team.
Let me give you a sample…
Alan shared this shot he took of Kotor Old Town in Montenegro. This is the country’s most popular destination. I’m working on a deal here for RETA members
As you can see in the image Alan shared above, Montenegro has emerged as a new and super-stylish Riviera.
This tiny country south of Croatia is home to exclusive resorts and ultra-luxe marinas. You’ll see mega-yachts, private jets, and high-end cruise ships. It’s been dubbed a new Monaco.
Lustica Bay in Montenegro is the site of a modern, ultra-luxe marina.
Now, as so often happens, the “ordinary rich” are following the flow of wealthy folks to Montenegro. “Ordinary rich” is a term I use for professionals…small-business owners…computer scientists, bankers, lawyers, doctors…people who earn well and can move around to some degree. Most aren’t in the market for multi-million-dollar mansions or 5-star resorts. But they want luxury and exceptional resort-style amenities in a perfect location…and they can pay for it.
Montenegro is seeing an influx of these folks, particularly around the stunning Bay of Kotor, the country’s most popular destination. That represents a big investment opportunity. I’m closing in on an incredible deal here for members of my Real Estate Trend Alert group.
Stay tuned for more details on that. In the meantime, you can read my team’s recent scouting report from Montenegro here.
Your Questions and Comments
Have a question or comment? Share it here. Here’s one I got from some Overseas Dream Home readers who are also RETA members:
Danny and Trish ask: Hello Ronan, I just read the report regarding Sicily and the elephant in the room there i.e. the organized crime situation. Very interesting information. My wife and I have bought in two RETA deals (Progreso and Cabo) that we’ll be taking the keys to in December.
I’d like to hear your thoughts on the cartel situation in Mexico. Even though we have traveled there several times, we’d like to hear your honest thoughts about the safety for any of us who have purchased properties in Mexico or would like to.
Ronan says: This is a great question and an important one…
First, for anyone who wants to read my thoughts on safety in Sicily, you can do so at the end of last Sunday’s Overseas Dream Home here.
When it comes to Mexico, this is a large, complex country. There are certainly regions that are unsafe. But there are also regions where the security situation is equivalent or better than you’ll find in major U.S. cities.
For our RETA opportunities in Mexico, our deals are in highly internationalized destinations—places like Cabo, San Miguel de Allende, and Playa del Carmen and Tulum on the country’s Caribbean coast, known as the Riviera Maya. These destinations have large expat communities and see huge numbers of overseas visitors, so authorities there carefully monitor the security situation.
I also take my personal safety very seriously. I count myself lucky to have had no major issue in more than two decades of almost full-time travel and scouting and I plan to keep it that way. I’m not out partying or buying drugs. That keeps me out of the highest-risk situations. I don’t like to be on the roads late at night. I’m much more worried about bad and drunk drivers than cartels or car jackings. In Cabo I own my own car…in the Riviera Maya I’ll walk or take a taxi.
Cabo is generally very safe. It’s not as safe as Ireland where I’m from… It’s safer than Baltimore, less safe than small-town Wisconsin. The same applies to the Riviera Maya.
I don’t travel to places where I feel there’s a significant security risk. This includes many parts of Mexico, sadly. But RETA opportunities are exclusively in places like Cabo, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, and San Miguel where I feel highly comfortable with the security situation.
Ronan McMahon, Founder, Overseas Dream Home & Real Estate Trend Alert
P.S. If you have a question or any feedback, I’d love to hear it. Maybe you’d like to know what I think of a particular destination…or perhaps you have a suggestion about where you’d like us to scout next…or maybe you have a question for me about buying in Portugal or Ireland. Let me know here.
Your Daily Dream Home
Ciudad del Este, Paraguay
This apartment is in a vibrant neighborhood in Ciudad del Este, southeastern Paraguay. It’s close to banks, supermarkets, shopping malls and restaurants.
This home has two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room. The apartment complex has a swimming pool, two terrace areas, and a business room on the first floor.
Remember, we don’t make money from any listing shared here in the Your Daily Dream Home section. We have no dog in the fight. We’re just sharing cool properties we’ve found.
I haven’t visited this property or done due diligence on it. If you’re interested in the listing, you should hire an attorney and do your own due diligence.
