With the current prices of housing in Bakersfield skyrocketing, the average price
of a typical residential vacant lot is now somewhere around $75,000. Many of our
fine citizens are feeling left out, no longer able to afford to purchase the
dirt just to build a house on.
Maybe it is better to look elsewhere
for your dream lot or dream home. There are a number of areas around the world
where land is now much cheaper than in our smog hole called Bakersfield. Some
of the places front oceans while others front the seas. Some are situated high
in the jungle clad hills, while others may be located near a river or lagoon.
The only problem is that we as Americans are somewhat programmed to
think foreign investment is a bad idea. A majority of people I questioned regarding
land ownership in Mexico responded with an incorrect answer. Almost all told
me they thought that in Mexico, US citizens could never actually own the land
for eternity, and some continued that you were only leasing it for a term, most
saying 99 years. This is no longer true. Although the Mexican Constitution
bars foreigners from owning land in a coastal zone, Mexico worked around this problem
by changing the law so that foreigners can now own land and build house
through a locally administered trust, with the foreigner being the beneficiary.
The trust mus be renewed every 50 years. The term for this type of ownership is
known as "Fideicomiso".
The Baja region alone is now home to more
than 100,000 Americans. On the putskirts of a town named Loreto, an American themed
community known as Nopalo will eventually be built out, with over 5,000 homes
marketed primarily to Americans and Canadians. The ugly American invasion is
taking place as we speak.
So now you must be wondering: what will
it cost and where will it be? I think starting in the middle might be best. At
the bottom of the Yucatan Peninsula, and not far from the country of Belize, $42,500
will get you 8,692 square feet of beachfront property. Water, electricity,
phone and Net service are available fronting the land.
Progresso, a town
of 50,000 is located within a 10 minute drive. Other vacant properties offered
in the area include a beachfront acre on a beautiful desolate beach for $45,000.
Still
a bit too rich for your blood? Let's just try an area along
the Pcific coast known as La Manzanilla. A lot near the water and situated within
a jungle will set you back just $8,000. Tax evaders, weirdos and other social
outcasts take note, this might be the place for you. Another coastal hideaway
south of Manzanillo is an area known as Cuyutlan, where beachfront lots of 5,000
sqaure feet can be purchased for as little as $12,000.
Maybe Mexico
isn't really your thing and you want something a bit more exotic. The country
of Belize, which is currently exploding with tourists, still has waterfront
lots for $30,000. Inland sites go sell for as little as $8,500.
An
island off the coast of Panama has acre-sized lots ready to build on for as little
as $25,000. This area is actually very near where a past installment of Survivor
was staged. A little closer to home finds lots near the ocean in the Bahams
for as low as $13,900.
During my first visit to St. John, Virgin
Islands in 1992, I noticed a land sign offering 1/4 acre hillside lots for $25,000.
I thought for weeks about the possibility of buying one of these tropical
slices, but never eventually acted on my desires. Eleven years later, I found these
same lots selling for $150,000. Fifteen years later they were selling for
$300,000+. This is over a 1,000% increase in value over this period. Where else
could I have recorded such a healthy return? Instead, I stupidly threw the money
into the "dot bomb" stocks and made others rich, while I remained one of the
weak.
So my suggestion is, if you have some extra cash lying around,
maybe it is time to start Googling and find your own low cost piece of tropical
paradise. Or finally, if you do have the big bucks, try shelling out a measly
$180,000 and get your own 7.2 acre private island off the coast of Nicaragua.
The seller will even throw in two small houses, each with a pier, as well as
a boat.
I am sure the drug runners would love to stop by for coffee.
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