Puerto Rico or Dominican Republic for a sailors retirement spot?

[john61ct]

I've never understood people wanting to (try to) buy property in such places.

Learn the language, get familiar with the place and its culture / operating system, get to know actual local people, be willing to adapt and "go native", and every year your cost of living is cut in half, for at least five years, then maybe 30% off each year for the next five.

Your entire cost of living ends up cheaper than what people back home are paying for their comms & entertainment subscriptions, with a higher real quality of life.

How I roll anyway.

[Augi]

Originally Posted by john61ct

I've never understood people wanting to (try to) buy property in such places.

Learn the language, get familiar with the place and its culture / operating system, get to know actual local people, be willing to adapt and "go native", and every year your cost of living is cut in half, for at least five years, then maybe 30% off each year for the next five.

Your entire cost of living ends up cheaper than what people back home are paying for their comms & entertainment subscriptions, with a higher real quality of life.

How I roll anyway.

Totally Agree.

I have lived overseas for about 1/2 of my adult life(age 62), most of that in 3rd World Countries. Less can definitely be more, living in a 3rd World Country, depending on the person and what they value. The natural inclination is for an expat to duplicate what they had back home. If that is the case then why move overseas?

If stretching the money you have available is important, then remember most of the 3rd World lives on about $500 a month. A lot of things from back home are often available but in a lot cases they will be a more expensive then back home. So that means if you have a $2K-$3K a month available to live on, if you can go native you can live relatively like a king.

[Heliades]

Rental is certainly the best entry point option. Thanks to all for your insights.

Heliades

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Heliades

Rental is certainly the best entry point option. Thanks to all for your insights.

Heliades

Yes, it is a good starting point and maybe a good long term solution too. Rents in many less developed countries are very inexpensive and carry effectively no risk.

Buying real estate can carry significant risk with little possibility of recourse. Real estate investments can work out well, but they can also evaporate in an instant...not for the risk averse, but many find trouble just by being clueless about the risks they are taking (poor land records/system, crooked attornies, crooked brokers/developers, crooked sellers, slow/corrupt/ineffective legal system...).

My suggestion is dont buy anything you cant afford to lose...renting long term is a viable option.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Kalinowski

Panama is a great selection: stable, booming economy, large modern city, 2 coast access, mountains, jungle, no hurricanes, inexpensive living, great airline access, large expat community, uses US currency. We bought around Bocas del Toro on Isle Solarte and plan to build home and dock. Yes, we shopped around.

Be sure you do your homework well before building in Bocas...lots of problems with ROP (Right of Possession) land there. Be as certain as possible (nothing is 100% in Central America) that you own the dirt before investing in improvments.


Just for fun google "Wild Bill Panama"...you cant make this stuff up! He whacked expats in Bocas for their land.

Also read up on the history of the Red Frog development in Bocas (Bastimentos)...a lot of folks lost big on that too, but didnt get whacked at least.

Both dramatic examples of how easy it is to find real estate trouble in paradise.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by gonesail

i would feel a lot safer in the DR .. from the hurricanes.

Safer than where? The DR is in the hurricane belt.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Olly75

Rio Dulce?

The Rio Dulce was my home base for over a decade (I still have a home there). I love it there and Guatemala is the most amazing country in Central America...but it aint for everbody...infrastructure is limited and its a bit Wild West.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Buying real estate can carry significant risk with little possibility of recourse. Real estate investments can work out well, but they can also evaporate in an instant...not for the risk averse, but many find trouble just by being clueless about the risks they are taking (poor land records/system, crooked attornies, crooked brokers/developers, crooked sellers, slow/corrupt/ineffective legal system...).

I know at least a dozen guys who have lost on real estate over the 30+ years I lived in Asia. Many developers crap out and you have little recourse.

Land titles can also be a "fluid" concept in many countries. Several of these guys thought they had it figured out because their spouse was a local - guess who always gets the property in a divorce?

Secondly who wants capital tied up in retirement? The "American Dream" is to have a paid for house. I can't really understand why. I have about $200k that I treat as my "home equity" fund. I plan to draw the earnings on this fund to pay rent somewhere. Then if I want to move, I just let my lease expire. The plan is to also allow the capital to grow at about 2% a year to keep up with inflation.

The other benefit of not owning in retirement is no "house surprises" like a new roof, air conditioner etc... + No property taxes.

Ultimately when/if I go into care this same find can fund some of the retirement home.

When I die my kid inherits $200k+ in mutual funds, not a house he has to sell...

[Lihuedooley77]

Ex-Cal

We are squawking the same code as to laying out cash and the responsibility of home owner ship. Been there and done that . Those days are over for us .

We also ,now, have retirement, or pensions, and money saved and invested. The anvil of house around our necks that would cut into those savings, and also would restrict us in our lifestyle.

We still keep in sailing, but not day sailing here or coastal sailing in southern california, we love sailing the BVI, the Caribbean, and Tahiti, The Whitsundays in OZ, Motor vessel in Ireland, etc, and eco tours in Costa Rica, and going back to Kauai to visit friends, and explore that beautiful Island.....add in stay cations, in our socal deserts, and up in the mountains, and driving vacations to our neighboring states.

Thar aint much resort roosting or okole sitting going on here.

Yep, that is how we wish to live, and therefore, owning a home, and tossing our retirement fun money down the tubes is not in our program.

The kids are doing very, very well on their own, and when the time comes, and it is coming a little quicker now, they will get a bit of bonus of whatever we have left.

For us life is a daily adventure, and we fully intend on keeping the fun light lit until the plug is permanently pulled.

Also, we strongly suggest that people lease or rent for a year or so, and make sure that decision of purchasing a house away from their usual digs, is correct. The OP also likes that idea as well.

Living on a small island, or foreign country is going to be different that going on a visiting vacation. And as some mentioned, you may not have the same rights that you have here, and it can be difficult getting items that you need that are easy to pick up at your local mainland stores and shops.

On Kauai, and that is U.S.A, our food, and all supplies, including fuel was delivered by barge towed by a tug. New supplies that you may require, may , or may not have come in on the barge that week. Container ships also brought it supplies.

Also, there can be some violent unrest on foreign islands and nations in the Caribbean, and any most any place south of the U.S. Border.

Not saying not to become an ex pat, just use some serious investigation and planning . .

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Lihuedooley77

Living on a small island, or foreign country is going to be different that going on a visiting vacation. And as some mentioned, you may not have the same rights that you have here, and it can be difficult getting items that you need that are easy to pick up at your local mainland stores and shops.

On Kauai, and that is U.S.A, our food, and all supplies, including fuel was delivered by barge towed by a tug. New supplies that you may require, may , or may not have come in on the barge that week. Container ships also brought it supplies.

Also, there can be some violent unrest on foreign islands and nations in the Caribbean, and any most any place south of the U.S. Border.

Not saying not to become an ex pat, just use some serious investigation and planning . .

I remember fondly the nightly news on Oahu tracking the Christmas tree barge from Seattle - LOL...

Our next few years are going to be vacationing in our target spots to get eyes on the ground so to speak. Most likely we will start basing in Cartagena and then decide whether we want to land base somewhere else.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Safer than where? The DR is in the hurricane belt.

The north coast of DR is largely protected by mountains and is generally spared when hurricanes pass over. Luperon in particular is considered a “hurricane hole”.

[hpeer]

Luperon had no boating casualties last year. We spent a three weeks there on our way south last year and toured a bit using it as a base. We stayed in our boat in the harbor, on a mooring, although I would not trust the mooring in a storm.

The small motorcycle noise would make me nutz if I had to live “in town.” I get the sense Luperon is in the undeveloped front of DR. We were able to get all basic necessities. But services were very limited. You would have to go to the South coast or PR for a haul.

We met a number of s cruisers who had settled there. They all seemed to be OK with their choice.

We also spent some time in Salinas, PR and that was OK also. They had much more storm damage but I think a number of propperly prepared boat rode out the storms pretty well.

Frankly I would like the idea of keeping the boat and moving it around a bit. Maybe hire a crew as necessary.

BTW, we have a house in Philly. It was a 4 unit apt building/brownstone. We always lived in one unit and rented 3. Now we have a property manager and rent out all 4 units. It helps with our passive income. Sure we have some surprises but that’s part of the game. On average we come out ahead of what we would get in bonds if we sold, and we still have our capital.

[RSH]

Originally Posted by john61ct

I've never understood people wanting to (try to) buy property in such places.

Learn the language, get familiar with the place and its culture / operating system, get to know actual local people, be willing to adapt and "go native", and every year your cost of living is cut in half, for at least five years, then maybe 30% off each year for the next five.

Your entire cost of living ends up cheaper than what people back home are paying for their comms & entertainment subscriptions, with a higher real quality of life.

How I roll anyway.

I blame HGTV and "House Hunters International".

[ol1970]

We are in the same process of trying to figure out where our forever home will be. So far my top three are (1) St. John (2) Kauai (3) Abacos (4) Costa Rica.

I do agree with LihueDooley that being on American soil where you have access to healthcare and protection of the laws can be a big factor. Currently our plan is to visit as many places as possible and formulate our plan as we have more experience. The big factor we have working in our favor is my gal's benefits allow us to fly pretty much anywhere in the world for free, so access to an international airport is key. Before we buy anywhere we would live there for a 3-6 months to make sure its what we want. The Abacos were pretty freaking awesome from a boating/lifestyle standpoint, it is only a 40 minute flight from the U.S., I can see it moving up the list. Kauai is about as perfect as it gets, but it a million miles from everywhere...St. John seems to have it all. It is great to have these first world problems for sure!

[Cheechako]

A toss up maybe. As an American I would probably opt for PR. Safer than the DR if that means anything to you and easier to get things shipped in, possibly easier healthcare etc.. The waters in DR are filthy. When it rains hard the whole harbor fills with garbage. Still.... I liked the adventure of the DR.
I did not find the "headwinds " to be an issue at all. Most of the time you are sailing in the lee of islands anyway. The VI are a much easier hop from PR also.