Be one of the first to cash in on a fantastic investment opportunity in the popular Cordoba province in Argentina. With the country’s real estate market on fire, this brand new announcement will set to sell fast and you’ll have to act quickly to be amongst the lucky owners in the Estancia Catalina development.

Estancia Catalina is the answer to a very strong and repeat tourism trade that is growing stronger every year. It offers a unique and not often found opportunity to purchase land plots below their current market value in one of South America’s most amazing and sought after regions. This is the kind of opportunity that doesn’t knock on your door too often.

The estate is home to an already very successful boutique hotel that enjoys a 78 % occupancy rate throughout the year, has nearby horse stables and fabulous polo facilities. With a nightly price tag of $500 per room , it is easy to see how great this opportunity really is for investors.

Add to this the unheard of price of £75,000 for a land parcel of 10,000 sqm and you’ll have to be hard pressed to find something equally as promising than land in Estancia Catalina.

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Patagonia, in southern Chile, may not be everybody’s idea of their ultimate destination, but we found an interesting property for sale and thought it would make a worthwhile comparison with the rest of the world.

Moreno Glacier, patagonia - Photo Credit

The first thing to bear in mind when thinking about buying property in Chile is the complete and utter lack of regulation as far as estate agents are concerned. All you need to become an estate agent in Chile is….. Well, actually - you don’t need anything. A good guide to the potential pitfalls and some of the fun one must endure to buy a property in Southern Chile can be found here.

Patagonia is a geographic region containing the southernmost portion of South America. Mostly located in Argentina and partly in Chile, it comprises the Andes mountains to the west and south, and plateaux and low plains to the east. allsouthernchile.com have this spectacular fly fishing lodge for sale – price $325,000 – around £164,000 – the price of a scruffy terrace in the West Midlands. So if you were thinking of getting away from it all, this one’s worth a look.

From the agent’s site:

Established fly fishing lodge for sale in the Rio Azul Valley, Patagonia. Lodge overlooks the confluence of the Futaleufu and Azul Rivers and has a spectacular view of the Tres Munjas, the highest peak in the region. The lodge sits approximately 3 hours from the airport and coastal town of Chaiten and is approx 40 minutes drive from the Argentine border via the town of Futaleufu.

Included in the sale are all vehicles seen in the photos and a number of rafts, life jackets and tools. And of course, and indispensable satellite phone. We suspect it might take a while for help to arrive should you feel the need, but that’s what getting away from it is all about. We have to say – it’s tempting.

Agents site

Resort Site

England football legend, David Beckham will be opening the first “David Beckham World of Sport,” complex in Natal, Brazil, to coincide with their hosting of the 2014 World Cup. This will be part of a bigger resort, which will include a “Rubens Barrichello motor racing school,” but no plans for a “Spice Girls’ academy of dancing,” as far as we know just yet.

Beckham has already set up professional sports academies in both London and Los Angeles. Whilst in Brazil for the launch, he said, “I am honored to be associated with this incredible project which will build world-class sporting facilities in Brazil, hopefully having a major impact at a local level and internationally”. Beckham hopes to give opportunities to gifted but disadvantaged children, rather than teaching them how to play the game. Although perhaps Mr. Beckham could learn a thing or two from some of his young charges judging by his recent performances.

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As more and more well-developed overseas property markets reach saturation point, British property investors are starting to look further and further afield in the search for likely investment opportunities. South America, despite some political and social issues still to deal with, offers those opportunities. South America, like many other emerging markets sees the benefits of foreign investment and the governments are taking steps towards creating a more hospitable investment environment.

A Million Dollars. It certainly sounds like a lot of money. Just say it out loud: “A Million Dollars,” now say it slowly, “A Million Dollars.” It still sounds like a lot of money, but what will a million dollars buy in London, Europe or Africa or South America? As I began researching this article, the phrase, “One man’s meat is another man’s poison,” came to mind. Obviously, some countries vary widely from area to area, but here are some interesting properties for sale from around the world that all have the same price tag – A Million Bucks.

London. In London, one million bucks will secure a 3 bedroom flat in W6, a short walk from Hammersmith Broadway. This particular flat is offered by Foxtons and comprises one reception room, kitchen, three beds and one bath over 87 m sq. Leasehold with a share of the freehold.

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Panama City Skyline [Photo credits to Young in Panama on Flickr]

Earlier this month Fortune Magazine featured an article on ‘Panamania’, the explosive growth of Panama’s capital city in the last few years.

Panama’s economy is booming with 8.1% growth in 2006 and Panama City is the focus for a lot of this growth. The article quoted Adolfo Olloqui of Grupo Olloqui saying that Panama was inheriting the mantle of Miami (1500 km to the north) now that visa requirements are making entry to the US more difficult for many people from Central and South America (but see below). Grupo Olloqui itself was pitching to stamp its mark on the city with its Palacio de la Bahia (Palace of the Bay) which when finished in July 2009 would have been 350 metres tall, will have 97 floors, a hotel, 333 apartments, offices and commercial centres and will have cost $200m. In competition with the Palacio was the 104 storey Ice Tower residential and hotel block being developed by F & F Properties of Panama and due for completion in 2010. Since March there have been reports on the cancellation of both of these projects and in the case of the ‘Palace’ it is alleged to be a sorry tale of poor planning, lack of proper liaison with the city authorities and cost disagreements between the developer and the architect.

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Over the next few days we’re taking an orderly look at buying property in a number of countries, of which Mexico is the first. We hope that this logical approach will tick the right boxes for readers and give some ideas for comparing different countries and setting about gathering similar information for countries we haven’t covered. We’d love to hear from others with hands on experience of the process.

Where to Look

The Yucatan Peninsula and Baja California are especially popular with Americans (though there are problems with buying in coastal regions – see below). San Miguel de Allende in the state of Guanajuato (north west of Mexico City) is also popular.

Snags, Points to Remember, Legal and Otherwise

Foreigners are prohibited from owning property within 100km of the frontier and 50km of the coast but the law does allow them to hold property on lease from a Mexican bank trust in an arrangement known as a fideicomiso. This will require an initial charge and an annual commission payable to the bank of, say, $600 and $800 respectively and both of these will be subject to VAT at 15%.

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Now that Nicaragua has achieved almost 20 years as a functioning democracy and with a vibrant tourist industry it is beginning to attract the attention of property investors. The leading tourist attractions – Granada, Leon, San Juan del Sur, the Corn Islands – give pointers to property opportunities within the country.Leon and Granada used to be the important centres in colonial times but are now dwarfed by the compromise capital, Managua, with its population of 1.6m. Available real estate tends to be relatively cheap but in need of complete renovation. Much is written about the charm of Granada but less about the attractions of living there for a longer period of time. It is estimated that the city has a 1,000 strong community of American expatriates.

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The saying “One man’s riches means another man’s poverty” rings truer than ever in today’s international real estate market. Price fluctuations, along with changes in demand and supply in different parts of the world are creating interesting representations of the value of money. Take for instance, what one million pounds sterling – approximately $1.9 million in US currency – can purchase.

In Edinburgh, you could buy an enormous town house boasting multiple reception rooms with expensive crown mouldings and chandeliers. Likewise, Oxfordshire offers you seven bedrooms, over six acres of land, and gardens.

Just east of Oxfordshire places you in London, where purchasing a home is an entirely different story. Because of a 28.6% growth in prices due to a combination of increasing demand and diminishing supply in prime real estate, the best locations in London could only give you 600 to 1,000 square feet. This increase in property value is largely due to wealthy foreign buyers from countries such as China, Russia, India and the Middle East. Instead of exchanging one piece of London real estate for another, these buyers come from outside the country, meaning the purchase of one property does not release the availability of another which ultimately drive prices upwards.

Despite this drastic difference in the UK, the value of the British sterling is not to be underestimated when taken overseas to the American continents, where foreign buying is not as rampant. Prices of apartments with dazzling Manhattan skyline views are down by a startling 34% from five years ago, giving you over 1,000 feet of luxury for $2 million. Prime locations in South America offer breathtaking island retreats with more rooms and luxuries than can be imagined.

In Angra dos Reis, a Brazilian city south-west of Rio de Janeiro with a beautiful coastline of over 300 islands, luxury villas are also a target for investment because of standard features like 8+ bedrooms, two saunas, swimming pool, waterfall, jacuzzi, barbecue, private beach and an ocean front pier. Like Brazilian broker Judice de Araujo Esteves says, “buying outside of traditional European and North American real estate markets is certainly more risky, but if they invest correctly, they can have better profits. This happens in all developing countries.”

The end result shows that moving out of the popular well-known areas of real estate and looking into carefully chosen emerging markets, opens up opportunities of high returns in the long run, which would only be a matter of time for parts of South America, Eastern Europe, and the far east set to become the next “London” in real estate.
Read more about this over at Forbes.

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