Best Places In The World To Retire

There are completely different prices for land in the Yucatan Peninsula. You would be spending millions for a 400-meter plot of land in the Riviera Maya, which is in the state of Quintana Roo. A 400-meter sized beachfront lot with a depth of 300 meters in the corridor between Cancun and Playa del Carmen would cost around US $20 million. Everything in that area is in that price range because you have the biggest and the strongest companies behind the building of the hotels. That is why the...

There are completely different prices for land in the Yucatan Peninsula. You would be spending millions for a 400-meter plot of land in the Riviera Maya, which is in the state of Quintana Roo. A 400-meter sized beachfront lot with a depth of 300 meters in the corridor between Cancun and Playa del Carmen would cost around US $20 million. Everything in that area is in that price range because you have the biggest and the strongest companies behind the building of the hotels. That is why the prices in that area are quite expensive. If you move down along the coast, the price of land would be lower but you wouldn’t find much available. Even in Tulum, which is the next stop after Playa del Carmen, there is not that much land available. A 2,000 square foot seafront lot would be in the range of $150,000 to $200,000 for raw land. There are also a lot of building restrictions there.
 
Merida (the largest city in the state of Yucatan) has changed a little bit in terms of land prices. Seven years ago, the most expensive piece of land here was $150 per square meter, but now it can go for almost $400 in the most expensive parts of Merida. Wealthy people have come over to Merida, which caused a big demand for land so prices have been going up. Regardless of this, Merida is still the cheapest city in terms of real estate in comparison to Cancun or Playa del Carmen, or other areas except in Campeche (the third state in the Yucatan Peninsula), which is also cheaper. Some of the people who live on the nearby states see the quality of places that Merida offers and the cost of the land and it is a huge benefit for them. The cost benefit relation in Merida is very interesting. People like that.
 
When you move to the coast from Merida, there is a very strange situation. The locals in Merida are demanding the land that goes from Progreso (directly north of Merida, on the coast) to the east, so the prices there are astonishing. They could go for up to $30,000 per linear meter for oceanfront land, so if you want to buy a piece of property that is 10 meters, it would cost around $300,000 in the nicest areas. It may be a price that some people may not understand but it is not actually the land itself but the area where it is located that is so special to the local people. This is where they spend their summers and this is where they want to be or where their kid’s friends are, so it is special.
 
Regardless of the price, people still pay this amount in order to have land east of Progreso in the 25-mile corridor that goes from Progreso all the way to Telchac. As you keep looking, you will find that only less than 10% of the area is available now. That area has been growing and the prices are incredible. In the Telchac area, the prices could range from $15,000 per linear meter, beach front. If you move to the other side of Progresso, or further to the areas like Chelem or Chuburna, prices are in the range of $5,000 to $8,000 per linear meter, but it is different. They already have houses that have already been built. There could be old houses that you have to demolish before you build.
 
When you move further west and a bit south along the coast towards the Sisal area, the prices could range depending on the area because there are zoning restrictions and environmental conditions. When you have top conditions to build, real estate in Sisal could cost around $8,000 per linear meter and in other areas, it could be around $5,000 to $6,000 per linear meter. The depth of the land would be around 100 meters. It is not that much. These are all seafront. A quarter of an acre of acre of land would cost around $80,000.
 
The composition here is very interesting because it always acts the same. You get the full value of the land on the sea front, and the rest would be about 35% of the value of the beachfront if you go back one row. The second row would be around 25% to 30% of the value of the beach front.
 
The last town as you continue to move along the coast south is Celestún. Most of the land in Celestún are reserves, so there are restrictions. In order to buy a lot, you are required to buy 100 meters by 100 meters; 100 meters beach front by 100 meters depth. That is the minimum size of the lots in Celestún. You could be buying property for $3,000 per linear meter but you
have to buy $300,000 in that property. There are also restrictions on the amount and on the number of restrooms and bathrooms that you can build in that area. It is a little bit tricky sometimes because people do not know this information. They are happy that the price is $3,000 per linear meter but the real issue is how much of that land you can use and how much you can build on. That makes a lot of a difference.

 

(Diagram showing the Gulf of Mexico and the Flamingo Preserve surrounding the development of Peten Seaside Community in Sisal, Mexico

My guess would be that around 5% of the population of Granada, Nicaragua are expats but I am not completely sure about that. When you go to Granada, you see a lot of international people. You would see them walking. Some of the owners of restaurants and hotels in Granada are from Spain and most of the people who invest in Granada are foreign.
 
A large proportion of the local population in Granada is middle to lower class, and live in certain neighborhoods around Granada. The...

My guess would be that around 5% of the population of Granada, Nicaragua are expats but I am not completely sure about that. When you go to Granada, you see a lot of international people. You would see them walking. Some of the owners of restaurants and hotels in Granada are from Spain and most of the people who invest in Granada are foreign.
 
A large proportion of the local population in Granada is middle to lower class, and live in certain neighborhoods around Granada. The foreign people tend to live in the other areas, which are the more touristic areas. The center of Granada is the more touristic or foreign area and that’s where you will see most of the foreigners but around the outskirts it will be mainly Nicaraguans.
 
The expats that you would see in Granada are a combination of Americans, Latin, Canadians, and Europeans, so there is a combination of cultures here.  As you move towards the center, Granada becomes more and more of an international city.
 
Pictured: Granada, Nicaragua, central, more touristic area

There are no poisonous or dangerous animals in the areas of Portugal where people live. You may find them if you go up in the mountains or to the woods in the northern part of Lisbon, in the countryside. You will some little green snakes squashed on the roads that are not even a meter long.
 
Generally, you won’t hear of anybody bitten by a snake. There are no issues related to dangerous animals around the populated areas in Portugal.

 

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There are no poisonous or dangerous animals in the areas of Portugal where people live. You may find them if you go up in the mountains or to the woods in the northern part of Lisbon, in the countryside. You will some little green snakes squashed on the roads that are not even a meter long.
 
Generally, you won’t hear of anybody bitten by a snake. There are no issues related to dangerous animals around the populated areas in Portugal.

 

(The Eurasian wolf inhabits Northern Portugal, pictured.)

Sad to say, but for us the biggest surprise was how friendly, open and caring people are in both the countries that we've been expats in. Panama has some of the friendliest and most helpful people in the world, and Colombians are, if anything, even more so. If you're considering becoming an expat, give up the existential fear of other people, other cultures, and you'll feel a lot better, and fit in much faster. There are a lot of unfounded, stereotypical horror stories about hostile...

Sad to say, but for us the biggest surprise was how friendly, open and caring people are in both the countries that we've been expats in. Panama has some of the friendliest and most helpful people in the world, and Colombians are, if anything, even more so. If you're considering becoming an expat, give up the existential fear of other people, other cultures, and you'll feel a lot better, and fit in much faster. There are a lot of unfounded, stereotypical horror stories about hostile native people, and gringo bashing episodes, but the vast majority of them are fabrications, Sure, there are criminals and malcontents everywhere, but in our experience, the rest of the population, in Panama and again in Colombia more than make up for the bad actors.

 

One more thing: If you show a real effort to learn the local language, people tend to be even more friendly and helpful. Go for it.

 

BE Medellin

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(Cartagena, Colombia, pictured.)

There is only one place in Coronado, Panama, where you can buy good clothes, but I do not recommend you go shopping here. El Machetazoh is a three-story department store here in Coronado. The clothes that you will get there are not very fashionable, but they are ones that you would get when you are in a hurry, for example, and you need to buy clothes quickly.
 
If you have more time and want to buy good clothes, you have to go to Panama City (less than two hours away), where...

There is only one place in Coronado, Panama, where you can buy good clothes, but I do not recommend you go shopping here. El Machetazoh is a three-story department store here in Coronado. The clothes that you will get there are not very fashionable, but they are ones that you would get when you are in a hurry, for example, and you need to buy clothes quickly.
 
If you have more time and want to buy good clothes, you have to go to Panama City (less than two hours away), where there are several different US-style malls or you could go to Westland Mall in Chorrera, less than an hour away.

 

(Before the journey back to Coronado, rooftop bars with views of the Panama City skyline, beckon, pictured.)