How much is it to build a house in San Miguel de Allende?
Jonathan Peters - Ventanas de San Miguel
The cost per square foot to build a house in San Miguel de Allende is all over the place. A rough estimate of the cost would be anywhere from 7,000 pesos per square meter (US $35 per square foot) to double that if you really want to put a lot of handcraft stone into your house. $35 per square foot would be cutting corners such as rather than having stone counter tops, you might have poured cement. You'd be just on the good side of the kind of house where people would say, "Oh...
The cost per square foot to build a house in San Miguel de Allende is all over the place. A rough estimate of the cost would be anywhere from 7,000 pesos per square meter (US $35 per square foot) to double that if you really want to put a lot of handcraft stone into your house. $35 per square foot would be cutting corners such as rather than having stone counter tops, you might have poured cement. You'd be just on the good side of the kind of house where people would say, "Oh this is cool." But you wouldn’t be blowing anybody away with those details. Spending $100 per square foot to build a house in San Miguel de Allende would give a very good level of craftsmanship.
The cost to build a house in San Miguel de Allende depends on so many different things, but spending $70-$75 a square foot you’d be able to have a house that’s envied by someone who visits you from the States. They wouldn't believe the level of craftsmanship put in the house because so much of the stuff is difficult to send completed like the boveda ceilings. In the end, it's cost effective to build houses that can stand for couple hundred years because you don't use the timber frame.
So for 7,000 pesos per square meter (US $35 per square foot) in San Miguel de Allende, your house would be like a tract home without upgrades. It’s not a house that's so austere that you're not comfortable, but if you put in a little more money building a house in San Miguel de Allende, you're going to have some cooler details.
(Wood rafters in a stairwell in Ventanas de San Miguel, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.)
Can I receive my Social Security checks or benefits abroad, as an expat, outside the US and if so, how?
Lola Braxton - Services Toby
There are banks in Panama that will accept direct deposit from the US, including B.A.C, Banco General, Banco Nacional of Panama, Banco Uno, Banesco, Banistmo, Banvivienda, BBVA, Cacechi, Caja de Ahorros, Credicorp, Global, MultiCredit, Stanford, and Towerbank. Yes, there is a small fee charged for having your direct deposit account, but its worth it.
There are banks in Panama that will accept direct deposit from the US, including B.A.C, Banco General, Banco Nacional of Panama, Banco Uno, Banesco, Banistmo, Banvivienda, BBVA, Cacechi, Caja de Ahorros, Credicorp, Global, MultiCredit, Stanford, and Towerbank. Yes, there is a small fee charged for having your direct deposit account, but its worth it.
Placencia is very busy during the daytime because of having different activities. The nighttime in Placencia definitely needs to be improved in terms of culture.
There is an annual film festival put on by Francis Ford Coppola, who has a project about 10 minutes away from ours. From our perspective, were working on a couple of things like an annual musical festival. Were also building an amphitheater and having multiple entertainers come to Placencia. Several...
Placencia is very busy during the daytime because of having different activities. The nighttime in Placencia definitely needs to be improved in terms of culture.
There is an annual film festival put on by Francis Ford Coppola, who has a project about 10 minutes away from ours. From our perspective, were working on a couple of things like an annual musical festival. Were also building an amphitheater and having multiple entertainers come to Placencia. Several months ago, we had Clint Black come into our project for vacation. He came into our restaurant and sang for two hours straight. He’s just one of the nicest guys.
From a cultural perspective, Belize definitely needs some work, but every year, the Belize Tourism Board is doing a good job working with the different projects down there, especially by improving the culture and adding more to what Belize already has. You do not go to Belize to see a Broadway play. You come to Belize for its beauty of the people, the bird life, the fishing. The emphasis is more on nature, but the culture will improve because different resorts are taking the responsibility to work on that from their perspective.
(Participants in Francis Ford Coppola writer's workshop in Belize, pictured.)
Surfing in the Algarve is fantastic. Algarve is the second most popular region of Portugal for surfing. The most famous surfing spot can be found north of Lisbon, which is called the silver coast, in the area between Peniche and Nazare. They broke the world record there several times.
The Algarve has a fantastic reputation for surfing on the west coast of the region, between Sagres and Aljezur, and we have a number of famous beaches there such Bordeira and...
Surfing in the Algarve is fantastic. Algarve is the second most popular region of Portugal for surfing. The most famous surfing spot can be found north of Lisbon, which is called the silver coast, in the area between Peniche and Nazare. They broke the world record there several times.
The Algarve has a fantastic reputation for surfing on the west coast of the region, between Sagres and Aljezur, and we have a number of famous beaches there such Bordeira and Carrapateira. We also have other beaches in and around the Sagres area, such as Martinhal and Baleal. They all have long, sandy beaches and very good surf. They have a fantastic swell and very evenly spaced waves. It’s easy to get a ride and get it in without being hammered by the next wave. But the water is cold so you need a wetsuit to go surfing.
There is also some surfing on the southern coast of the Algarve. The further west you go, the better the surf. There are small surfing spots just off the beaches around Lagos and around Praia da Luz. The distance between Lagos and Sagres is only about 25 kilometers so you don’t have to travel far to get to surf.
It’s safe to go into the water in Praia da Luz. The waters there are just like the Mediterranean most days. It is calm with azure colors; nary a wave so it’s very safe.
In the western part of the Algarve, you shouldn’t really go into the waves alone. If you have children, they can certainly play in the shallow water but I wouldn’t be far away because a lot of the beaches in that area are very remote and there are not a lot of people there. They don’t necessarily have protection such as life guards and so on. However, most of the southern beaches do have lifeguards.
The Algarve has probably the largest number of “Blue Flag” beaches in Portugal. “Blue Flag” is the European Union symbol for quality of the beaches, infrastructure and water quality. The beaches in the west coast has big waves whereas there are hardly any waves on the southern shores of the Algarve, so there are surf conditions to love for anybody.
(Swells at the beach at Carrapateira, Algarve, Portugal, pictured.)
What's the food like in the markets in Granada, Nicaragua?
Paul Daemen - Aurora Granada
We shop outside of Granada, at the Masaya food market. We usually arrive around 7am on a Monday or Friday. We can buy many different fruits and vegetables and purchase enough food to last almost 2 weeks for 2 people and the cost is around US$16.
Its very safe to venture at the market early am. We also park by a parking vendor that watches our car.
If it rains we suggest you bring boots. We also suggest that you make sure you carry enough...
We shop outside of Granada, at the Masaya food market. We usually arrive around 7am on a Monday or Friday. We can buy many different fruits and vegetables and purchase enough food to last almost 2 weeks for 2 people and the cost is around US$16.
Its very safe to venture at the market early am. We also park by a parking vendor that watches our car.
If it rains we suggest you bring boots. We also suggest that you make sure you carry enough bags and small local currency, and do not take a lot of money. Why flaunt your wealth? Enjoy your shopping experience.
We have a long list of prices which we will add in our next post. Prices do change by the season but this gives us a guide to local prices.
(Pictured: Paul Daemen's haul from the Mayasa food market, Nicaragua.)
Will the US make me pay income tax on money I earn in Panama?
Diane Siriani - ExpatriateTaxReturns.com
If you are a US citizen or green card holder, you must file a US tax return reporting your worldwide income...investment income, salaries, self-employment income, retirement distributions, social security...any form of income you may have. Depending upon the nature of the income you may receive a foreign income deduction, or foreign tax credit so that you will be exempt from double taxation. If the exemptions and/or credits do not apply to you, you may owe income tax to the US>
If you are a US citizen or green card holder, you must file a US tax return reporting your worldwide income...investment income, salaries, self-employment income, retirement distributions, social security...any form of income you may have. Depending upon the nature of the income you may receive a foreign income deduction, or foreign tax credit so that you will be exempt from double taxation. If the exemptions and/or credits do not apply to you, you may owe income tax to the US>
It was two years ago, December 9, 2012 when we landed in Panama City. As excited as I was, the fact that I had bronchitis dampened that feeling a lot. Day two found us looking for yet another round of antibiotics. I bought them over the counter. They worked great, too. I had such severe allergies in the USA, especially in Texas, that I usually had some kind of upper respiratory infection at least twice a year. Odd, but it seemed the doctors had no idea how to treat it. I was given the...
Hi, I’m Jackie Lange. I have lived in Boquete, Panama for almost 6 years now. I moved after deciding I was just sick and tired of the heat in Texas. One summer we had 90 days straight of 100˚ weather. I lived on a private 500 acre lake. It was too hot to get out on my boat, so it was just too hot to stay in Texas.
I spent two years exploring about ten countries other than Panama, including Mexico, Belize, Uruguay,...
A few days ago my girlfriend and I were in Pedasi to visit my father at his project. The next morning we got up early and went to receive an update on the project.
In the afternoon we decided to have dinner at a restaurant called Amarettos, located in the Playa Destiladeros. There was a beautiful moon, what seemed like a million stars, an amazing breeze, and great food. We liked it so much we decided to book for lunch the next...
The cost per square foot to build a house in San Miguel de Allende is all over the place. A rough estimate of the cost would be anywhere from 7,000 pesos per square meter (US $35 per square foot) to double that if you really want to put a lot of handcraft stone into your house. $35 per square foot would be cutting corners such as rather than having stone counter tops, you might have poured cement. You'd be just on the good side of the kind of house where people would say, "Oh...
Placencia is very busy during the daytime because of having different activities. The nighttime in Placencia definitely needs to be improved in terms of culture. 
Surfing in the Algarve is fantastic. Algarve is the second most popular region of Portugal for surfing. The most famous surfing spot can be found north of Lisbon, which is called the silver coast, in the area between Peniche and Nazare. They broke the world record there several times. 
We shop outside of Granada, at the Masaya food market. We usually arrive around 7am on a Monday or Friday. We can buy many different fruits and vegetables and purchase enough food to last almost 2 weeks for 2 people and the cost is around US$16. 
It was two years ago, December 9, 2012 when we landed in Panama City. As excited as I was, the fact that I had bronchitis dampened that feeling a lot. Day two found us looking for yet another round of antibiotics. I bought them over the counter. They worked great, too. I had such severe allergies in the USA, especially in Texas, that I usually had some kind of upper respiratory infection at least twice a year. Odd, but it seemed the doctors had no idea how to treat it. I was given the...
As told to Best Places: 
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