Prepare For Your 2017 Property Search

I’ve been writing these past few weeks from my new home in Mazatlán… the contractors are finally finished. It’s just what we were looking for—on the water yet in the historic center—but finding the property and making the purchase was a lot harder than it should have been.

We spent too much time spinning our wheels… mostly due to failure to follow my own advice. More on that in a minute…

I have two problems that continue to slow me down when looking at real estate abroad.

It seems counterintuitive, but it’s actually harder to pick a property when you have absolutely no restrictions on where and what you might buy… and you have the whole world to choose from. When moving to a new employment location during your work life, the country, state, and often the city are already determined. Your selection of neighborhood is based on convenience for living and commuting rather than any expectation of fun, adventure, or profit. When buying a second home or investment property abroad, the options are virtually infinite, which makes choosing much harder.

Also, the more experience I gain, the harder it is to choose a property. This is because all that Continue reading →