International Real Estate Investing Choices: South Africa, Bahamas, Panama and Costa Rica

We all know that Mother Africa is a huge continent. There is East, West, North and South Africa. South Africa is sometimes referred to as "The Rainbow Nation" because of its multiracial and multicultural society. It's rather humorous when you read that because ... isn't all of Africa diverse?

The answer is Yes. But all of Africa didn't call dibbs on that very accurate description of the entire continent. South Africa used it. One can continuously speculate and debate about international markets, the politics, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famine, the future, etc.

Speculation and debate is a constant in our everyday world. (Feel free to quote me on that.)

Although this has also been said before (by me), it bears repeating:

Nobody has ever denied that the continent of Africa is the place for gold, diamonds and prime real estate.

So. If interested in international real estate investing, it couldn't hurt to do a little research. That's what I did.

Of course if the thought of investing in Africa sounds frightening ... no bears - just lots of apes, lions and tigers? There are also wonderful spots elsewhere in the global real estate arena that are ripe for the picking. The Bahamas, Panama and Costa Rica are three (3) places worth keeping an eye on.

The Bahamas is the birth country of both my father and my husband, so my opinions may be a little biased but the objective facts about the place speak plainly and much louder. Like Panama, foreign investors, particularly Americans, are welcome to purchase real property.

The Bahamian government enacted laws specifically to facilitate the investment process. Buy a vacation home or a timeshare property.

Buy Real Estate in The Bahamas

(P.S. If you buy the property the glorious turquoise waters come with it. The beach may not be in your front or back yard but it'll be close enough.)

Florida is a state located in North America and Panama is a country in Central America. But the similarity between Panama and Florida is so remarkable they could be thought of as “sisters”. Many retirees buy homes in Florida.

Panama has consistently maintained its position on the list of best places in the world to retire for over a decade. The Panamanian government entices foreign investors, especially American retirees, to purchase real estate via its Pensionado Program.

Costa Rica is in Central America, right next to Panama. Another highly favored golden spot for retirees. Offers exotic flowers, tropical birds, great fishing, no military … the usual paradise trimmings. A lot of things can be said about this country which would all be very positive and encouraging. But the best advertisement to convince a person to buy a piece of property in Costa Rica was unintentionally supplied by Andrew Daulton Lee (assuming the scene in the movie depicted a real factual event and not a fictionalized version). Mr. Lee did not get his wish. Instead he was convicted of espionage and went to prison in the United States. If it were me in his situation, the thought might have crossed my mind to do the same thing.