Where in the world should WhiteBark move? Possible reward for info..

[JMJ]

My barber retired and bought a condo in Panama. Paid $80k for a beach front condo with live in maid quarters. He said the live in maids salary and food costs run him about $500 a month.

[Focus]

My barber retired and bought a condo in Panama. Paid $80k for a beach front condo with live in maid quarters. He said the live in maids salary and food costs run him about $500 a month.

The best part is the maids all give hummers after doing laundry & cooking dinner...ahhhh the good life. (one day soon)

For those few random members bashing south florida I will simply say this...

There is a reason everyone moves here.

The only place(s) better than South Florida are all islands and farther south.

Good GREENERY here too.

[Dorkside]

I'm living in Canada and have no plans of ever leaving, but if I had to go somewhere else it would definitely be New Zealand.

I've been to Scotland a few times and could also see myself living there.

[whitebark]

Thanks for replies!

Do American citizens think their home prices/economy will recover soon - or will it still get worse before it gets better? There are some great home buys in Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona right now. With the Canadian dollar where it is, buying and sitting on a home in the US for a year or two might be worth the time financially - or it could be a long time before things recover there and home prices rise again.

@steveto - I can speak, read and write German so Austria would be an easy move for me. I've travelled quite a bit already, and would just like to find a nice place to reside for at least a few years. Somewhere that helps recharge the batteries...

[PRED]

nice position to be in dude. i would love to leave UK permanently but can't, so am working on nmaking it a part time home

some good points mentioned by everyone. you get the cheapness of places like panama, bolivia etc like people say, but not without risk

i would say for everything europe is best all round. culture, education, sport, diversity of cultures, languages, history, architecture, art you name it, plus rather than driving from state to state in the US which would take weeks and i'm sure interesting, this can be done in Europe but take in all the amazing things europe has to offer.
you also have the safety net of european stable politics generally, healthcare, police etc (mainly speaking)

my personal preferred choice is South of France, the med on your doorstep along with the beautiful culture, food, language and countryside.

imho french is the most beautiful language in the world, one i'm sure your acqauinted well with being canadian, so theres a boost, also the sport , everything from athletics to football, to tour de france, to formula 1, major tennis tournaments you name it
also the climate is perfect, there is variety but it is unique, and the light is unique, it's why all the great artists travelled there to paint.
the women are unique too , not easy pickups though. like all european girls, quite complicated and neurotic ,but beautiful
why many take easy option of thailand etc lol i guess

having said all that for a single guy from canada i'm not sure how easy the adjustment would be there, it depends how much easylife you want and i wouldn't blame you either. south of france is a millionaires playground or the 'year in provence' set, either way, $250 k would buy virtually nothing.

i can only advise if in same boat, so if not south of france i would choose a well selected south american country, probably brazil and probably rio
women, weather, football - all 3 arguably finest quality in world! .

[tldrental]

CALIFORNIA OF COURSE!!!

I would have to agree, southern California is exactly what you are looking for.
Here in the winter time you can Surf, Ski, and ride motor cycles in the desert all in the same day. We have great micro claimant that allow you to enjoy 70 - 80 degree sun on the beach to 30 degree weather and ski, and 100+ degree weather riding your dune buggy literally all in one day. I have done it twice in my life when I was younger filled with piss and vintager.

You can only have this fun in southern California from Las Angeles south.
FYI - you can also cross the border to Mexico and by great contraband, fish, form of legalized prostitution and brothels like Atalita's or Chicago Club (not that I would know)

Anyways I vote for Southern California, preferred Orange County to San Diego

[Warrior]

You want to live the Tropical life? Warm climate all year round and beautiful Women? Look no further than the Pacific islands, Hawaii would be my 1st choice, preferably Maui or Kauai as another member suggested. In the States, you can sail through the immigration process, applying for citizenship after only 5 years.

Arizona and Nevada are WAY too hot in Summer, and the Winters are cold. San Diego California overall has the best climate. Hawaii has the best year round climate ranging between 70ºF and 85ºF.

If you don't want to live in the States, Look to Southeast Asia, Singapore is a beautiful little Country and so is Malaysia, that is if you can afford 1 Million + USD for a 3 bedroom condo. Beware when looking to developing countries, where power outages and phone connection problems are frequent.

[tldrental]

Thanks for replies!

Do American citizens think their home prices/economy will recover soon - or will it still get worse before it gets better? There are some great home buys in Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona right now. With the Canadian dollar where it is, buying and sitting on a home in the US for a year or two might be worth the time financially - or it could be a long time before things recover there and home prices rise again.

@steveto - I can speak, read and write German so Austria would be an easy move for me. I've travelled quite a bit already, and would just like to find a nice place to reside for at least a few years. Somewhere that helps recharge the batteries...

I have personally lost $200,000.00 in my homes value on a golf course, and the almost $5 a gallon premium gas for my 07 shelby really really sucks!! next best car after that is a 06 Mustang GT so 87 octain isn't much less at around $4 a gallon. Was Laid off last Nov. 07. On the verge of financial distress, but my hopes are high. Becasue when the housing market corrects itself my home will rescue me from all of this if I mange to keep it.
Many of the homes in my area and surrounding area have been foreclosed on by bank.

I'ts funny because I have liquidated more or less all my assets this past 7 months to maintain my families level of life style the best I can, and in trying to renegotiate terms with bank so I can keep up with payments they asked me for my list of assets, do you know what I gave them ....... come on, any guess? ...... my domain portfolio and a couple links to youtube news excepts. .... how laugh out loud funny is that.

Anyways long story short, sorry for boring you!!
If you have money laying around this is the absolute best time to buy a home in the USA and southern California. The homes in my neighborhood go for $600,000.00 - $1,000,000+ and most are selling under value by hundreds of thousands of dollars. You can pick up 3,500 square feet homes for around $300,000.00. These are great investments for individuals who have extra money to play with, because when the housing market corrects itself these homes will double and some nearly triple in value.

Something like this always happens every 15 +/- years and it is almost over, maybe another year or more, but it's almost over.

[Dale Hubbard]

Although I live in the UK, I made my choice for a second home some 18 years ago and have never regretted a minute of it. Malaysia. I'll be out there permanently the minute I retire. Meanwhile, while we cannot be there permanently, the wife and I have great neighbours who look after the house, car and garden. I can get 4 Mb internet there, but just 512k in the UK. Also you're just a little hop (very cheap flights) from PI, Thailand and Singapore.

[joezeppy]

I moved to Southern CA from Chicago in 1989 for some of the same reasons you are listing and I've never regretted it. I think the real estate market here will always be resilient because so many people from around the states and around the world want to move here. The market is depressed right now but I'm sure it will recover within a few years so you'd be in a buyer's market.

The only people that want to get out of here are the ones that have lived here all their lives and don't know what they have.

Florida is nice and has great beaches (I think better than the So Cal. beaches) but the humidity there is very uncomfortable. After you take a shower, it seems like you never get dry.

There certainly are problems but if you don't have to commute then this is a great place to live. I live in the Inland Empire in a town called Chino Hills. I love it here.

Good luck

[vikrantjain22]

Singapore, fits all your criteria to the last bit, amazing place, nice, safe, clean and a booming economy. Although buying a place is very costly, rentals are pretty decent and almost anyone can set up a business and start running it in a matter of days.
All in all a ideal mix of the best of east meets west.

[Nomzo]

No idea about your last 3 questions but Barcelona is good for sun, girls, beer and sport.

[bhartzer]

I would consider the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas. North Texas is one of the fastest-growing areas of the USA, and has not really been hit by the "mortgage crisis" that has hit the rest of the USA.

And if you're a hockey fan, we have a great hockey team, the Dallas Stars.

[Irish31]

I wouldn't touch the US with a ten-ft pole, they have too many problems now, and if you are coming from Canada, you could make the argument that you are leaving the better "half" right now. Likely too similar to what you have now, regardless of either country's issues.

I am a Canadian but have spent alot of time in warmer climates. My family has property in Costa Rica. It is an extremely safe and well run country. The government only lets in so many people a year, puts a focus on conserving the natural beauty of the country, and has made it fairly easy to move there, especially over the last decade.

You could get a very nice 2ksqft place, close to the water, for 100-150k USD. Espanol would be an asset though, if you cannot speak it. As far as returns on investment, prices just keep climbing, I would think it will top out somewhere near 2017-2020, but that is quite a ways away.

I love the warm climate, practically grew up in Jamaica (would NOT suggest there though ahha) so i'm a bit bias to the warmer places. However, if I could make another choice, NZ sounds like it would be it.

Good luck, let me know where you go, i'm actually considering this myself. I don't really have the same options as you though, my $ comes from my 9-5 job ahah, and some side ventures, but the lust for travelling and another place that feels more "home" to me does not dissipate.

Who knows, if you find a place that is pure heaven, you may see that "For Sale" sign on your neighbours lawn dissapear!


Take care and keep me updated fellow Canuck!

[alexsimon]

I currently live in Romania and enjoy paying no more than $350 - $400 a month to live a decent life (got my own house, not renting).

But it is sometimes snowy even if I did not see any snow for 3 years. It is very cheap tough and unexplored yet. Nice mountains, lots of caves, some castles, and close to the rest of the Europe.

If I would have to choose a single place to live, it would be Croatia. Look for Dubrovnik or Mljet on internet. Please, take a look. There are lots of houses for quite cheap (you would get a decent one for $100k), and really extraordinary places to visit. Not to mention Plitvice Lakes, and the whole Adriatic Coast. It is a very stable country, don't let the name fool you.

If you want even cheaper properties, Montenegro is the way to go, but I wasn't there yet. However I heard it is fine.

If you want really really warm, then a rather expensive place would be Gran Canaria, Tenerife. Or simply Southern Spain. Or Portugal. Look for real estate there, it is very cheap even for me.

Don't know about immigration laws though, as I never planned to leave my country for more than 6 months. But I know your feeling, they are exactly what I have, the sense of liberty the internet gave me.

Should give a look at Malta, though I think houses are super expensive there.

Good luck!

[poing]

The places I've considered so far were Costa Rica (visited there, loved it), Panama (on my to-visit-list), Dominican Republic (my wife worked there for a while and we've been visiting it a couple of times), Cayman Islands (a good friend lives there, visited a couple of times, but it's certainly not cheap) and Guadeloupe. I'd also consider Eastern Europe and of course also want to see New Zealand some time, not sure yet if I'd want to move there.

Another consideration in picking your destination could be the income tax of where you're moving to...

Good luck,
/FM