I thought it was time that I start sharing some of my thoughts, insights and news on the world of real estate, real estate investment, architecture and interior design. Perhaps with the occasional travel or food recommendation also!
For starters, I thought that this was an interesting article on CNN recently regarding buyers who are priced out of the cities they live in purchasing second homes instead.
With the average home price in LA now at an all-time high and buyers faced with multiple offers, low inventory and high property taxes, this article got me thinking. As an avowed real estate obsessive my husband and I over the years have managed to assemble a good little real estate portfolio. But rather than solely buy traditional investment properties (apartment buildings etc) we have bought houses that we love, use often and that bring us great joy and quality of life. But also properties that bring us additional income and have proven (with one rookie investor exception!) to be terrific investments.
One example: back in 2007 we bought an old ruined colonial house in Mérida, Mexico. I've always been passionate about the country and dreamed of owning a home there. One day we will probably retire there as the quality of life is terrific and cost of living exceptionally low. We didn't have much money at the time and it took a few years to restore the house. We just worked on it little by little and by 2013 we were finished and had realized our Mexican hacienda dream home.
Our Airbnb in Mérida
Meanwhile Mérida has boomed and there is a large expatriate community of Americans, Canadians, Europeans and many wealthy Mexicans from other states investing in property and rehabilitating the old historic center of the town. With busy lives in LA we only visit a couple times a year, but we rent the house out on AirBNB and have a terrific manager who looks after it for us. The house has almost paid for itself in just a few years of renting it. Our property taxes there are $48 (not a typo!) a year. And our retirement home is bought and paid for.
I'm not suggesting everyone buy a house in Mexico! But I do think it a good idea to think outside of the box when it comes to real estate investment.
What are your long term goals? Where do you want to retire? Are there cities other than LA, or for that matter countries other than the US, that provide great opportunity and low risk for investment.
Our Airbnb in Merida