Best Places In The World To Retire

Our gardener, Miguel, comes once a week to our home here in San Miguel de Allende on Wednesdays.   We pay Miguel 300 pesos (about US $16). He's there from eight in the morning until about four in the afternoon. He does a good job with the gardening on his own, but we supply the tools and fertilizer and Miguel tells us what he needs.

 

We’ve had our gardener on and off for about eight years. The rate of 300 pesos a day is considered well...

Our gardener, Miguel, comes once a week to our home here in San Miguel de Allende on Wednesdays.   We pay Miguel 300 pesos (about US $16). He's there from eight in the morning until about four in the afternoon. He does a good job with the gardening on his own, but we supply the tools and fertilizer and Miguel tells us what he needs.

 

We’ve had our gardener on and off for about eight years. The rate of 300 pesos a day is considered well paid in San Miguel. Most people pay their gardeners about 150 pesos (about $8) for eight hours a day. 

 

(City garden in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.)

The average price for a home, condo or apartment in Ambergris Caye is about US $350,000 for a 2-bedroom condo. The $350,000 unit might have been built 10 or 15 years ago, Some places cost more.  For example, for Diamante, we charge $700,000 for a 2-bedroom condo, but Diamante is being built now.  Also, Diamante has all high-end fixtures, tiles, granite tops, etc.

 

Both places would be on the ocean, probably not in town. We are the...

The average price for a home, condo or apartment in Ambergris Caye is about US $350,000 for a 2-bedroom condo. The $350,000 unit might have been built 10 or 15 years ago, Some places cost more.  For example, for Diamante, we charge $700,000 for a 2-bedroom condo, but Diamante is being built now.  Also, Diamante has all high-end fixtures, tiles, granite tops, etc.

 

Both places would be on the ocean, probably not in town. We are the only construction development right now in town core (San Pedro; the only town on the island of Ambergris Caye).   The others are taking place either north or south of San Pedro.

 

Most average 2-bedroom condos are about 1,500 square feet.  Diamante is at the high end. People pay more for a development like Diamante for several reasons.  My real estate teacher in Houston said that the most important component to value in real estate is “location, location, location.”  Diamante is the only development right now in town core and it’s the only piece of property that was left undeveloped in the town because my mom had it for 35 years. That’s a big plus.  The closer you are to town the more expensive the property is.

 

Diamante has a lot of things that other construction projects haven’t even thought about.  For example, and I’m not 100% sure of this, but I believe that Diamante is the only construction that has a dry ice system for fire -- every floor is going to have its own fire hydrant.  Our windows are top of the line, hurricane resistant, because of the look of the development. We don’t want to have hurricane shutters that you need to install during hurricane season in case there’s one coming; the windows themselves are hurricane resistant. The type of construction that we’re doing with the Panel W system is different.  Panel W is 4 to 6 inch Styrofoam panels that have wire mesh surrounding the panel.  It’s Dade County approved and it is designed to be stronger than using regular cement blocks. You get the insulation properties as well.  There are two or three other projects in town that are just starting to do that kind of construction. All our tiles, fixtures, and cabinets are all imported or high end. All of our appliances are stainless steel, imported appliances.

 

All in all, there are a lot of things that we’re doing differently. Diamante is new construction and the price of construction has gone up over the last 10 years. Most of the condos that are on the island are either for sale or re-sale are about anywhere from 8 to 12 years old. 

 

We’re not putting any restaurants in the development itself because we are in town core. Literally right next to us is the Blue Water Grill, which is one of the most popular restaurants in town. In front us we have another really quaint little bar. We’re walking distance to everything.

 

Our development has 3 pools. We’re going to have a small kitchen that will provide pool service, and a small little bar, but it’s just going to be mainly for guests.  

 

(Hurricane resistant windows in bedroom overlooking the Caribbean Sea in the Diamante development, San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize, pictured.)

It is important to note that the Portuguese are extremely helpful and respectful towards foreigners. Obviously, if an American or English person or other foreigner spoke to them badly or rudely a Portuguese person would reply in kind. But in many cases the Portuguese are far nicer to foreigners and more helpful to them than they are to many of their own people.

 

Here’s a story to illustrate the point.  We have a bridge here that goes over the...

It is important to note that the Portuguese are extremely helpful and respectful towards foreigners. Obviously, if an American or English person or other foreigner spoke to them badly or rudely a Portuguese person would reply in kind. But in many cases the Portuguese are far nicer to foreigners and more helpful to them than they are to many of their own people.

 

Here’s a story to illustrate the point.  We have a bridge here that goes over the river that is like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco except that it’s about 2 meters longer.  An American company contracted to build it.   At the time our president was Antonio de Olveira Salazar, who said, “I would like you to do this so that one day they’ll be able to put a railway line underneath it.” That day came about 15 years ago when they put the railway underneath.  Many of the same people that did the original construction came here and I was going around with a lot of them looking for accommodations. Many of the Americans were a little bit surprised because they kept saying (about the country in general), “This isn’t like America.” And I said, “Well, it’s not America but if I could offer some advice it would be to find something to like.” I’ve lived in quite a few countries and I think it’s so important from the minute you arrive to find something to like—bottle of wine, a person, a place.

 

(Antonio de Olveira Salazar in 1940, Prime Minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968, pictured.)

 

A couple of months later, one of the people I offered this advice to called me and said, “Caroline, I was riding my bicycle and had an accident.  This Portuguese couple stopped and took me to a hospital.  The man took my bicycle to have it fixed and the woman called me every day to ask me how I was recovering. And the only thing I could think of was to phone Caroline to say thank you I found something to like.” 

 

There’s a lot more English spoken here now than there was several years ago. If a Portuguese person doesn’t speak English well, they will still try. And most of the people now speak English so they are very, very nice to all foreigners.