I went from an unremarkable stock investor to a
successful real estate investor

Dear Live and Invest Overseas Reader,

I was an average, non-professional stock investor. I made plenty of money up until 1999—when anyone could do it—and lost plenty during the tech crash in 2000.

Because I didn’t lose everything (as many did), I reckoned, incorrectly, that I wasn’t so bad.

Then, in 2008, came the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Fortunes were wiped out. Many lost their life savings, and retirement plans went down the drain for millions of people.

But this time, I came out slightly ahead… even though my stock holdings took a hit.

The difference? International real estate.

In 1999, all the money I had to invest was in stocks and mutual funds, along with bonds and CDs… “traditional” investments.

At the time, I thought I had a diversified portfolio because I held both stocks and bonds, and because my stocks were of different types.

That was wrong… I wasn’t diversified. At least not well enough. All my money was in the U.S. market, and almost all of it was in U.S. dollars. Looking back, I was taking a narrow view of things.

By 2008, over 50% of my holdings were in real estate outside the United States.

While my American market holdings went down, my real estate holdings, in fact, increased in value, based on actual closing prices.

During that approximate time frame:

This was my “advanced” lesson in portfolio diversity.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not claiming that international real estate always goes up. Country economies and currencies have their ups and downs.

But one thing I learned is that when property prices go down, they don’t go down all over the world at the same time… and they don’t go to zero.

In other words, no single event or downturn in any one country can wipe you out.

Frankly, portfolio diversity, in itself, doesn’t pay the bills.

But the increased opportunity that you’ll find abroad does pay the bills. It’s been my main source of income.

And it’s not that real estate abroad is categorically better than real estate in the United States. It’s that when you open your horizons up to include the entire world, you’re giving yourself access to many more opportunities…

For example, I just received notification of a chance to buy a plot of land in Panama that’s being planted with mangos, for $39,000. They’re offering an 18% return and have a long track record that investors can verify.

This is the kind of opportunity that you can’t find without looking abroad.

Investing in real estate overseas can allow you to take advantage of a few important items, which are easier to find when you’ve got the whole world to pick from:

• Reliable rental returns
• High yields
• Diversified, non-dollar income
• Strong capital gains
• Currency appreciation and diversity

Today, I can take advantage of some of the best opportunities that the world has to offer, and I am enjoying an enviable new life as a result.

But for me, getting there wasn’t easy.

I had to learn to speak both Spanish and Portuguese after age 50… and explore many new countries without local support. I had to unravel the local markets and try to discriminate a good deal from a bad one (as well as a good real estate agent from a bad one).

Usually, there was no established expat community that I could learn from.

I had to find good legal support and to try to separate the crooks from the good guys in far-flung real estate markets.

And when that legal support was mediocre or nonexistent, I spent hundreds of hours reading legal statutes and legislative rulings in foreign languages…

To be honest, it took me years of travel and investigation to identify my top picks in just four countries. In some ways, I was just plain lucky the way things turned out.

In fact, this is a chance to explore the world’s best property markets… all in the same place… and all at the same time.

You’ll get to see the countries… to meet market experts from around the world… and discover the best property deals and investment opportunities that each destination has to offer…

…all by joining our team of international experts for the 2019 Global Property Summit.

At this year’s Global Property Summit, we’ll have speakers, developers, agents, tax experts, and bankers from around the world. You’ll enjoy seminars, presentations, cocktail parties, and panel discussions… as well as private consultations with our experts, if you like.

You’ll also see property opportunities from around the world, both for investment and personal use as a retirement or second home.

I could go into a lot of detail here… but, to oversimplify, the event will take you through three simple steps:

1. Review the investing basics, covering the rules of the game for international property investing and due diligence… including any tax implications or advantages.
2. Discover 2019’s most productive markets, in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
3. Sample today’s best actionable investment opportunities from around the world, including:
   • Residential properties suitable for rental, or a retirement/second home…
   • Properties positioned for a strong capital gain…
   • Income-producing properties, and fundamentals of property management…
   • Non-residential property investments…
   • High-income agricultural investments…

We’ll also cover crisis investing and path-of-progress investing, which are two excellent ways to position yourself for an outsized gain.

The entire program has been put together by Lief Simon, our Live and Invest Overseas property guru… and it’s a good program. This is the sixth year that we’ve held this event, and it’s been honed into a super-productive three days.

The U.S. dollar is at historically high levels, which has dramatically increased the buying power of Americans abroad.

The strong dollar has resulted in steep currency discounts, making some of the world’s best real estate markets more affordable than they’ve been for many years.

Savvy Americans are buying abroad in record numbers, with some prime markets seeing as much as a tenfold increase in volume. This is starting to affect inventories and local pricing.

Look at these sharp increases in U.S. dollar buying power that the strong Greenback is handing you when compared to exchange rates in 2013.

But this currency advantage won’t last forever. The present situation came after a sudden and unexpected turnaround, and it could go the other way just as quickly.

In fact, some of these “discounts” have already fallen from their peaks.

As I write this in late December, the market has taken a beating. The Dow and S&P 500 have lost all their 2018 gains. But, as with 2008, it can’t do me too much harm, thanks to international diversification.

Will my international properties go up in value again this time? Frankly, I have no idea. Some will… and maybe some won’t.

But I know one thing. Unlike my stock in Seadrill, my properties won’t go to zero. No matter what happens, I’ll still have a handful of enjoyable properties in which to spend time around the world… properties that are storing value.

So I urge you to join us in June, and to diversify now. It’s not a good time to put our money at risk by simply “hanging on too long.”

By the time you read this, the market may have recovered… or it may have gotten worse. Either way, the advantages of diversity abroad are the same.

If you thought global property investing was a jet-set strategy, think again.

In fact, anyone with US$6,880 can get involved easily, without leaving the conference.

With minimal capital, you can diversify your portfolio, generate cash flow, and reap capital gains.

We’ve identified a good selection of opportunities with buy-ins of US$50,000 or less to showcase at this year’s Global Property Summit. Here are just a few examples as of today:

Of course, if you’ve got more to spend, we’ll have plenty for you to look at… properties on beaches, cities, and mountains from around the world.

When you join us at the Global Property Summit, you will:

• Learn the fundamentals of international property purchase and how they differ from your experience back home…
• Get a complete list of tips for performing due diligence abroad—what to look for, what you can count on, and what you can’t…
• Find out how to “hold” your property overseas and learn the pluses and minuses of buying a property in your own name versus buying via a corporation, trust, or other structure…
• Learn the tax advantages—or tax consequences—of international property investing…
• Discover what every property buyer needs to know about moving money around the world…
• Look at your options for financing overseas and how to understand, consider, and take advantage of what’s available to…
• Learn how to buy an overseas property with your IRA or 401(k).

The full list price of our 2019 Global Property Summit will be $1,095 per person, and only $1,595 for two. (Yes, if you come with a spouse or partner, the second person attends for less than half-price.)

But you don’t need to pay that much…

When you sign up now, you qualify for the Early Bird Discount. This will reduce the cost of admission to just $845 for one person, and only $1,095 for two. In other words, your guest attends for only $250.

At the Global Property Summit you’ll gain more knowledge about international property than you could learn on your own in years of research and months of international travel.

We’ll equip you with everything you need… to identify the right market for you… to find the right property for you… to buy securely… to have your purchase “pay its own way,” if you’d like to supplement your income…

Our staff of international experts will be available to you throughout the entire event, to make sure you get what you’ve come for.

This is the only event of this kind that we will hold in 2019, so I urge you to sign up today. You can call our conference line toll-free at 1-888-627-8834…

Or you can sign up online…

Or you can email the conference department with any questions (PropertySummit@LiveAndInvestOverseas.com).

This Summit is the only event of its kind… and one of our most-popular and well- attended conferences. We are anticipating a sell-out crowd. Please reserve your place today, while seats remain available.

I look forward to meeting up with you in Panama.

Sincerely,

Lee Harrison
Senior Overseas Property Correspondent

P.S. I attend quite a few events every year hosted by Live and Invest Overseas… but this one is my favorite. I like it because finding the world’s best property buys is, to me, the most enjoyable aspect of living abroad. This event does that efficiently, with no fluff.

And remember… the current prices are good for a limited time only. Sign up now so you don’t miss the significant savings.

You can hope to be lucky… or you can be prepared.