Retire Early Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler

In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

Reasons to Invest in Multi-Family

International Real Estate

Peter LaFerrara

Email: peteinguate@gmail.com

Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Why buy real estate?

Real estate is a tangible and flexible asset. 

You can live in the property full time, use it as a vacation home, or rent it and use the rent to supplement your income. One of the major advantages to investing in real estate internationally is that your budget can go quite a bit further. As a result, you will have more choices as to the type of property to purchase. Investing in multi-family real estate opens many more options than single-family real estate.

Map showing the location of Guatemala from the United States

Purchasing overseas will offer you more

If you purchase a property in Mexico or Central America and live in that property, you can enjoy excellent weather, a vibrant culture, and a much lower cost of living. The people are friendly and conveniences such as cleaning services, taxi services, delivery services, and handyman services are much more available and affordable. When people choose to live a retired or semi-retired lifestyle with a lot of free time, the lower cost of living also affords extra money for travel.

Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Coordinating things when you travel

Unfortunately, leaving a house completely vacant for weeks at a time while traveling can invite problems. 

Many people have house-sitters stay in their homes when they are gone. Especially in tourist destinations, there are responsible people who would be happy to stay in your house. Unfortunately, coordinating the dates can be difficult. One way to deal with the problem is to invest in a multi-family property that is never completely vacant and always generating income as a result. Another option is to purchase a condominium or property in a gated community.

Map showing location of Panajachel on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala

A property that is used as a vacation home can also be rented part of the year to generate income. One thing to keep in mind though, is that short term rentals are usually seasonal. Tropical destinations are often more in demand during the winter, for example. If you would like to stay in the property off-season, that might work well, but if you would like to stay in the property during the same months that people would like to rent the property, a single-family property won’t work as well.

Friendly locals

An easy solution for security and possible in-home healthcare assistance

The easiest solution to this is to focus on multi-family properties.

It is recommended to have at least one reliable, steady, year-round, long term tenant in a property. This person will live there when you are at the property but will also be there if you are traveling. Other units can also be filled with long term tenants for a stress-free passive income or they can be rented short term or seasonally for higher rates of return.

Another benefit of multi-family properties is that they provide options if someone finds themselves in need of in-home healthcare, either on a long-term basis or while recovering from surgery. In Central America, a full time private nurse / home healthcare assistant can be hired for as low as $500 / month plus housing. In a multi-family building, providing the housing is easy because you’re already setup to accommodate multiple families.

Lake Atitlan in Guatemala

Conclusion

Rather than choosing between renting your property or living in it, with a multi-family property you can do both. The property can always be available for you. It can also always be occupied, generating an income, but whenever you want to take advantage of the amenities you are guaranteed to have your own private space.

To find out more about properties available, click here

To read my previous article about the reasons to invest in international real estate, click here

Retire Early Lifestyle appeals to a different kind of person – the person who prizes their independence, values their time, and who doesn’t want to mindlessly follow the crowd.

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