Nicaragua. All of the perks of Costa Rica but much less expensive. Check out San Juan Del Sur.

Texas, bro. I've lived here six years and I would never live elsewhere in the US. You can buy a beautiful ~4000sq. ft. house for around $350k (where I live, in North Austin) in fantastic neighborhoods with excellent schools, and with very low property taxes.

Also, we have a bevy of excellent and inexpensive dining options here. :)

Prague,nothing else.You can live as king with that income there(since you wont have rent cost then)

upkeep on a 500K house that is in decent shape? i lived in a house for over 10 years - the landlord put ZERO into upkeep until he was ready to sell, did roof repair and a new fence and patio for the yard. if something major needed done he's got 500K equity to borrow against.

taxes at most 500 a month, utilities 500 a month - the house is paid for, there are tons of older people living in homes bought in the 60's paid off long ago with fixed retirement income of 3K per month.

bank the interest for a few years? at 3%? that ain't gonna do much for him.

Thailand. Get's pretty hot in the summer but it's so fucking cheap. you can just fly to the UK or EU.

I wouldn't go near Nicaragua, many reasons, Costa Rica is beyond beautiful. You can get an amazing house for a decent price near the beach and surrounded by nature. Most locals speak English and are educated (and wouldn't you know it they are NICE) and they all take dollars its very practical...

North Idaho! Alot of Californians have discovered it. It's a great time to buy real estate. You can buy a gorgeous piece of property for alot less than $500k. There are many beautiful large lakes. You get four seasons. You get show in the winter, but it is not bone chilling cold like the Great Plains.

New York or San Diego.

Get yourself a nice apartment and enjoy the city.

If you want to go outside the US I would recommend:

Argentina
Costa Rica
Uruguay

:) Don't worry so much about the $3000. My actual income is higher and so is my wife's income :)

Australia sounds interesting. France as well, as I like France very much. Or living as a cowboy in Texas... :1orglaugh

What I have been thinking a lot about is Spain. Climate is good, decent pricing on houses. Good food and wine. Not so much hot women, but... I am married, so I guess that is enought :D Czech Republic, I have just been to Prague and Kutna Hora. Prague is awesome. My wife say she would like to live in Prague.

Costa Rica looks and sounds like a prefect place for me, but my wife is not so sure...

I will take a look at all the places suggested. Thanks, all!

Don't do it!

I hate to be a downer, but it sounds to me like you haven't been there for a while, and have never lived there.

i'm biased, i'd stay in czech republic. and a house i like would be max $250-$300k - i dont need 4 bed- and 4 bathrooms

put it away for retirement or invest it

Definately somewhere in SoutEast Asia.

Spain is FULL of hot chicks! At least in Barcelona area

Buying a house is an investment, he will always have the equity, and more than likely will also gain appreciation.

:thumbsup

I lived in Malta for a year. If you want lots of hot girls, great weather 8 months of the year (the other 4 months isn't exactly shit lol) and good fresh food then look no further. I can email you pics of my 3 bedroom apartment we rented, it would cost about $250,000 to buy but this place was insane. Central location, close to the beach, tons of places to eat all around me, a harbour close by, and a 10 min ferry ride away from the capital - Valletta. Also the club strip is a $12 taxi ride away or a $1 bus ride away. Clubs close at 8am. Bottles of Vodka cost $100 TOPS! Thats VIP.

All in all it is a great place, nights out are cheap as shit, $3000 USD would be more than enough if you didnt have to pay rent.

Bad points:
It gets SUPER warm in summer, it can get 45 Celsius.
Service in restaraunts isn't the best, it isn't shit either, but not many people tip so servers are low paid and not making much on top of it.


Overall, I loved it. Europe is on your doorstep, Ryanair fly out of Malta to everywhere in Europe, you can explore a new place every month and still have money left out of your $3000 quite easily. Not to mention you will buy a nice place to live in for half of what your budget is. The market is booming there, so buy a place for 250k and rent out 2 rooms for 250 euros per week per room. Gives you another $3000 a month to spend having fun.

it is an investment but not always the most wise ones. It depends on where, when and what he buys. People who bought right before the market crashed a couple years back over paid where too much just to see them lose 20-30% of that equity a couple years later. It might take 10+ years for them to regain that equity. If the person sells before then they will take a pretty big loss. On the flip side if he buys when it's the lowest and gets a great deal, then he could see a nice appreciation over the next couple years.

Cancun, Mexico.
Maximum temperature are 89 or 90 degrees, but you wont feel it, because you'll live in an AC'd house, drive an AC'd car, etc. And if you're at the beach, it's quite breeze.

If you go for Australia, then Brisbane is a really great city indeed!

Barcelona is in one of my favorite cities, but the only downside would be that it's more expensive then Brisbane.

I do not recommend Costa Rica, violence has increased and price of course from starving locals is crazy. Boquete is a good choice, it had a hype 2 years ago and theres a lot of big houses for a very low price... do some research

www.cometoboquete.com

can't believe nobody said Miami... last time i've been there was pretty awesome as long as you're on a beach side

I must have seen a different Austin during my 4 months living there.
It was humid and the town is just old. I know its the capital but without the college I don't know how it even made the map.

Bli hvor du er ;)

If you mean NYC, you'll need at least double that monthly income...and 500k in Manhattan might get you a 1 bedroom or studio apt. Out of Manhattan you can buy something nice for that money.

Costa Mesa Ca.

It's affordable and nice on the east side. Newport Beach is a few minutes away ;)

I thought they trojan horse only US and Europe. They are spreading fast. :(

Costa rica

Here in Cyprus, some local banks offer up to 12.5% yearly interest on bank deposits. Out of your 500K you can get monthly $5200. You can rent a crazy villa with a pool for 2K per month and live like a king with the rest. No need to buy a house and get tied to a place. Check it out, it is an EU country, very popular tourist destination. Life is peaceful, very low crime rate. The island has nice resorts and sandy beaches, lots of sunshine. A lot of people from UK immigrate here.

12.5%??? for reals?? where can i see more details about that

If they have their funding cot at 12,5% something is very wrong, can't they get money anywhere else (like european central bank?)? even when interest for countries like greece, ireland, etc. went trough the roof you never saw banks offering anythign close.

Any idea on what rate they charge for mortgages and other loans?

I just went to a bank this morning. Check privatbank.com.cy and look for Cyprus branch and check the deposit rates. A deposit of 150K for 5 years ― 12,5% annually with monthly interest payment. Over 300K the rate is negotiable.
The fact is that only 100K Euro is guaranteed by the government in case the bank fails.

Retirement in Austria would be awesome, I think it's same for Switzerland.

their website is really suckee i wouldnt trust a bank with a website like this, i emailed them anyway lets see what they come with

costa rica has gone to shit in the past 2 years. In particular, Jaco Beach.

Thailand is ok, but the problem with Thailand is you never know what will happen as far as foreigners living and working here.

Actually, the big question you need ask yourself is are you even going to be allowed to live in any of these countries? You cant just fly to any country you want and live there. You need migrate via a residency visa first, then later get your citizenship. In third world countries like the Philippines you just pay a bribe, but in countries like Australia, France things are very tough. A lot will depend on your current citizenship, age. health, religion, when migrating to another country.

Tell that to the home owners in the US, Greece, Russia, etc. A home has not been a good investment for quite sometime.

If you dont mind a bit of rain San Sebastian in the Basque country.

Amazing beaches, wonderful city and superb food, you can buy your fish straight off the boats.