Sunday, June 4, 2006
Paris, France
Our Roving Latin America Editor Lee Harrison wrote recently:
"I’ve often been frustrated in my reporting by what to do with the really super opportunities that I find. Occasionally, we can get these into a Postcard quickly, but often not quickly enough.
"For example, when I found that three-bedroom house on the river in Colonia, Uruguay, for just $38,000, I had no way to publicize the find asap. Same for the $60,000 colonial in Chile…the $26,000 apartment in Montevideo…that $30,000 beachfront lot in Nicaragua…etc…."
Indeed, all our reporters and scouts express similar frustrations. Their complaints have led us to conceive a new service. Perhaps best of all, from your point of view, this new service is free.
Lief Simon, our resident real estate investment guru, calls it being "in the market." That is, he reminds us, to meet your objectives anywhere…you’ve got to be there, on the scene, to spot the opportunities when they present themselves. You need to be operating in real time.
The trouble is, this is almost impossible, practically speaking. Maybe you’re able to arrange your circumstances so that you’re living or spending extended periods of time in a particular market…so you’re there to hear yourself the word on the street…which is where and how the best deals are made. For most of us, though, it’s not possible to put all else aside and reorganize our lives so we’re physically present in, say, Nicaragua, Panama, Mexico, or Argentina. And no one can be in more than one place at a time…
So…how can you be "in a market"…while still living your life?
Read our new Country Alerts. When you’ve decided that Nicaragua, for example, offers the kinds of opportunities you’re interested in exploring…get signed up for our new Nicaragua Alert service.
Not everyone reading our daily Postcards is interested in regular reports from Nicaragua. News of the upcoming presidential election in this country, of in-country legal issues, tax questions, word of a new shopping mall in Managua…or of one of those $30,000 beachfront lots on the country’s Pacific Riviera coast that Lee discovered…we can’t report on all these things all the time in our electronic Postcards.
On the other hand, we can’t not report on them. For anyone with a focused interest in Nicaragua, every piece of news is important and welcome. Sometimes critical.
Thus our new service. Now, when Lee (or any other of our roving scouts and correspondents) discovers a particular opportunity…and now when any event of particular interest takes place in the country…we have a way to make sure you, as an Alert reader, know about it…in real time.
Our Country Alerts will be published sporadically, irregularly, and immediately. You may hear from us two or three times in one day…then not again for a week or longer. We’ll write when we have something to say. And we won’t waste time packaging or polishing. We’ll get our facts straight and verified…and we’ll press "Send." Down and dirty, no frills.
Change your mind and decide that Nicaragua, after all, doesn’t hide what you’re looking for? No problemo. Unsubscribe.
And sign up, instead, perhaps, for the Panama or, coming soon, Mexico Alert service.
We published our first Panama and Nicaragua Alerts last month. The Mexico Alert service will launch later this month. These will be followed by similar real-time Alert services for Honduras, Ecuador, Argentina, Belize, and Uruguay.
We publish Panama, Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Europe Alert services. Sign up now to begin receiving the Alert(s) of your choice.
Again, it’s all free. Part of our continuing efforts to improve our service to you. Our scouts are out there. They’re making the finds. We’d like to let you in on their secrets…in time for you to act, too.
Kathleen Peddicord
Publisher, International Living
