Buying a house with $300K: Where and why?

[wellington]

Let's say you have a family with 2x kids and you are tired of renting and want your own place. You have an Online Business and therefore can live anywhere.
You saved $300K USD and want to buy a house in cash.
Where would you purchase a property to live in most of the year?

Below the requirements:
- Relatively Safe country
- You only have $300K to purchase or build a whole house
- Not a third world s h i t hole and not in the middle of nowhere (Paraguay or islands are a NoNo)
- Not an aggressive Tax system or at least a Tax system that doesn't tax overseas company profits
- You can actually OWN the land
- Property laws are not corrupt and no one is going to steal your house or land


I have found Ukraine and Romania to have very affordable land and house prices ($150K Lviv and $300K in Bucharest for a 4 bedroom house including the land) but I'm
a bit afraid of local laws there, Ukr is very corrupt and Romania tax system is changing fast.


Shoot your advice and options.

Family members Nationalities: Italy, NZ and GB

Well - you want territorial taxation - Thailand : Malaysia / other

You want no friction on payment (cash) that means easy access banking - Thailand (currently but that will change in the next year) - Malaysia, Eastern Europe, Africa (East).

And you want safety - Thailand Malaysia, etc

See a lot of statements reference Caribbean - need to confirm its tax free when resident owner of operating company etc also cost of living much higher

 

[Cloudbanck]

The properties are really bad and have a really high markup which are eligible for obtaining citizenship . The cheapest way is just a donation .

And also you need to spend 183 days or more in st kitts to be a tax resident
You could check out oman

Do you need to become a tax resident of St Kitts though? It depends somewhat on one's citizenship and previous/other residences, but often just being a resident is sufficient.

And anyway, St Kitts Nevis was good enough for John Cleese:

 

[Borg]

Save fore not an island remark - Mauritius would be the best option right now, although you would need slightly more than 300k. You would get permanent residency for the investment of 350K and no to 15% taxes as you decide.

 

[JackAlabama]

Well - you want territorial taxation - Thailand : Malaysia / other

You want no friction on payment (cash) that means easy access banking - Thailand (currently but that will change in the next year) - Malaysia, Eastern Europe, Africa (East).

what will change next year in banking in Thailand?

 

[aventura123]

Panama ... a reasonable real estate market ($ 1500 to 2000 per square meter) in nice buildings with amenities in Panama City.
Low real estate taxes.
No taxation of foreign income, and possibility to buy / organize patrimony using a company or a Foundation.
Residence with an investment of $ 200.000.

 

[Watchingtheweasels]

Let's say you have a family with 2x kids and you are tired of renting and want your own place. You have an Online Business and therefore can live anywhere.
You saved $300K USD and want to buy a house in cash.
Where would you purchase a property to live in most of the year?

Below the requirements:
- Relatively Safe country
- You only have $300K to purchase or build a whole house
- Not a third world s h i t hole and not in the middle of nowhere (Paraguay or islands are a NoNo)
- Not an aggressive Tax system or at least a Tax system that doesn't tax overseas company profits
- You can actually OWN the land
- Property laws are not corrupt and no one is going to steal your house or land

I have found Ukraine...to have very affordable land and house prices

Family members Nationalities: Italy, NZ and GB

Regarding Ukraine, there's a reason for that.

Not an aggressive tax system or territorial tax...that eliminates quite a few right there.

Not an island eliminates quite a few more (Mauritius, the Seychelles, St Kitts, Antigua, Anguilla, the C.I., Bermuda, and the Bahamas)
Not third world (there go Costa Rica, Panama, Belize).
Have to own your own land eliminates lease holding in Vanuatu and Thailand.
I'm assuming that as a westerner with two children you don't want to head to a middle eastern country.

Not sure if you ruled out Paraguay if it was third world or if it was in the middle of nowhere.

Uruguay? Malaysia?

Maybe a non-dom solution in Greece, Italy, or Ireland?

If your reasons for leaving Ardernistan are cultural as well as economic, Russia? Real estate is cheap, the new visa is there, and taxes are a flat 13%.

Otherwise Georgia or Montenegro?

 

[EliasIT]

Let's say you have a family with 2x kids and you are tired of renting and want your own place. You have an Online Business and therefore can live anywhere.
You saved $300K USD and want to buy a house in cash.
Where would you purchase a property to live in most of the year?

Below the requirements:
- Relatively Safe country
- You only have $300K to purchase or build a whole house
- Not a third world s h i t hole and not in the middle of nowhere (Paraguay or islands are a NoNo)
- Not an aggressive Tax system or at least a Tax system that doesn't tax overseas company profits
- You can actually OWN the land
- Property laws are not corrupt and no one is going to steal your house or land


I have found Ukraine and Romania to have very affordable land and house prices ($150K Lviv and $300K in Bucharest for a 4 bedroom house including the land) but I'm
a bit afraid of local laws there, Ukr is very corrupt and Romania tax system is changing fast.


Shoot your advice and options.

Family members Nationalities: Italy, NZ and GB

If I were to choose today, I would look closely at Bulgaria. You can get a brand new property there for that kind of money. If you bring in foreign workers, the job will be done properly.

The authorities are completely corrupt, and Bulgaria is the number one country in the EU for corruption, where money and connections can grease everything and make anything possible.

They officially have a tax rate of only 10%, but I'm sure it can be negotiated and adjusted to suit everyone.

 

[jafo]

If I were to choose today, I would look closely at Bulgaria. You can get a brand new property there for that kind of money. If you bring in foreign workers, the job will be done properly.

The authorities are completely corrupt, and Bulgaria is the number one country in the EU for corruption, where money and connections can grease everything and make anything possible.

They officially have a tax rate of only 10%, but I'm sure it can be negotiated and adjusted to suit everyone.

Good point! This is the second time another successful entrepreneur has mentioned Bulgaria (to me) this week.

Do we have any successful Bulgarian entrepreneurs on OCT who can add their insights to this convo in a new thread on Mentor Gold?

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Good point! This is the second time another successful entrepreneur has mentioned Bulgaria (to me) this week.

Do we have any successful Bulgarian entrepreneurs on OCT who can add their insights to this convo in a new thread on Mentor Gold?

Sofia stinks. The country is quite depressing. You could build your own little bubble like everywhere else, but I don’t see any advantage with doing any legit business there. I closed down my operations in the country in 2018. Serbia is better.

 

[JimBeam]

Sofia stinks. The country is quite depressing. You could build your own little bubble like everywhere else, but I don’t see any advantage with doing any legit business there. I closed down my operations in the country in 2018. Serbia is better.

Can you elaborate more on Serbia part?
I guess Belgrade is better than Sofia - but how about business/tax side of the things.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Can you elaborate more on Serbia part?
I guess Belgrade is better than Sofia - but how about business/tax side of the things.

It’s the general business environment.
The 15% tax rate is fine, and the state uses your money in a better way than Bulgaria.
Also the stance of Serbia towards Russia is a major plus.
And of course there is no EU in Serbia.

 

[GF150]

There's another country, next door to Romania where, I've been told, they have 10% flat tax and you can definitely buy a decent house or a large flat even it the capital city (Sofia) for $300 000. Young people can gabble a couple of words in English, but, on the whole, language is very different and not quite easy to learn for Westerns. Nevertheless, I'd rather go there than to Ukraine, where you'd have the same language issues, BTW.

P.S. Yes, Serbia may be a better choice on the whole.