Do you want to make good money?

[vpcats]

Originally Posted by gymbuff

Remember this: When you hear of tourism, beaches, hotels, etc. it's usually Havana. The rest of Cuba, though naturally beautiful, is not now nor never geared for tourism. Believe me, maybe one day Havana will once again compete with Miami, but as a whole, Florida is still the better place, from as far as The Keys, all the way to the panhandle and its party cities.

That's not true. You have Varadero. You have the keys off Caibarien where they have the "all inclusive" Spanish hotel lines. You have the beaches in Oriente (that's the easternmost end of the island) and there are some other smaller, less known areas. Cuba has nothing to envy Florida. It's the other way around from what I've heard.

[Huckleberry3911948]

it was b4.

[vpcats]

Originally Posted by gymbuff

That's a great point: There are families out there who believe that one day, their properties will be returned to them. That will set forth a huge chain of events. Imagine buying a nice piece of ocean front property only to have its original pre Castro owner claiming it, FROM YOU!

Just buy the lot. Most construction there is destroyed anyway so whatever is on the lot.........bulldoze it.

The big mansions were turned into embassies or homes for the gov't big shots. Those are mostly in Havana. There's a lot of island left.
Some of the other lands confiscated were farmland, sugar, tobacco fields, etc. Acres and acres.

I don't know how anybody, REALLY, would get anything back.

[vpcats]

Originally Posted by tallrick

How can Americans buy anything when there are decades-old legal battles to be fought if Cuba ever establishes relations with the US? How many rich families here want what Castro took returned? Any investment in Cuba seems as foolish as buying a condo in Miami. Besides, what do the Cuban people want?

The ones on the island probably want a flushing toilet, a shower, a bar of soap, and a good steak.

[vpcats]

Originally Posted by SoBe_ToBe?

I couldn't agree more!

The question for me on the issue of whether or not Cuba will be a good place to invest in real estate is what does Cuba have that dozens of other islands don't? If the answer is only that prices are currently low as a result of the embargo, then I would only take the perspective that, assuming all restrictions are lifted, there will be an opportunity for short-term gains. There will, however, still be considerable risk involved. It will be a long time before we could call it a stable economy and government.

For long-term investment (or for retirement), there are already so many islands that fit the bill. Off the top of my head, the US Virgin Islands and some of the "off-islands" of Puerto Rico come to mind.

Just my two cents.

All those other islands are outrageously expensive. Even in Mexico and Nicaragua, where there are some expat enclaves, the prices are ridiculous.

I wouldn't mind trying out Cuba but I have some other reasons for that too.

[Thomas Jefferson]

Ahh Vpcats you really like Varadero Beach.