Central America Relocation? HELP! (real estate, houses, neighborhoods)

[SummersEve]

We are looking into possibly relocating to Central America for retirement. Does anyone have any pros, cons, places that are better than others,etc. We were interested in Panama but are open to suggestions.

We are looking for a place that is safe, afforable and that I can ship my 2 dogs with me.

Thanks for any ideas.

[yellowsnow]

There are threads on this under retirement. I researched this a lot and I have posts there too. Best of luck!

[Alaskan_Adventurer]

I have been to Belize. It seems to be one of the more popular retirement destinations, though a bit more expensive than some of the others. Beautiful country with wonderful people. Belize is the only primarily English speaking country in all of Central America, so that is a plus. Their currency is locked in at 2 Belize dollars for every USD. If you have any other questions, let me know.

[clawson26]

I was stationed in Panama for a couple of years and I liked it. The only negatives were the heat and humidity but that is what you get in a tropical environment. If you have specific questions feel free to PM me.

[Voltaire]

Costa Rica is the only country is Central America that I would ever live in. It is the most "developed" nation in the region with a stable government, good health care system, and most of the modern amenities that we take for granted in the US.

[gregandvicky]

I lived in Costa Rica for 3 years, Panama one year and Honduras for one year and Mexico for one year.
Overall the best would have to be Panama considering everything, prices, people, infrastucture etc, but be prepared for sticker shock. Mexico, and Costa Rica real estate equals the USA. Panama is a little cheaper but still relative expensive real estate.
If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.
Greg

[royalstream]

It really depends on what you’re looking for.

Panama City is definitively cheaper and their infrastructure is good as long as you stick to the city center. But English is not as widely spoken as they would like to tell you and as far as I am concerned the people could be friendlier. Finally, don’t forget that A/C is a must! You’re at sea level and not that far from the equator.

With Costa Rica, well, some neighborhoods are really nice with comfortable California-like weather and gorgeous houses but their infrastructure is patchy and even though it’s cheaper than the states, it’s more expensive than Panama. I like the weather and the people better but that’s a matter of taste I guess.

As Alaskan_Adventurer points out, Belize is the only primarily English speaking country in all of Central America. Bottomline.

Here’s a website you can use to get some country facts for all of them: https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat...ook/index.html

One last thing to take into consideration: Lots of Central American countries in their real estate boom, so, take everything you read with a grain of salt!

[cassandra32]

Would love to relocate to Central America! Anybody know if there is a demand in the wine industry there?

[cassandra32]

Hi..Im wanting to relocate to Central America..What do people do for jobs? Do you know if there is demand for wine there?

[Amazonas]

Originally Posted by cassandra32

Hi..Im wanting to relocate to Central America..What do people do for jobs? Do you know if there is demand for wine there?

Central America and some parts of South America like Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, and Ecuador are not into wine like countries of the Cono Sur (South Cone). In fact, they are more into hard liquor like rum and anise. As for jobs, well Central American relies heavily on the agricultural sector, but also has some indutry based economy like apparel and others. South America has a little more expanded industry. For example, Venezuela has a decent mining and oil industry. Brazil has lumber, mining and technology, the latter being energy and aviation (Embraer). Chile relies on copper, wine, and agricultural. So depending on your field you must study the area very well since the industry sector in most Latin American countries are very constrained.