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I've heard that Somalia (no joke, seriously) is such a place where you can have a very large home custom-built for like $70,000.
Seriously, though, you can't get much cheaper, all things considered, than Texas or parts of the Southern or Midwestern U.S. in terms of bang for your buck. Even here in Duluth, my parents paid $85,000 (now worth about $150,000) for a 1,400 square foot house on 5.7 acres with a 3-car detached garage and a barn to boot. That would cost you what, like $1,000,000 in most parts of western Europe?
And yes, I don't care about how undeveloped the country actually is.
I'll point out one thing - an American can live like a king in many underdeveloped nations. I can see why that would have a certain allure to it. However, you should at least consider certain factors (is the country in the midst of a bloody war? is disease running rampant? will I have access to clean water?).
Google best retirement countries and you will find a lot of information. I had seen one list that ranked each country by cost of real estate, crime, stability, etc. I thought I saved it now I can't find it. Expat forums will have infor on real estate and you can talk to people already living there. I included a forum website and article for you to look at. Good luck.
These countries are rated high on most lists;
Panama
Ecuador
Nicaragua
Uruguay
Well, in some parts of Northeastern Brazil, real estate is relatively cheap yet.
Read this:
Foreigners Discover the North East of Brazil for Retirement and Real Estate Investment
The Northeast of Brazil found its avocation: to be the tropical paradise where Europeans spend and invest their euros. Portuguese, Spaniards, French, Italians, Germans and Scandinavian are invading the region to do business, spend holidays or enjoy their retirement in a place with pleasant climate and at prices much more affordable than those in Europe. This movement has two consequences. The first one is the increase in residential tourism. A few thousand foreigners are buying apartments and houses this side of the Atlantic - for holidays or even to live for good. In Ceará, out of each ten new apartments for sale with prices over R$ 50,000, three are purchased by foreigners. In Rio Grande do Norte, the Europeans bought 40% of the new houses and apartments sold last year.
These lists are entertaining but almost worthless because they give no indication of the ease of getting a resident's visa. For some countries, it's not too difficult whereas for others it's virtually impossible unless you are married to a citizen or are one yourself. This is the first thing you need to find out about or you may be just wasting your time.
For $500,000 you can get a real mansion in the Philippines overlooking the sea, with pool, tennis courts etc.
I was in this country on a business trip and it is beautiful. Note, it is a third world country, so one will see the not so good side of it as well, like parts of Manila but Makati is very nice. It has many beautiful areas and islands as well, around the country like Palawan, Davao, Boracay!
I was taken here for dinner, Punta Fuego in the sounthern part of Luzon in Batangas. Punta Fuego is a gated beach and golf community and very strict about nonmembers..
You can get a home for around $500,000 but may not have ocean front view and will be a small lot (300-400sqm), so not a mansion. I doubt you can get a mansion for $200,000 but for $300,00 you can probably get a 4000sqft home in one of the nicer subdivisons but I still wouldn't consider that a mansion, but that is a very large home to me.
If you build your home in other parts of the country, away from the big business centers like Makati, one can probably stretch that $500,000 and you can have your mansion with the pool and tennis court.
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