Investing in South America

[Kyle James Horstmann]

I am considering possibly starting my investment portfolio in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Housing and labor is cheaper there, which will allow me to start investing relatively quickly. My in laws live there and I trust them to maintain and help with projects.

My question, what do the taxes look like for international real estate? And are there any procedures that I should carefully follow to limit risk in third world countries?

[Bruce Lynn]

I personally just think you add a big layer of risk when you invest someplace where you are not there to oversee things, know the market well, know the economy well, know the law well, have boots on the ground.  Plenty do it and plenty to it successfully.   What are the eviction laws there like for example?   Is the local government landlord or tenant friendly?   Is there good property management?

Also do you plan to use leverage?  That's the key driver to much of the real estate success here on bigger pockets....so are bank loans available for out of country, non-citizen investors?

Just some things to think about.