Housing:

Everyone has to live someplace, and the quality of your housing contributes greatly to your quality of life.

Want to live on a tropical Island? Want a home in a good area with all services, adjacent to shops, stores, restaurants and the beach? Want a gorgeous ocean view to wake up to every day? Trust us, in most places that kind of place comes with a price tag that's out of reach for the vast majority of people.

On Margarita Island, plan on paying anywhere from $75,000 to $300,000 for a good place. One of our current favorites is an apartment building under construction in Pampatar in the historical district. It's 100 feet from the police station, 200 feet from a medical clinic, 500 feet from the historical Church and public plaza, 500 feet from the beach and within walking distance of at least a half-dozen nice restaurants. 120 meter condos are selling for about $130,000 in this building, which has absolutely gorgeous ocean views from every condo.

Want a house and more space? A beautiful 300 square meter house in Pampatar (actually, it's two houses: the main house and a guest house in the back) with nice ocean view, 6 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms, nice terraces and a garden for puttering about in. The cost- $260,000.

Want a spectacular penthouse of 300+ meters, with views to die for in one of the very best buildings on the island with all services? Plan on spending from $2000 to $2500 per meter. For a penthouse in a merely "top-tier" building, the prices will range from $1400 to $1800 per meter.

There are many housing options on Margarita that are cheaper, but we recommend that foreigners who purchase property here buy in the best areas because it's property that the Venezuelans are interested in as well. At some point in the future if it's necessary to sell, one wants their property to have appreciated in value as well as have a ready market for sale. That just makes good sense.

Warning: Beware the purpose-built "gringo traps" that offer beautiful property in places that only a foreigner would purchase property. These properties are typically marketed only to foreigners and sold at highly inflated prices. A problem occurs if they have to be liquidated, because the owner is now competing with the developer in terms of finding a buyer... and without another gullible foreigner coming along the place won't sell at anything close to the price paid.

Taxes: Property taxes in Venezuela are almost nothing. For a $200,000 condo or house, expect to pay less than $100 per year in taxes. Yes, that's not a typo: less than $100 per year in property taxes. Compare that with what you've got now.

Homeowners insurance: While it's available, we do not know of anyone who has homeowners insurance. The vast majority of buildings are constructed of masonry, and risk of fire is very low. Margarita is outside the hurricane belt and not prone to destructive storms, and there isn't a lot that could happen to a home.

Condominium Fees: in the majority of buildings the condominium fees range from $40 to $75 per month. In the high-end luxury buildings the cost can go as high as $150 to $200 per month (for a huge penthouse, for example). This covers the cost of water, security and maintenance. Every building is different, but those are the general costs.

Utilities: Electricity is another one of the areas where one benefits from the surplus of cheap oil in Venezuela. Cost of electric service is typically less than $100 per month for a large place with the air conditioners running all day every day. Phone service is cheap as well, with basic service costing about $10 per month and long distance extra.

There you have it. Cost of housing on Margarita is quite reasonable in terms of acquisition, and extremely low in terms of carrying costs and utilities. However, one has to compare it to something in order to get a fair idea of how good the deal really is. Note: avoid the temptation of comparing what we've got on Margarita with what you've got right now:

Everyone selling real estate likes to compare the price of real estate with the cost of real estate "back home" in North America or Europe. That doesn't work, because this isn't North America or Europe. Compare Margarita with what's available elsewhere in similar locations and popular "retirement" destination:

Panama: Panama Realtor, Pre-Sales Another good example

Costa Rica: Nice Houses, Condos

On the next page we move on to transportation costs:

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