#604 – The Expat Files: Safety, Scams, and Cultural Insights in Latin America

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now I wonder Hello there all you expat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here So let's get started of all the questions I get one of the top three is always safety and security in Latin America You know, where are the most safest laid-back places to live work play and or do business and you know, there's so much misinformation out there Which is a good thing really in my estimation because it keeps gringos on the gringo tourist trail

[00:50] Where they always bring big doses of their first world gringo culture and bad habits Then they have the nerve to complain how Latin lawyers and locals often scam and gouge them even worse After a while you hear the stories about being gouged and scammed by fellow gringos Ones who've been down for a while and know the system and should be helping fellow gringos instead of taking advantage of them So you'd want to believe right thinking about it when you first get down it's gringos you lean on for advice first because they speak English and second because you think they know the ropes and Some of them do only all too. Well Unfortunately on the tourist trail, there are gringo con men They know just how easy this is scam a fresh green gringo They were once in that spot themselves

[01:35] Just ask any gringo or expat who's ever lived on the gringo tourist trail Whether it's Panama Costa Rica or any of those well-known Mexican retirement hot spots In fact, I think I mentioned that just a week or so ago I spoke to a person very nice guy from Texas came down to one of my expat insider seminars Long time ago. He decided on San Juan del Sur Nicaragua It's one of the two cities or towns that's directly on the gringo tourist trail The other one being Granada now he reported just recently that he's throwing in the towel on Latin America He says he's tired of being scammed and gouged by the locals and the gringos now, of course Most people don't see that coming. They're just so happy They've arrived in their little piece of paradise that they're very trusting and often let their guard down now

[02:22] I'm not saying that you can't get gouged off the gringo tourist trail. Sure that happens Happened to me happens to everyone, but it's almost always quite small time because once again, we come down and we trust most people So yes, it'll happen and you'll learn fast now when you first land in a gringoized area soon enough You'll meet gringos who will start talking about real estate deals and once in a lifetime offers You just got to get into right now or they won't exist next week or next month That should be a big warning sign to you and you know, it almost never happens off the gringo tourist trail Why because there's just not enough gringos around for a gringo con man to do his dirty work If he doesn't just wants to one gringo the gigs up the word gets around in that small gringo community And he's persona non grata from then on but in a gringoized area new gringos are floating in all the time

[03:13] There's always fresh meat for con men, especially in the real estate and investment business Whether it's mining shares teak farms real estate developments or avocado plantation timeshares I've heard it all and for as long as I've been down here I've never known anybody to get in on one of those deals and actually make money Only the gringos partners and lawyers that set it up. So are all these guys necessarily con men? No, they're not They often go in with good intentions and realize soon enough. They had unrealistically optimistic projections After all these new startup projects are just experiments. No one's ever run these kind of deals long term Yep The numbers look good in the beginning when the investors dough is flowing in and when the unexpected happens power outages floods

[04:00] Hurricanes blight you name it could be any kind of problem caused by man or nature When things happen often the numbers get juggled or papered over and the last people to know are the investors In fact, just in the last year. I've heard from investors personally who lost big money in a gigantic teak plantation scam 5 million went missing there an avocado plantation scheme that never got off the ground But people invested in it and a gigantic all-inclusive Timed share project that got sold and built but no one's making any money in the rental pool So everyone wants to dump their shares and it's not all gringos You know, you'd be amazed how many stupid Latins with money get sucked into ventures like that, too So the trick is always rent for at least six months and don't get sucked in to buy anything big or permanent during that time

[04:46] That said let's talk about some of the differences between expat men and expat women first Let me repeat what my wise old uncle once said never fall in love with something that isn't alive like for example a house or a car your furniture a painting whatever and that by the way is Certainly why three out of four expats are men because you see men by nature can walk away from Possessions much easier than women can if you believe I'm mistaken think about this for a minute of all the hundreds of phone calls and Skype Conversations I've had with people in various stages of their plan B I can't tell you how many times they man on the other end of that phone call tells me you know I'm all on board with this plan B and getting out of here things are crashing and burning up where I live My wife my better half is in love with the house or the furniture the neighborhood

[05:36] Whatever and that leads over into other areas when a couple finally decides It's time to get out and get on with that plan B as it turns out most guys are perfectly willing to sell Practically everything and come down with just their bags and maybe a couple of boxes Even if it does mean giving up their favorite woodworking tools sports trophies and beer can collection Remember that or maybe you choose to forget beer cans now. There is a white trash Hoppy for you god my brother had one of those what was in our heads back in the 70s then again It was the smoky in the bandit generation wasn't it break a breaker and all that right anyway Like I said men are always more willing to part with their stuff They know they can always buy pretty much the same stuff once they get to their expat destination Whereas women often have a deep sentimental attachment to things

[06:23] Which is why so many couples end up shipping down a container full of junk. That's almost always more trouble than it's worth However, the man in the equation does it for his wife or better half so that she can have the comfort of knowing She's got her personal things around her nothing wrong with that, but it does come at a price Anyway, we started out today talking about safety and security in Latin America a big question That's out of mind of so many people Especially women who happen to be in the wrong neighborhood and speaking of wrong neighborhoods Here's a little email of some interest that just came in and I'm gonna blend it together with another email I got a few days ago from a guy named Gerald touching on the same points But from a different angle and the other ones from a gentleman named Scott, so we'll start out with his first He says hey Johnny been listening to all your podcasts. I'm up to June 2012 plus

[07:11] I've already listened to everything from 2016 anyway Just wanted to give you a new idea in an older podcast You gave a good way to sort out safe and unsafe zones in any Latin City you said just get a map and some colored markers and speak with a rental car person at the airport or a Cab driver and also pay attention to the newspaper crime blotter Then have the rent a car guy or the taxi driver mark the good the bad or the in-between places on the map So you know which places to hang rent in or do business whatever more importantly the ones not to go near Well, here's my idea You could also look up your city in Airbnb and they give you a map of the city and a control over the daily Rental of the particular places available. You can then sort the B&B rentals by a price range using the slider bar

[08:03] So as you slide the price bar up You can see where the higher red homes and places are on the map and they always tend to clump together in the better Safer areas of any given city just an idea glad to help keep up the good work Johnny Scott with help from Gerald. So thanks for that guys. Now. I'm glad you brought that Airbnb thing up I've been meaning to do a little expose on what can happen when an Airbnb experience goes south In fact about a month and a half ago I got invited by friends to an oceanfront Airbnb condo in Central America it looked absolutely fantastic on the internet infinity pool right on the ocean beautifully maintained a Condo in a high-end complex of around 30 or 40 units But let me tell you once we got there the place was an absolute dump

[08:51] Just terrible maintenance the pool had algae everywhere. I never even went in it Worse yet. There was no hot water in the place I know I know when you're by the beach who cares but you still would like hot water sometime and get this each of the rental units had its own private balcony and a jacuzzi that was just Loaded with algae and the wooden trimmer rotted rotted away It was just a shock to see the condition of that place and they were Renting it not to mention the refrigerator and all the appliances had a thick coating of rust on them and inside the refrigerant It smelled like a dead body It really was like a Chicago ghetto development transplanted to the beach and this place was get this only four years old Worse yet the nice wooden front door had its laminate surface peeling off and though we had keys to get in

[09:41] We did not have keys for the bedroom or bathroom doors, which had outside locks on them Not indoor passage locks if someone inadvertently Flip the tab on the inside of the knob and close the door You just would never be able to get into your room again You'd have to call the maintenance guy and you'd get there about two or three hours later that happened twice that week I'm telling you that the place was an absolute wreck and What do they charge for that a thousand bucks a week for a tiny three-bedroom place that didn't deserve one star Not to mention the light fixtures were the kind you use in a garage You know just a standard cheap white ivory thing with a bulb sticking out such class, huh? But get this right below our place was another identical unit owned by a 60 something French

[10:26] Canadian couple as it turned out the only gringos in the complex and they live there all year round And of all the places in that complex wouldn't you know it theirs is the only one that looked absolutely first-world and pristine nice jacuzzi Excellent gardening around the place would work in perfect condition Why because they were there all year round maintaining it themselves like first-world gringos and as we found out 95% of all the other owners were latins with some dough surprise surprise They had their main houses in the big city and they bought these places with the idea to come down when they felt like it and in the meantime rent them and make some money when they weren't around a man went a disaster a Perfect example of the old adage that money can't buy class though admittedly I found out that most of the families that bought these places were latins with new money in other words the nouveau riche

[11:16] People with money now who grew up without it not very well educated and thus not too much class that said here's another close-to-home Airbnb story turns out a friend of mine stated in a very highly rated Airbnb in a big Latin American city in fact It was number one on the site for Airbnb recommendations, and I believe even TripAdvisor It was a very nice little Airbnb and the price was certainly right Except what renters didn't know it was situated right on a very big highway, which is good for access However, it was in a dangerous crime-ridden area though at first glance You might think it was pretty safe because it was on the same block as a police station now to a new visitor What could be more comforting than that? Well as it turns out this guy called me one night. He said Johnny. You're not gonna believe this

[12:04] I know you told me this was not a good neighborhood But I'm looking out the window right now and watching some thieves right below stealing the parts from under the hood of a new truck Remember this is happening about a block from the police station right outside his window So then you might ask how does an Airbnb like that get rated number one in a Latin city of over a million people Well, I think I have a kind of a handle on why that is as it turns out the majority of people have stayed in that place are coming from Europe or Asia not the US and Most not strictly as tourists, but on a mission either as do-gooders teachers archaeologists You know lobotomized NGO pinheads and such remember we're talking in a city way off the gringo tourist trail here So you get mostly a different kind of visitor and as it turns out this guy told me many if not all of the B&B clients

[12:54] Never stuck around the neighborhood. They only came back to sleep at night during the day They're off to some far-flung place Not to mention a good percentage of the renters were South Korean Japanese and from other Asian countries with different cultural and social Expectations so in the end a place like that could be just fine If you're just there solely to sleep and you're off during the day doing other things outside of that neighborhood However, I know most gringles and expats like to get out walk around check out the neighborhood and such not good in this case So how you gonna know that if an Airbnb is rated quite highly and it's in a crappy neighborhood Luckily as Scott said in the email most of the time Airbnb is in a higher price range are going to be in better areas that stands to reason but as illustrated That's not always the case and as illustrated looks and photos on the internet can often be deceiving, too

[13:44] Again, it's buyer beware Of course many tens of thousands even millions of people have had great experiences in Airbnb's But just remember down here in Latin America, we're talking about Airbnb's in the third world now Okay, speaking of houses and real estate and such here are a few tips for any of you listeners out there who are thinking of Coming down then eventually building remodeling or adding on to an existing structure Eventually as we watch this real estate bubble in Latin America implode you'll be able to snap up some tremendous deals Therefore you'll be building buying or adding on that's generally part of most people's plan B That said let's talk about building materials and supplies and how to get the best deals on that stuff So depending on how big or small your project is you might need an architect a builder or maybe just a general contractor

[14:36] Or maybe just a bricklayer and a carpenter then of course your builder or contractor will draw up a parts and materials list Then he or you or the architect will go down to the building supply and order up the stuff and have it delivered to the site Right. Well, guess what? You'll find out that building supplies here in Latin America Varian price all over the place and not just by a few percent either For example, the other day I was with the gringo in a big Ace Hardware His maintenance guy was doing some repairs around his house and had given him a list He was to pick up five three-inch elbow tubes for some plastic piping that was gonna be used for downspouts Now in the plumbing department at Ace Hardware, one of those elbows was $2.20 So he picked it up put it in his cart and I said no

[15:23] I know a place down the road a little building supply outfit You can get the exact same elbow for 50 cents. I said, man, can't you see they're charging more than a 400% markup here? He said really I can't be right. How can they do that? I said well because people like you and me walk in buy something and don't really know if it's a fair price Because we've got nothing to base it on in our minds. We're continuously thinking like gringos Of course, we're thinking about how things are up in the states that prices might vary a little bit But not much we know it's not worth driving across town just to save a few pennies But you see down here in Latin America things are different prices vary all over the place Like I said in this case 400% and things are always more expensive at first world franchises like Home Depot Ace Hardware Sears

[16:13] Etc. In fact, there's one new big hardware franchise here in Latin America called EPA as an environmental protection agency But it's not it's a giant complete hardware store chain like Home Depot or Menards Do you have Menards up where you are? It's really big around Chicago Anyway, this new EPA hardware store chain is from South America No less with almost everything a quarter to 50% more than you can find at local smaller hardware stores and building supplies So here's the tip with all the different hardware stores and construction and building supply outfits The best thing would be for you yourself To scout these places out and do some serious price checking The fact is practically everywhere in an urban Latin America You'll find three or four big hardware stores within a two to three mile radius

[17:01] Even if you decide to build way out in the boonies There's almost always a hardware store or two within 15 or 20 minute drive and as said in a past show if you order A lot of stuff from a big building supply. They'll deliver at long distances usually for nothing So before you buy anything take your project material list to various hardware stores and building supply outfits and have them write out a Detailed preliminary bill for you and do the same thing at all the bigger hardware stores and building supply outfits They'll do that for nothing Believe me if you do things that way you'll find you can save loads and loads of money Over purchasing your stuff from a single building supply outfit or big hardware store For example, let's take your common structural cement block or cinder block pretty much the backbone of all Anti-seismic construction down here. I've found suppliers in the city selling them for 40 cents a piece 50 cents a piece and a buck apiece

[17:52] What a spread, huh? And if you're doing a good-sized project you could be ordering hundreds if not thousands of those things same thing goes for your electric wiring and outlets PVC plumbing tube etc You could easily pay 50% more from one place to the next and you'll find out most Latins just do not investigate They don't do their homework They walk into a big supply house like that and say give me this this and this and that's it In fact, I often thought that would be a great business opportunity for a gringo Who knew the construction trades a little bit and didn't actually want to get his hands dirty and build anything Of course, you'd have to know a little bit of Spanish You'd just start by putting an announcement in ol x.com But a few notices on bulletin boards send out emails to architects builders and such saying you'll save them x percentage on their building list

[18:39] Estimate for their next project best of all you tell them your service will not cost them a cent Of course, you'll take your profit out of the margin or percentage. You've saved them along the way By the way, you can do almost all that work on your computer from home. Yep You could send your building material list to all the suppliers by email I know of no one who's doing that right now. Everything's still done the old-fashioned way someone walks in and says I want this this this and This yep, that's right yet another niche that could be filled by an enterprising gringo of course the downside is that in this big Latin American real estate bubble a lot of people who look like they have a Dough and are riding around in big SUVs with bodyguards are dead broke or living from day to day And not even paying their bodyguards cleaning ladies and maintenance men on time. In fact, here's one for the books

[19:27] I just had a talk the other day with a rather high-placed Latin American lawyer whose clients include some of the mega rich owners Of giant shopping malls hotels and housing development projects In other words, many of the clients are in the thick of the real estate bubble and the lawyer tells me they're starting to feel The heat checks are bouncing bills aren't getting paid projects have come to a halt Financing falling apart, etc. Etc. Well as timing would have it just in the last few weeks Some very wealthy Panama businessmen appeared in this lawyer's office None of them knew each other and the stories are unrelated But then again in a way they are each one of them told a story of deals gone bad Real estate projects going bust with such bad even miserable business conditions in Panama right now

[20:15] Not to mention the Panama Papers banking crisis They all wad out while they still can expecting very very bad economic problems to shake Panama up quite soon So they always saying the same thing Panama real estate and Panama businesses are going down Now the lawyer was quite shocked about all this. She'd never heard stories like that before Here she had ultra-high rollers from Panama in her office in Guatemala City No, less telling her their tales of woe and how they wanted to move everything out of Panama into guess where Guatemala So if you think old chai tao Johnny was too fast on the trigger crying wolf about the big Latin American real estate bubble We have today's story from the horse's mouth So anyway bottom line my female lawyer friend is finally convinced the real estate bubble does exist

[21:03] The end is near and it's not gonna be pretty. Yep. It's the same tune I've been singing for a couple of years now Meanwhile, I can count on one hand the Latins that actually believe there is a bubble because you see except for Argentina There's never been a real estate bust in the rest of the 19 countries in Latin America. Well, it's coming It's gonna be big bad and ugly And of course you listeners out there who already have your plan be in motion or who are doing things behind the scenes to make it Happen you're gonna be there to take advantage of it, right? So bottom line certain smart Latin landowners and real estate tycoons are facing up to what we've known for a long time That the bubbles are out to burst and well, it is already least wise in their country Panama. That is a word, isn't it? Least wise

[21:50] Changing subjects. Here's something that made me laugh my butt off Just a few days ago as if one who didn't have the surname Kardashian could accomplish that feat. Hmm, that would be cute Anyway, I was driving around a big Latin middle-class neighborhood pasta pinata shop You know, there's a few in every neighborhood and lo and behold in front of my two beady little eyes I saw an entire row of Donald Trump pinatas and I pulled over and I said the guy hey, this is new What's this all about? He says yep, Donald Trump pinatas get them while they're hot. They're my best-selling item He said everyone these days who's having a party wants to beat the hell out of Donald now Note these pinata places have a couple of indigenous people in the back making these things up by hand So each one's a custom item a little bit different from the next and by the way

[22:38] If you've ever been to a party that has a pinata You'll know they fill in with what Latin's called dulce's and Golosina's Chocolates hard candy gum marshmallows stuff like that But get this the guy at the pinata shop says Trump's in a completely different category The new fad is to fill the Trump pinata with hot peppers and what they call cosas amargas Amarga meaning bitter or unpalatable then at the party once they've beaten Trump to a pulp they torch him How's that for a fine finish and when I asked the guy at the pinata place? Where's the Hillary pinata? He just looked at me funny because there is no Hillary pinata. Why would there be? Oh, it's being of Trump The really amazing thing is that every single day in the media the news the newspapers, etc

[23:23] They continually keep hammering and bashing on Trump without a single negative word about Hillary For example, just last night the Latin nightly news was blaring and I saw there was a new spot bashing Trump saying He must be a terrible person since his own daughters don't slobber up to him with a double cheek kiss when they greet him I mean, you can't make this stuff up, but you know down here in Latin America Everyone greets people of the opposite sex that they know in the least with a couple of pecs on the cheek and if you don't it's considered kind of an unfriendly signal kind of a shun and people notice it and Rumors fly so while up in the states You might get sued for sexual harassment for what they commonly do here in Latin America Just in greeting people down here. They attack Trump for not doing it

[24:09] Meanwhile the next day the news hammered Trump for a woman bashing Of course, we all know about the locker room comments he made recently But hearing this on the news in a society. That's so macho There's virtually no such thing as maternity leave or equal pay for women where men routinely cheat on their wives and Feel it's their right to slap them up once in a while, but let's hammer Trump for woman bashing, right? Meanwhile, there is no mention of serial rapist Bubba Bill or his 26 flights to Epstein's private pedophile island. I'm not surprised the first world media never touches on that stuff either enough said about that By the way, I got some reactionary emails from people when I mentioned on last week's show How I felt about rap hip-hop and DJ's how about this one?

[24:57] Hey Johnny made me laugh out loud when I heard your bid on rappers hip-hop and DJ's couldn't agree more Signed mr. D and here's another one right on Johnny as a real music score reading musician myself who put in my 10,000 hours on instruments I often wonder why people who know better don't open their mouths about the degradation of music these days I too hate that hip-hop it slop rapper crapper pointy finger-in-the-air thing They do too. It was cute for a couple of weeks in the 90s now It's just idiotic and embarrassing. Although I imagine if they hadn't won the 21st century Zero talent media lottery, they could easily put those manual finger skills to more productive use dry-walling flipping hamburgers or operating leaf blowers

[25:43] So yes, Johnny, there are hoards of us out here who are thinking what you're saying But alas in public, we can't diss hip-hop lest we get capped by a rapper Oh, and by the way, did you see in the news Johnny about Russell Crowe? He got in a fight with a woman rapper who dissed his music turns out at a party He selected the music she complained saying why are you listening to that broke-ass old white man's music then it appears he decked her So much for the poet William Congreve who coined the famous phrase music hath the charm to soothe the savage beast However, since rap and hip-hop seem to do exactly the opposite According to William Congreve's definition that ain't music by the way Johnny I play piano trumpet and trombone and I too have

[26:28] backed up and recorded with some real artists with real talent Okay, Anthony. Thanks for that fact. I want to hang with you. All right, we're getting towards the end of the show now So let me mention once again my expat insider seminar for January 2017 is more than three quarters filled But you can still get in just go to www.thenewexpat.com Click on Johnny's 2017 seminar link and you're there Also, remember you've got less than two weeks now to sign up and get in on the early bird discount Which is a $500 discount per person that offer expires on November 1st And while you're perusing the seminar information on thenewexpat.com do check out the John Gault pre and post trips If you really want to get the most of your boots on the ground experience in the Alti Plano You should definitely make the time and sign up and finally don't forget to check out my youtube channel

[27:20] Check out the slides photos and other stuff that go along with the show. You'll not only learn something You'll get a few laughs along the way. Hey, what's not to like about that? And do subscribe. It's free south of the border This is the expat files living in Latin America If you want me to help you out with your own plan B Just schedule a one-on-one consult send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to learn how to move forward with your own plan B from right up there in the states go to www.expatplanb.com and check out my three videos. See ya nos vemos