Don't be too enthusiastic and believe that all waterfronts will become more expensive. There are waterfronts that in a few years might be sold as swimming pools. http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5056
Thread morphing into beach properties around world is great, my favorite haunts. I'm very interested in locations, prices, environments etc. Anyone with input, experience please add.
There's thousands of miles of cheap beachfront, it's just in places most people wouldn't want to live. Try 95% of the coast of Africa, for example. Possibly a step up in and a bit closer for some take a look at the Dominican Republic and Central America ex Costa Rica and Belize...Panama has some interesting stuff and Panama City is pretty connected. Even close to home take a look at the Chesapeake Bay, especially the Eastern Shore of VA and MD. Surprisingly cheap compared to the West Coast market at least, plus you can tie your boat up at your house which isn't possible with a lot of other waterfront.
This one looks like it will sell fast. Looks like a good deal. http://listings.bayproperties.com/idx/photogallery/b217/1700459 Pretty low though, best to have some elevation imo. Yea there's tons of beachfront Sig... I have been watching Panama and Belize for awhile... and it keeps going up up up.
It's a bit of a pain to get there, but the area around (but definitely not in!) Bocos del Torro is very gringo friendly and gorgeous. You just may only be able to get to your house by boat. Belize is definitely gringo friendly, no need to even learn Spanish, but priced accordingly. A few of the villages at the south end of the country are pretty nice and relatively inexpensive, but watch out for the subdivision scams. Definitely a place where you absolutely have to go see what you're buying in person before you buy.
The perk is sneaking your illegal money out of China. $50k USD per person allowed to leave china per year. Yet they buy $1M+ property in cash on arrival. -All criminals-
There are plenty of underground money changers in China that will arrange transfers in or out of the country. Plenty of legitimate money leaves the country that way, or through arrangement between acquaintances. Also lots of chinese have business interests overseas, "all criminals" is a hell of a generalization.
Criminal is a pretty strong word. I guess technically if there's a law in China restricting currency flows and you violate that law then in China you're a criminal. If you're a woman in Saudi Arabia and have the audacity to drive a car you're a criminal as well under their system. As an American I'd hardly consider either as criminals. BTW, the currency restrictions are relatively recent so once certainly could have moved funds out of the country previously. And it should come as no surprise that if you export goods made by workers you paid in yuan for which you receive USD and other non-yuan currency you effectively end up with huge amounts of money in non-yuan currencies without actually moving any currency. That's why companies and individuals from China hold a decent amount of U.S. Treasuries. As an aside, the actual forex professionals I know don't bet on currency moves like the punters here, they arrange some pretty cool swaps and other financial engineering to help companies that import/export and have to buy raw goods in three currencies, pay workers in another currency, and sell in 5 more currencies manage their currency flows. Complicated stuff that obviously doesn't reduce to sound bites like yours.