The 4 Cs | Pathfinder International

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Dear Reader,

Today we have a guest essay from Dan Prescher. Dan is MC for International Living’s Ultimate Event conference starting in Quito on Tuesday. Dan and his wife Suzan Haskins are both expats, and have lived and worked in Latin America for the last eight years. They’ve spent time in Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama and Mexico. That experience prompted Dan to devise his own rating system for specific locations. If you’re thinking of buying a second home overseas, this easy (and fun) system can cut your shortlist of potential destinations to a handful.

Take it away, Dan…

Dear Reader,

In almost eight years of living and working in Latin America, Suzan and I have developed a rating system for specific locations.

It’s called The Four Cs, and they are: Comfort, Convenience, Cost, and Culture.

These four categories are rated on a 1–5 scale, with 1 being the lowest rating, and 5 the highest.

I like the system because it’s not complicated, and the categories are self-explanatory and include everything important to me.

Simply put, the cheaper, more convenient, more comfortable, and more culturally rich a location is, the better I like it as a place to live.

What do I mean by culturally rich? Almost certainly something different than you. Likewise for what I find comfortable, what I need in conveniences, and what I like to pay for things…The Four Cs are subjective and are designed to indicate what I personally think about a place. My ratings could be—probably would be—different than your own ratings for a specific location.

And speaking of specific locations, note that this rating system is not designed for entire countries. Hence, San Juan del Sur, Granada, and Managua would all have very different ratings on The Four Cs scale. That doesn’t mean you can’t rate Nicaragua as a whole with The Four Cs…just that the larger the area, the less meaningful the ratings tend to become. Suzan and I rarely rate entire countries anymore…how could you come up with an overall rating for a place as large and varied as Mexico? Even little Belize ranks differently depending on where you go in the country.

All that said, I’ll explain a bit about what each category includes for me.

Comfort: The largest component of the Comfort rating is climate. Already, we’re getting subjective…Suzan likes significantly warmer weather than I do, and weather almost everywhere varies seasonally. But snow and freezing temperatures are out, and lots of sunshine is in.

Also figured into my Comfort rating are: the number of biting insects, the amount of pollution (some places have an almost unbelievable tolerance for exhaust smoke, untreated sewerage, and litter), the physical beauty of the general area, and the ambient noise level. (Believe me, some places are just plain loud…and that can seriously affect your quality of life.)

Convenience: I find that Convenience has a lot to do with infrastructure, so important Convenience questions for me would be…how close is the nearest large airport, and how big a pain in the butt is it to get there and back? Can I drive locally without taking my life in my hands or having to buy new struts and tie rods twice a year? If I can’t, am I constantly at the mercy of surly cab drivers? How often does the power fail, and how long does it stay down? How difficult is it to set up and pay electricity and telephone accounts?

How far do I have to go to get a decent bottle of wine and some fresh bread and cheese? How many shops do I have to visit to pick up wood screws, duct tape, a crescent wrench, and a garden hose? (In some places I’ve lived, that would take four separate stops…if any of the items were available at all.)

And if I cut myself cleaning the grill, how far do I have to go to get stitches from someone other than a veterinarian or seamstress?

Cost: This category for me is based on comparison with Midwestern U.S. prices, because that’s where I’m from. Your mileage may vary. But first and foremost…are the real estate prices less than I’d pay in the States for a comparable house in a comparable location?

Next, can I eat decent food for less than I can in the States? (This is a tough one, because food in the U.S. is so notoriously plentiful and cheap, but I believe that will change soon…think of wheat, meat, and produce as you would other commodities like steel, cement, and oil, and you’ll see what I mean.) When I find that acceptable bottle of wine, has it been marked up so much with import duties and luxury tax that sobriety becomes more attractive than buying a bottle? If the wine isn’t available, is there cheap beer or a cheap local booze substitute that won’t make me blind?

And, most importantly, can I visit a well-trained doctor for less than I can in the U.S.? (This one is a lock…you can get quality medical care almost anywhere in Latin America for less than in the U.S.)

Culture: I’m not in love with any particular culture…I don’t wish that I were anything but a big white guy, and I don’t run around dressed in local garb (except for guayaberas, the Cuban/Yucatan four-pocket shirt that looks like a barber’s smock and comes close to being the perfect tropical menswear).

But I do like interesting music, good local food, and ancient ruins. That’s just me…and in these departments, some places have more appeal for me than others.

And, probably most subjective of all…the locals need to be friendly for a high rating on my Culture scale. Call me a curmudgeon, call me jaded, call me what you will, but some places you go, the locals just aren’t pleasant to be around. That’s just a fact of life, and I know it’s not just me being an insensitive jerk or having a bad day, because some places you go, the locals really are genuinely nice and happy folks and you like being with them. You know them when you meet them.

So that’s The Four Cs; and finally, as an example, I’ll use them to rate Panama City, Panama.

Comfort = 3 (I’ve been bitten by the local mosquitoes…they’re pros. It’s busy and noisy, as all cities are. And it’s hot. But you won’t have to worry about hurricane season, or shoveling snow.)
Convenience = 5 (With the new upgraded coastal belt road, and a planned metro system, the traffic in Panama City is improving. Tocumen airport makes travel in the Americas easy. You’ll find many brands and stores you’re familiar with back home, including Home Depot.)
Cost = 4 (Real estate can be pricey in prime neighborhoods, but you can find affordable property. And the cost of groceries, medical care and eating out is very reasonable.)
Culture = 3 (Panama City’s home to the National Theater, which hosts performances of ballet, dance, and opera. The city has smaller museums (like the Canal Museum), and a Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. The jewel in the crown though is the Gehry-designed Biodiversity Museum currently taking shape on the city’s causeway.)

There you go…15 out of a possible 20 for Panama City.

Dan Prescher

Editor’s Note: Of course, there’s more to Panama than just Panama City. The country’s Caribbean and Pacific coastlines, tropical rainforest, and cool highlands, would all rate differently using Dan’s system. If you want to know more about Panama, join Dan, Suzan, and the top Panama experts at International Living’s Live & Invest in Panama conference in April.

You’ll hear about the top locations in Panama…the real skinny on the real estate market…typical daily living costs…residency, visas, and setting up a bank account…and affordable medical insurance. And, if you register now for the Panama event, you’ll get a $200 early bird discount.