Own this high-spec beach house…
…with this view…for less than $100,000
The Leading Edge
Tuesday, 10th June, 2008.
Waterford, Ireland
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Dear Leading Edge Reader,
This is the stunning beach view I saw a couple of weeks ago while standing on a lot just outside Uruau, a fishing village 50 miles east of the First-World city of Fortaleza, on the northeast coast of Brazil. I was here with Len Galvin, International Living 's Editorial Director, scouting the area for some hot real estate deals.
Every time I take a trip near a coast, no matter what country I'm in, I try to work out what caliber of beach house I can buy for $100,000…it's my yardstick for vetting an area under the “good value” column. These days, however, it's getting harder and harder to find any type of house anywhere near the beach for that price.
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Ronan McMahon
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But because the cost of land is low in northeast Brazil, and the cost of construction so affordable, if $100,000 is your budget, and you don't want to compromise on a first-rate beach view…it's perfect.
And Uruau would be a great place to have a beach house. Even though it's a little village with cobblestone streets, it still has all the services you need. An Internet café, a clinic, shops, markets, and a rustic beach restaurant. And just like everywhere else in Brazil , it's doing well. Even in this little village, people are renovating their homes, building an extra room, putting up a better roof.
Normally, I go for pure beachfront, but there's an unusual elevation at this site that gives second-tier lots much better views, as you can see from the photo above.
So for the numbers…
Beach lots in Brazil are small by North American standards. The lots in Uruau are 450 square meters…that's just over one-tenth of an acre. That's plenty big enough for Brazilians…but you'd probably want to buy two lots side by side.
These lots cost $16,000 each…so for $32,000 you have a good-sized site with 30 meters of ocean view. Construction costs in northeast Brazil are low--you can build for as low as $400 per square meter…and as much as $800 per square meter for very high spec. At those prices, if I was building a house here, I wouldn't scrimp on buildings costs.
When I met with architect Rogério Braga (email: rbragaarq@gmail.com) , he showed me the rendering (above) of what a $560-per-square-meter build would look like. That's what I'd go for. So, a 100-square-meter, three-bedroom house would cost $56,000…the cost of the site brings the total price up to $88,000. And if were my house, I'd want a pool, even though it's so close to the ocean. That's another $9,000…for a total cost of $97,000.
So that's…
Cost of two lots ($16,000 x 2) $32,000
Construction costs (@ $560-per-square-meter) $56,000
Swimming pool $9,000
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Total price for beachfront home $97,000
As for the project where the lots are…the road is in, some houses were built, and more were under construction. Developers have bought parcels of adjoining land, and there are plans to build and sell condos. In other words: The community is underway.
My contact here is Fabricio Santos…you can email him at propertybrazil@gmail.com.
Your International Real Estate Scout,
Ronan McMahon,
The Leading Edge
