Los Islotes was Lief’s idea.
His thinking was straightforward. He wanted to make money.
Lief’s investment focus has always been real estate. Beachfront property is the most marketable, so he decided he’d find a piece of coastal land in a path of progress and subdivide it.
It wasn’t an unreasonable plan. We’d been watching other investors develop land for profit for decades.
Lief knew that France was no place for the kind of project he imagined. This was an idea best suited to a New World market.
We’d both been spending time and doing business in Latin America for two decades. We considered Nicaragua, Belize, Argentina, and Uruguay but landed on Panama. The country stacks up as an investment market better than any other either of us had known.
Launching a property development in Panama meant finding property in Panama. Lief began a series of scouting trips that extended for more than two years.
Then, one November afternoon, Jackson and I returned to our Paris apartment from our after-school walk to find Lief unpacking from his most recent expedition to Panama. He’d flown home a day early to surprise us.
“I found it,” Lief said, beaming. “It’s every thing I’ve been hoping for. Mountainous so there are ocean views from nearly every spot on the entire property. Plus two beaches, one that stretches on for nine kilometers. The ocean there is strong, great for surfing. The other beach is smaller and protected, good for swimming.
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“Between the two beaches is an elevated point of land with rocky cliffs all around. Very dramatic. Just offshore are three little islands. The ranch is named for them. ‘Los Islotes.’ You’ve got to see it to believe how beautiful it is. How perfect it is.
“On the plane ride back, I began planning my return trip. I need to walk the boundaries with a surveyor and then I’ll meet with our attorney to confirm the details of an offer. I want you and Jackson to come with me. I want you to see this land before I go much further.”
I don’t need an idea to be fully thought through to be on board. Lief ’s enthusiasm was contagious. Ready, fire, aim. I was in. If I had to choose one place to be indefinitely, it’d be Paris, but I thrive on discovery. I was ready for a change of scenery.
The financial implications were big, but I’m happy in ambiguity. My years with Lief in Ireland and Paris had only bolstered my natural receptiveness to taking chances.
Every one had worked out so far.
Making dinner for my family that night, I had no idea how severely my openness to the uncharted would be tested…
Until next time,
Kathleen Peddicord
Founding Publisher, Overseas Opportunity Letter
