As the pandemic’s long-feared second wave comes crashing down on us like a mammoth breaker pounding a cracker box coastal village, some real estate shoppers are looking for values far from the densely-packed districts that are their customary areas of interest.

How far? How about Uruguay? As in the South American nation of 3.5 million inhabitants nestled between Argentina on the south and southwest, and Brazil on the north and east?

Uruguay is not exactly a hop, skip and jump from places like Miami or New York City. But it does possess myriad qualities increasingly prized in these fraught times. With many placing more and more emphasis on living in contact with nature, luxury developments encircled by green, wide-open surroundings and untrammeled environs have become more popular in today’s real estate market, serving as appealing, secure investments for foreign buyers.

Uruguay, long a magnet for Brazilian and Argentinian investors, is increasingly luring Europeans and North Americans for exactly these reasons.

Whether it is a beachfront apartment, ocean-side single-family home, a country estate built on a sprawling ranch or an elegant domicile in a private community, investors are finding more space at less expense in Uruguay, a safe place of economic, social and political stability, where foreign real estate investors are not only accepted but welcomed. Recently announced tax incentives provide incentives to invest, many aimed directly at foreign investors. Other fiscal advantages, such as a 77% reduction in the minimum requirement for real estate investment, have helped seal the deal for a good many North Americans.

Read the original full article by FORBES at forbes.com