Bitcoin Gentrification in El Salvador: The Hypocrisy No One Talks About | Lexi Cross

Thinking about buying real estate in El Salvador or relocating with your family? In this episode, Mike Peterson sits down with Lexi Cross from Good Life ElSalvador   to break down what’s really happening in the El Salvador real estate market. They talk about everything from turnkey condos and oceanview lots to Bitcoin purchases and foreign real estate investment. Whether you're planning a move or looking for a second home, this episode gives a clear look at what it's like living in El Salvador right now.

Lexi shares insights on how real estate seasonality impacts the market, where demand is highest, and why more families are interested in relocation services to places like Zaragoza. You’ll hear how Surf City El Salvador has evolved, why oceanview is trending over oceanfront, and how developers are catering to both investors and long-term residents. If you're thinking about moving to El Salvador, you'll hear what to expect when it comes to schools, neighborhoods, and infrastructure.

They also dig into how Bitcoin is actually being used in real estate deals, the rise of crypto-backed mortgages, and what buyers need to know about navigating regulations. Lexi and Mike explain how their Discovery Trip helps people make informed decisions about relocating, connecting them with lawyers, builders, and local experts before buying anything.

If you’re curious about living in El Salvador, using crypto to invest, or just want to understand what it’s like to build a life in a country that’s getting global attention, this episode is packed with useful details. And yes, they even talk about what kind of furniture to avoid near the beach.
Hit subscribe, leave a review, or comment if you’re still deciding between a view in Surf City or some quiet hills in Zaragoza.

-Bitcoin Beach Team

Connect and Learn more about Lexi Cross
 Web: https://www.goodlifeelsalvador.com
 X: https://twitter.com/goodlife_sv


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Browse through this quick guide to learn more about the episode:

00:00 – Intro
00:42 – What is the real estate market like right now in El Salvador?
02:41 – What types of properties are people buying on El Salvador coast?
04:49 – Who are the buyers: Bitcoiners, expats, or returning Salvadorans?
05:57 – Is there more housing supply available now?
07:44 – What are lot prices and home sizes like in The Cliff development?
10:07 – What do buyers need to know about maintaining beachfront property?
12:59 – How common are Bitcoin real estate purchases in El Salvador?
14:58 – Are there Bitcoin-backed mortgages available now?
20:37 – Is gentrification a real concern among locals?
25:15 – What are the top international schools for expat families in San Salvador?

Live From Bitcoin Beach

Transcript

0:00

Well, now I feel like I'm a real bitcoiner, because I, but I, I get it, you know, because you're in it, you're in it, like, long enough through, like, maybe a couple cycles, and then you see that it's, it's going up, it's going up. So, but we use, I mean, we actively spend Bitcoin, yeah, as well. So you let Lexi, we got you back in fear for a little real estate checkup. Thank you for having me. I always am so impressed by that intro video. It's like, I want to go. There. You are, there. Well, I got my ridiculous blue blocker glasses on again because we're recording at night, which, you know, I usually don't like to do, but you're just too busy during the day, so we couldn't get you a normal time. So I'm trying to stay on my sleep schedule. So that's what happens. You get old. It's hard to sleep. So it's happening. Well, you should, should not be having to yet. Well, I think it's more you have a new five year old, you have an infant, yeah, exactly. Well, yeah, stoked to have you back in here again. I know we recorded with with you and chambera, was that a year ago or something like that? Yeah, yeah, time flies months ago, yeah. So want to just kind of do a check in with the real estate market. You know, obviously you guys have a real estate company here. Good Life, real estate. And so you kind of have your fingers on the pulse of things. And so yeah, want to delve into that. And then just some of the other things, as you have clients that are moving here, what you're seeing other needs. I know you guys went and visited international schools today, so we'll talk a little bit about that. And just your sense of, I know initially, when the Bitcoin law was passed, it was a wave of people coming in just curious if that's continued, or if it's kind of plateaued. And so, yeah, so we'll kind of cover a bunch of different things, and then obviously talk about the, what do you guys calling them? The trips. Oh, Discovery trip. Discovery trip for people that can kind of come down and in one swoop, like, meet lawyers, see properties, get a sense of what it's like living here, and you guys kind of handle all the details. So we'll, we'll talk about that at the end. So yeah, should we start what's, what's happening in the real estate market here in El Salvador. Yeah, so now we're in, we're in May, end of May, so I think like we're seeing, this is typical this time of year, where there's a little bit of a slowdown, because now we're entering the rainy season, so we don't have as many people coming, although there's more than there used to be. But I think we're still seeing, we're still seeing a lot of real estate interest year, I think, mostly for reconstruction development. Still, people are looking for that vacation home that they can. They want something turnkey. Yeah, something turnkey, and then something that they can that they can use two or three months out of the year, a month out of the year, and then generate rental income when they're not using it. So we're seeing that become more and more popular, I think, the pre construction model. So those people tend to want something that's part, like a condo, that's part of a complex, or something like, yeah, yeah, exactly. And we're seeing development move towards, like, at least for us. I don't know about other real estate companies, but we're still seeing more and more developers focused on condominiums. It's easier than, like, a standalone house to maintain and everything. So that's kind of where we're seeing a lot of the interest. But then we also have a lot of people still coming here and wanting to relocate entirely, like not just looking for a vacation place, but a place to move their family. So that's we were with a client today at the American the Escuela Americana. So we were at the American School. We're looking at different schools, and we're sort of helping them with the whole process of discovery for like, do they want to move their family here or not? Hey guys, just a brief interruption. We'll get back to the exciting show here. But I just want to really ask a favor that you guys could make sure that you're subscribed. If you're watching this on YouTube, if you are listening to this on a podcast, please take take a second and review this. You know, you don't even have to write a lengthy review or anything at all. Just click the number of stars that you want to give us. It really helps us in the algorithms to make sure people are finding out about what's happening here. All right, back to the show. So there's still a mix of people, a lot of Bitcoiners still coming to El Salvador. Most, most of our clients are still, are Bitcoiners, and definitely hermanos, lejanos, too. We're seeing more and more Salvadorians coming by and for for people who, who don't know what that means. So that means, it's like, I don't know what it means. Technically, it's like, long lost brother. Yeah. I think it is like a brother is a far. Yeah. Lejanos, but, yeah, that's Salvadorians. Who are, you know, been in the US for the last couple decades. You know, a lot of them have had businesses, or have done well, and now they're coming back and investing in the country, yeah, and we get a lot of leads, like, a lot of inbound questions, like, you know, I'm so and so, I want to move my mom to El Salvador. You know, she grew up there. She wants to go back and retire there. So we want to come and look at real estate options. So that's, that's pretty cool. We had sisters come and stay at one of our discovery trips, and they were, like, super excited and jazz coming back to El Salvador. Uh huh. So, so, yeah, I would say that's kind of a pulse on the market right now and then. What about as far as supply? What? What are you guys seeing? Is there more? Because it felt like for a while there was, like zero supply. It seems like now maybe there's a little bit more, when things have kind of leveled off a little bit, but, but I don't know you're the experts. Yeah, we're seeing more and more projects come to completion. So whether that's condominium projects or developers who are doing small homes like we are seeing, I would say, more coming onto the market, more more pre construction development. So there's, I think that there's, there's more available. What I would say, I It's interesting. You know, maybe four years ago, we'd have people wanting to come down to El Salvador and knock on doors, right, and see like, what they can find off the market. And what I what I think is interesting, is that just doesn't really exist like as much now, you know, you're looking at things that are you're not going to go to San Blas and knock on doors and see if somebody Well, they've already had 100 people knock on their door, exactly. Yeah. It's just not the reality of the real estate market anymore. But you are seeing, yeah, I would say, like more, more availability, probably the most in terms of projects. You have the cliff. The cliff is a new subdivision project near Sun Sal. So that's new, you can buy lots. We do have that project. You know, what are those lots starting at, I think they're around 250,000 I need to look at the pricing sheet exactly, but yeah, about 250,000 up to 350,000 for how big of a lot? I need to look at my need to look at my pricing sheet. I actually, I can do that, but not huge lots. Yeah, like, you know something that you could build a house and you can build on, I think about 3525 to 35% of the property. So it's not huge amount of land. But yeah, we're seeing, we're seeing more subdivisions you can buy, where you can buy a lot and build or pre construction condominiums, okay? And do most your clients are they like looking at one or the other? Are they kind of looking at both, like they don't really know if they want a lot or if they want a condo, or most of our clients don't know what they want? Yeah, right. And so that's kind of why we have the discovery trips truly, because we'll get people writing us saying, I want to buy a I want to buy a house in in San Salvador. I want to buy like, a condo near the beach. And then they get here, and we show them different options, and they they might change their mind. So I think it's, it's, yes, most of our clients are buying into projects. But I think really it's, it's, they don't, our clients don't necessarily know what they want before they come here. If that answers, yeah, that makes sense. So, but yeah, I think, I think there's still a lot of demand. I really do. You know, it's just we're entering a little bit of a slow period right now, but, and it will pick up again in November, but still, that's kind of the seasonal norm, yeah, yeah, exactly. And what about as far as, just like, raw land that's not part of a development? Is that, yes, that would be mainly people looking to come here and do projects. So we do have people looking for larger pieces of land, and again, like the prices just range dramatically from one one area to the next. I would say, like, Ocean View is big. Like, want to buy a piece of ocean view land and build because a lot of the I would say that's maybe another thing a lot. When we first started our real estate company, a lot of people were looking for ocean front property. Or, like, how can I get my hands on ocean front. Now we have people more interested in being like, you know, maybe a 10 minute drive or five minute drive, and that's mostly just because of price. It could, it could be price available, you know, supply. You're not going to find anything ocean front to build your house. And also, I think things are changing. Maybe you don't people who who thought they wanted to live in a small surf town, there's, there's more tourism, more hotels, more restaurants, and they want to buy something that's like, little quieter, quieter, but, yeah, but close. So that's also been something we've seen as a trend. Well, you also pay a huge, huge maintenance tax to be right on the water. Yeah, I could speak from firsthand, yeah, I know. I know stuff. Just does not laugh. Yeah, and it's a lot of upkeep. This is something beautiful. I have no regrets, but it's, yeah, yeah, definitely, you pay that tax. Rest, yeah. Very quickly, we actually started, we're doing a, we're offering a furniture package with for some of our clients who purchase in condominiums, and they were putting, you know, they're putting the furniture on there, and I'm like, Nope, no, nothing with metal. Nothing with metal. They're like, but I'm like, is that gonna rest there? They're like, No, no, it's not gonna rest. Yeah, no. Don't believe it. Don't. Do not believe them. I don't care if it's stainless. I don't care. I mean, we had, when we built this place, we had people promise us, we had bunch of stainless rail and they're like, No, it's guaranteed not the rest. It was literally, within a week, it was resting. Yeah, exactly. So we're trying to stay away from that. But yeah, no, I yeah, I think, I think that's kind of the what's happening in real estate, would you say, like, for, for kind of a similar property where it was that a year ago versus now? Say something that a year ago was 500,000 where would you say that it would be now? It's just totally depends on where. But I would say you think it's gone up maybe 10% Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think that there's, I think that there's probably land in certain areas that has increased more, yeah, yeah. You know, if somebody took, took a risk on a beachfront property, like a little bit outside of El zonte or something, you know, I think you're gonna see, like, a higher appreciation on something like that. But for example, maybe the condominiums, for example, for example, wave house, yeah, maybe 10% you know, yeah, okay. I mean, that's kind of where I sense things are. But obviously I don't have my fingers on the pulse, like, like you guys do, yeah. It will be really interesting, I think, to see what happens specifically here in El zonte, over the next couple of years, we have a lot of buyers asking, Well, what's going to be my return? Yeah, you know, like, if I'm buying into a condo unit, what's going to my return? It's really hard for us to answer that question, because the supply is going to change so dramatically over the next, you know, year. So I think we're going to see, we're going to see what happens in the next year, two years, as far as rental market supply, is there really the demand to fill the fill the supply in terms of renters? Yeah. So, yeah, yeah. We'll be interesting to see when, because all these condos are coming online, and a lot of people are planning on Airbnb, and then yeah, and right now, you can't find anything to rent, yeah, in Auntie you know, that's why I think wave house has been really popular, because you have, you have a unit that has a kitchen, maybe two bedrooms, services a family, and it's newer construction, we're going to have a lot more of that coming soon. That being said, I think the demand for buying is still high. You know, the projects are selling through quite, quite quickly. I hope that the rental demand is there. But and are you seeing with the purchases being done? Are you seeing a number of them done with Bitcoin? Yes, yeah, yeah. Do you feel like that's increasing? I don't. I would say it's still the percentage of our buyers, probably the same percentage are buying in Bitcoin. And what percentage would you estimate that is for? Well, for for the pre construction projects, most of them accept Bitcoin with no fee, right? You pay in Bitcoin. That's it. So for those projects, we're seeing a lot of people use Bitcoin for other like one piece of land or one single family home, not as much, because we have to use an exchange, and maybe the seller doesn't want to receive it. So it's a little bit more complicated, although it's completely possible to do it that way, but I would say probably 50% of our buyers are using Bitcoin, okay, for purchases, uh huh. And and one thing we're starting to see now which if, if anybody wants information for this, I can, I can give it to them, but there's a friend of ours. Noah, I don't know if you, you've met him. Yeah. Okay, so he has a company called bit backed. It bit backed. I hope I got that right, but they're doing Bitcoin mortgages, so I can't speak to that like I don't, I don't know enough. Have you guys done any? We have, not, yeah, okay, no, we have. Well, one of our clients just did, actually, just did a mortgage, a Bitcoin mortgage. I don't, I don't know exactly which company he used, because there's different, different products coming on the market, but this has been some something that we've seen grow in interest, right? People are, they don't want to use their Bitcoin. If they don't have to, people want to huddle their their Bitcoin, but they they want to buy real estate. So I, you know, I've always, I've always, I'm not super well versed in how it works, but I have always been hesitant, because I've heard that leveraging your Bitcoin in that ways is risky, but it sounds like there's more products coming on that that will service that. Interesting. Yeah. And that juice. Do you have clients that are like, planning on buying but they're waiting for Bitcoin to hit a certain dollar price before they pull the trigger? Sure. But you know what's so funny is, like, We've had clients say, well, when Bitcoin gets to to 50,000 that's when I'm gonna then my budgets a million dollars, you know? And then the same client will say, well, when, when Bitcoin gets to 100 you're kind of like, I don't think you're ever going to spend your big but, yeah, no, people always think it's going up. So yeah, I mean, I get it never feels like a good time. You never, yeah, you know. And like, once because I, well, now I feel like I'm a real bitcoiner, because I, but I, I get it, you know, because you're in it, you're in it, like, long enough through, like, maybe a couple cycles, and then you see that it's, it's going up, it's going up. So, but we use, I mean, we actively spend Bitcoin, yeah, as well. So, no, I think it's, it's, it's just a matter of, if you have everything in Bitcoin, that's going to be what you're going to be spending on a day to day basis, and but it forces you to be more frugal with things. Yeah, it's true. I know good puts a check on you. I've always liked your philosophy on that. And I think we were having conversation with com, a great conversation with clients who were in town that are are good friends now. And we were talking about the fact that, like, there are certain things you you do use your Bitcoin for, like, you need a house to live in, right? You know? So I think there's that utility side of real estate that is just well and you can't necessary. Some point, the only thing more scarce than Bitcoin is your time. You can't recover that time. And so if you just wait your whole life, I mean, the Bitcoins made its money, and yes, and money is to be utilized to facilitate us living the most productive life that we can, not just for ourselves, but for others, and how the impact we can have on the world. And so if you're just like focused on acquiring a bunch you can it's the same as somebody just focused on acquiring a bunch of, you know, dollars and doesn't, you know, ever use it, and misses out on all these opportunities to have impact on other people's lives or, you know, even their own families. And so, yeah, that's why I was encouraged people, yeah, of course, you want to save for the future. You want to have that deferred gratification. But there's you can't take that too far. You also need to, like, live life, and one day you'll be old and you won't be able to go on that vacation, yeah, enjoy that beach house, or to do those other things. So, yeah. So we see, we see, we see, yes, we see Bitcoiners. Who are? They're buying real estate here, and they're using their Bitcoin for it. And of course, yeah, they they're looking now for other methods of retaining as much Bitcoin as they can. But people are still, they are. They are spending it. And they're, you know, they're, I just, I still doing a real estate transaction with Bitcoin. Is always so fascinating to me, because it is just so easy. It's so simple. And it never gets old to be like, here's your, you know, link to your QR code. And, you know, literally, you like, sit down at the table and you guys are, you're done in a half an hour. And, like, it the house has been transferred. And because there's no escrow here, it happens right away. And, yeah, it's just a very, very simplified process, yeah. So I know from, from talking to Jim Bera, he said that kind of, you know, after the the announcement with the IMF thing, that there was Bitcoiners that are upset, and that were like they were planning on moving here and now, are pulling out or, or, you know, are selling their properties here. Do you feel like that was just kind of a blip and, and, or, do you see kind of, like, ongoing consternation, kind of coming from that? And what's, what's what's your take on how that's like, impacted your guys business? Yeah, we didn't have, we did not have one single client tell us that they were not investing in property in El Salvador anymore because of what transpired with the IMF. You didn't have any, okay, not one. Now, um, did we have I, honestly, I didn't see a lot of impact from that. Okay, good. As far as buying real estate, definitely, we're in a Bitcoin circle, and we have a lot of friends and, you know, in Bitcoin, and so we definitely heard complaints about that, and saw that some people were not happy about it, for sure, but I wouldn't say that it affected our business, really, and we didn't have anybody tell us, like, Nah, I'm out, you know, so, and then I will also answer, from a separate viewpoint, is that I haven't personally seen it affect our clients use of Bitcoin in the country, or the acceptance of Bitcoin. No, I feel like it's easier to use Bitcoin now than ever. There's no, you know, like you can still use it at Starbucks, not that I go there all the time, but you can, you know, you can still use use Bitcoin everywhere. I feel like the adoption, it already started to happen. Why? Why take it Yeah, why take it away? You know, the cat's already out of the bag. It's, it's, yeah, yeah. Snowball is rolling down the hill, yeah. So I know it was controversial, but, but for us, we didn't see a lot of negative impact. Yeah. And what about, are you guys seeing? And this is, you know, is this something that people bring up with me all the time? So I'm just curious, since you're in it of like, you guys are gentrifying the country, and you know, these people are coming in and they're pushing the locals out, and do you get much pushback on that front? And what's your response to people? I'll tell you what my response is, but I'm just curious, is yours okay? You know who I hear complain, complain the most about this are the people. Let me guess. Let me guess foreigners who have been here for a long time and never bought and their lifestyle is changing. Their lifestyle here is changing because things are more which which I empathize with them. I take down the special place and they can't afford to be here as much as they were before. Yeah, but I don't, I don't, I don't. I'm not saying that it doesn't exist, but I don't specifically hear from a lot of actual locals, because most of them didn't own the land, the prime land before it was owned by wealthy Salvadorans that lived in the city and you know, but a lot of the locals are benefiting from their businesses increasing and the jobs increasing and all the other things. Yeah, and I just find that the people who make the loudest noise or complain the most are the ones that I don't know how to affecting their lifestyle, yeah, yeah. And, and there's a lot of hypocrisy, yeah, in, in a lot of the complaints that I see as well, in terms of someone's complaining about real estate, but then they're selling it like but just not publicly. So I think that, you know, like chimera, and I always say that development brings good and bad, of course, but I will say a lot of the clients that we have specifically are people who are buying real estate and and, and they're not just buying it to hold it or buying it to sell it in two years. They're buying it to start a business. They're buying it to they're employing their employees. They're, they're, they're, they're moving here, if they're not moving here, they're buying a place, and then they're starting a business, and then they're employing local people, you know, like, like, John, yeah, so I think, yeah, I think gentrification happens. In some ways. It's inevitable, but I but I also think it's important for and Jim Barra will will say this, it's important for the community to band together and talk about the things that they want to protect, yeah, about their their home, you know. So that's that's also important, but it doesn't make sense to like. You can complain all you want on Instagram or social media apps, but if you're not doing anything else about it, then, then what's the point? You know? So that's my take. Yeah, no. I mean, I have mixed feelings with the development we see coming in, and obviously from the jobs and the opportunities 100% you know, some of the ways it's changed the skyline and the feel and the other thing, yes, I'm obviously not wild about but I think overall, net, net, it's a positive for the community, specifically for the locals. Yeah, and there's a generation of young people who are having access to tools that generations before didn't have access to. So I think there's gonna, there is definitely a challenging transition period, but I, I guess I, my hope too, is that young people have a lot more opportunities, you know? Oh, they definitely do. Yeah, there was hardly anything before. And so you're seeing them opening businesses. You're seeing them, you know, learn English, like, increase the wages that they earn. You're seeing all kinds of things happening. So I'm, I'm always cautious and a little bit insecure, because I am not, I will never be a local. I've only been here for, you know, almost six years. So, and I've been, I just happened to, like, show up right before all of this kind of change started to happen. So I think it's your fault I did it. No, but, you know, I also lean on shambera a lot because he grew up in Asante. And, yeah, so makes sense. So I know today you were off exploring schools with some of your clients. And you know, as people are not just buying homes here, but moving their families here, which we see more and more, kind of from all over the world. It's not just the US and Canada. It's kind of from everywhere. What was your impression you went to Escuela Americana today, which is my dog? Daughter graduated from there. My son actually started there, and it was, it was too big of a school for him. He wanted to go. There was a smaller one, the International School. But my daughter graduated from EA and was an amazing school, amazing experience. So just curious as to what, what you thought, yeah, I was blown away. I mean, the what we've heard always is that the facilities, facilities are phenomenal. So it was my first time there. We were bringing, so, for context, yes, we were bringing a client there who's thinking about relocating his family, and we were doing a school tour. And it was, yeah, the facilities are, are just beautiful. And so you have your your pre K classes, then you have your, you know, your grade school, classes, your middle school and your high school and all of that on one campus, but separated. And so walking through was, it was really, it was really special to see, you know, like we're we, we, as you know, we have lion, and we're not sure what we're going to do with him, as far as schools go. But it was like inspiring to see, like, an option, you know, for him. So, so yeah, and I, and we'll go see the British school on Thursday. And now I'm really curious about all the other schools in El Salvador, but we do see a lot of families thinking about relocating, which is like, especially when you're coming from a different country, speak a different language, you know, that's a big undertaking, but, but we have multiple families now where this with the same shared story of, I don't feel that there's opportunity or hope or whatever it is in my home country anymore, and I'm looking for a Plan B, yeah, so this is one of those situations, and then, you know, and they're moving. It's so much more than real estate, it is. It's the schools, it's the schools, it's the hospitals, it's the telephone number, it's the bank account, it's everything that you need to have a functioning life in a in a new country. So, yeah, we're trying to help as much as possible with that, because it's, it's crucial, it's critical. Yeah, so for people who are looking to move, you know, and if you want your kid to go to kind of a credentialed school that will allow them to easily, like, go to college anywhere in the world, you know, there's, there's a handful of international schools. So school Americana was, is probably the, you know, seen as the number one school. That's when you visited today, tuition and, and in Satoshi terms, or Bitcoin terms, is about point one, one Bitcoin a year. So if you're still living in the Fiat world, it's, it's about 11,000 to $12,000 a year for tuition, which, which sounds like a lot, but then I talked to my friends who are sending their kids to private school in the US, and they're paying 30 grand a year, you know, for for a similar level school, yeah, and so it's, it's a very top notch prep school, you know, that kids that go from there go to the top schools in the US and Europe. My son wound up going to the International School. It's about half the price, and it's much smaller school, you know, the the education levels, maybe not quite as good, but, but still, like, great. You know, he's, he's going to college next year, same school as his sister, who graduated from the other school, and I feel like he's equally as prepared. And then you, you guys are visiting the British School, which is kind of in between those two. I think it's like eight, $9,000 a year. I think it's about 8000 a year. You know, one thing I was, I was thinking about in terms of real estate trends and as it as it relates to families moving here or enrolling kids in this in the schools in San Salvador. One, one part of the country that's becoming more popular is Zaragoza, you know, so you're and so for those of you listening, who don't know where that is? It's basically in between San Salvador and the beach. And we're seeing developments happen there. I mean, Ellen Canto, yeah, the big golf in really popular development that's there, yeah. So we, and we also rep, we represent the the land, and then the pre construction homes that they're building. So but, but it's, it's beautiful there. And if you have a family, it's great. Because, I mean, I've never myself, been a big country club person, like, I didn't grow up going to a country club, but here, it's nice. Because when you have a family that you have all the amenities, you have the pool, you have the play area, soccer field, stuff like that. So it feels like it was air dropped out of Orange County, California. Like, first time I went there, I was like, What in the world? I mean, everything's just like pristine and yeah, you really felt like you're like, in Mission Viejo or something, yeah. And you don't, it's not like communities where the homes are just like, like one next to the other, where you have no space. It's actually like quite a bit of space in between homes. So it's kind of these beautiful rolling hills when you look out from the clubhouse. But that's been really popular that area. So Ellen canto is, is more luxury, higher end product and community, and there's other properties and development. Is it part of the reason? Because of school that the people are looking at because, yeah, I think it's because it's, it's like, it's between the beach and the city, yeah, so you don't have to be in the middle of Sansa. Salvador, but you can be close enough. And then, so you don't have to, like my son, has to get up at 430 every morning, so he can leave by 530 Yeah. And if you live there, you can, yeah, you can definitely sleep a little more exactly. So that's been really popular. And then we have buana Vista, which is a lower ticket development around 200 and actually starting at 200,000 for two bedroom home. So, you know, that's that services a certain type of client who we have, and we have clients who are interested in that. So there's different options for people. But that part of the country I've, I've been seeing people more interested in especially for families, yeah? So, yeah, we'll see what timber and I do. We've been thinking more and more if we put lion in school, for example, we've been thinking about, well, the German school, if we're going to put him in school, maybe that would be a good one. But like, they have to start at three. You know, I'm thinking, we have all the time in the world to figure this out, but because they're they're going to learn another language, especially if you're gonna go put them in the German school, maybe not, but we don't know yet, really, but that's what we've just been thinking ourselves about, like, okay, maybe we need to invest in a, in a in a city location, if we end up doing that right? Like, I have friends now who moved to los buenos because they're putting their their kid in the in the in the British school, yeah. So, yeah, those are kind of the things we kind of we did the in between. We got a condo in the city and would stay there a few nights a week, but yeah, the kids didn't want to leave the beach. Yeah. I mean, no way. So you start to think about these things, and then it and then it affects your real estate decisions, you know, and like so. And then I think even just us as your life personally changes, you also start to relate to clients differently. Yeah, right. So yeah, before, like, why would you want to live there, see why you'd want to live Yeah, exactly. And you just relate over like, kids and so, yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. So the other thing for people who are looking thinking about moving here, that when you think about schools, they have what they call the matricula, and so you pay it's this one time fee. When you go into a school, and the majority of them have it, and it's pretty steep. It's about a half year's tuition or a semester's tuition. So you kind of want to pick the school you want to stay in, because you don't get it back, even if they just stay for a semester, or if they go there all 12 years. The one school that doesn't do that is the international school where my son's at now. And they tend to have a lot of people that, you know, they get a lot of, like non US Embassy, embassy employees. So, you know, like the Korean Embassy or the, you know, the Colombian University, or not University embassy. And so the kids are kind of more in and out a little bit more, but then also have a number of Salvadoran kids there. And so he's, he's really enjoyed that both, both my kids, like the schools that they went to. So it's just kind of getting a sense of where they're gonna fit in the best well. And now you're seeing, we're hoping, fingers crossed, there's gonna be more school options on the coast. Yeah. So I hear lots of talk and lots of and I think it sounds like that's something that's gonna happen, which presents new opportunities. And this is, you know, this is the other thing is, I think another trend we're seeing is like more more services and more offerings on the coast, like Ellen cuentro is now. Now we have a super selectos, and there's a salon. Well, when we moved to El Zante, like people thought we were crazy in San Salvador. I mean, it's, it's only an hour, but it was like you told them that you were living in the like far Outback woods in the US, or something like and nobody could conceive because at that time, culturally, it was you had your beach house, especially the wealthy Salvadorans, they live in. You live in San Salvador, anywhere else is, you just wouldn't even think about living. You know, it's uncivilized. But then you have your beach house, so you go for like, Saturday and Sunday, but you would never live at the beach like that was like my daughter told me when she started at EA there, the kids would, like, give her a hard time because she was, like, poor, because that's where the poor people live at the beach. And you've seen like that shift where now people from San Salvador, they all want to live at the beach well. And this is also a reason why, like, the prices are pretty comparable to what you would see in San Salvador. You know, you want to buy a lot and build a house. That's it's kind of like in certain way, in certain ways. Some of the areas are more expensive than the city, right? But there's, there's also, like, you are seeing more people wanting to come, no, a lot of Salvadorans that are moving to the coast. 10 years ago, they wouldn't have, like, you know, been, they'd been embarrassed to live at the coast, but now it's like, the cool thing to do. It's so funny, yeah, so, you know, we, I went to see. A I went to see a beachfront house in Costa del Sol last week with a an agent that we have a relationship with, and they have the listing direct. And we went to see it, and I it's just beautiful. And we were talking about also tendencies of like foreigners versus Salvadorians, and the preferences they prefer. He was kind of, he has, he has mostly Salvadorian client base. And was talking about how they, most of his clients prefer, like a block modern house, right? Versus, I feel like we have a lot of clients who are interested in those kind of charming Spanish style homes, you know. So we went to see this house, which is, which was mostly this kind of like Spanish style house, which I love. It's, you know, I love it so, but that house is 30 minutes from the airport, an hour to the city, and I've never really thought about costados. I and I still don't want to live there, but it's such no surfing there. So, yeah, there's no surfing there. And, yeah, but, but it's beautiful. Oh, yeah, the beaches are, you know, and this house in particular, I was like, wow. Like, imagine you can live in this oceanfront property. It's sandy white beaches, you know, and then just drive an hour. I mean, you could literally live there and drive an hour to the city, good every day. I mean, yeah, we do it from here, and just fly into flying to the airport, and you're there in 30 minutes. So, yeah, there's, there's kinds of, there's opportunity, good opportunities all over the country. That's another thing we're seeing. Are people, are, people are expanding their areas of interest, outside of just El zonte or Surf City one, you know, definitely Surf City two, Punta mango, but all over the country, you know, so awesome. Yeah, so tell us about the discovery trip. I think, do you want us to play the video first? Sure we can do that. Bucha, can we pull that, that video up? So I love that you guys are doing this. Because there's so many people that they want to come to El Salvador, they want to check it out, but they feel like intimidated, like I don't know anybody. Where would I start? And, yeah, well, I do. And, you know, just kind of like, show up and stay in some random Hotel. So you guys have this package where you take care of all the logistics. You connect them with lawyers, with, you know, obviously you guys provide the real estate services, but you connect them with architects, with builders, with all the different things, you know, school tours, that sort of stuff. So let's, let's play the video real quick. You where's that? That's it. That's actually Maui, okay, so, and then you bring speakers in, I mean, like myself sometimes, yeah, yeah, you know what? We created this because we saw a real need for it. It's not a, like, a cheesy timeshare pitch. I think some people are like, I'm not gonna go in a group thing, because they're gonna try and sell me something I don't need. And, you know, but actually, there are so many people interested in El Salvador. And so this was a, this is, we created this just to give people the tools, knowledge and like connections that they need to have a good starting point here. So if, if people aren't necessarily ready to invest in real estate, they can do this. And they can just, they can put their feet on the ground. They can get a sense of the area. They can get a sense of the market. They can, they can, you know, have, you know, we went to the Minister of Economy. So, so I think it's a great jump off point for people who are interested in El Salvador. It's been hugely successful. Actually, you know, people are have found it really well. They've said they've found it really valuable. So, and it's been fun. I think one of the best things that was one thing I didn't realize about the power of these was actually the people who come meeting each other and vibing off of each other. You know, we're so focused on like each other, yeah, we're so focused on, oh, we're gonna provide this experience for all these people coming. But then the people coming kind of may make it their own experience. Share their own resources. We have, we have, actually, we have a two people that came on one of our discovery trips are actually buying a piece of property together. Oh, really, yeah, so I it's been great, you know, like, I think it's been super valuable, and there's no pressure to buy anything. We're not selling anything. We're just, you guys charge people a fair amount for the service, so you're paying for that. It's not like, hey, we'll bring you in here on this cheap rate, and then we're gonna, like, hammer and, you know, feel like you're you're obligated to buy something. It's like, Hey, you come in, you pay, you know, for the services you're getting. Saying, but then we're gonna put you in contact with all these people that would take you months if you were trying to do it on your own. Yeah? You can do it in the context of this fun group with these other people. And then if you find a place you want to buy great, if not, like, yeah. And we, you know, yeah, I would say, sorry. Can you cut that? No, no, you're gonna have to look old like me. I lost my train of thought. But yeah, it's, I think it's I think it's a great I think it's a great experience, and and everyone should do it. No, no, I can't remember what I was going to say, but yeah, it's been wonderful, and for us, it's been really fun, because we've made new friends. We've made we've made great connections, like we're able to link people up and share resources. And so yeah, we have another one, June 22 through the 27 and how do people sign up for that? And they can give us an idea of, like, what it entails, what a what a square, excuse me, what a schedule would be. Yeah, so it's, it's, it's basically for so we provide accommodations, airport transport. We basically cover everything in the cost of the trip, which is starting at 2000 to 4000 and that just depends on if you want a private room or what we don't have, it's only if you do a shared room. It's just two people in one room. So it's not like it's a shared room of bunk beds like that, but we provide accommodations. We have workshops with we always do a workshop with a lawyer, an architect, a civil engineer and an accountant. Those are always included. And then every trip we have kind of, like, guest appearances from, I don't know, whoever's in town at that point, or, like, we kind of try and throw in different people for that. They're not throwing we, we curate it well, right? But, and what else we do? What you guys go, like, to different parts of the country, and we do a full day, different types of homes for sale, different types of like, we do a full day of real estate showings. We do a visit to San Salvador. But I think, yeah, we really focus on San Salvador, Zaragoza, we tour Ellen Canto, which is cool for people to see. So I think it's a really great, like, macro view of what's happening. And then what we see is people are, they're super excited, and then maybe they come back and they do a visit to Punta mango or and so we've actually even toyed with the idea of, like, let's do another one, but let's rent Mike's place and do it in Punta mango. Um, so, yeah, that's a little bit about what sync. So they should get on there and sign, yeah, so you can just around the corner, yeah, yeah, it's, it's in about a it's in a month. So we, we actually have some reservations for that, but we do have some spots left. So people want to do it. They can just get in touch with us on our website. They can find us on Twitter. And that's what is the website. Is it just good life? El Salvador, awesome. Okay, yeah, yeah. And then the Twitter handle is good life. Underscore, SV, okay, yeah. So, any, any, any. If you Google good life El Salvador, you'll find us too. So, or just, just hit up timber on Twitter, yeah Or yeah, and then he'll send it to me, and then hit him up again, because he forgets to send it to Lexi. Exactly. I know that because that's how I am with my wife. She's gonna send it to me three times. Yeah, exactly. No. That's super exciting. I not just shilling you guys. I would definitely recommend people sign up for a trip like this. I mean, it just makes it so easy, and you'll just learn so much, and you'll cover so much, and it winds up saving you money, because you don't make mistakes with bad lawyers and, you know, bad architects and those sorts of things, because those will cost you 10s of 1000s. Yeah, it saves you it saves you money. It saves you time. And I think that one thing that people, it's not for everybody, because I've said this before, you can come here and you can make all those connections on your own. You can figure out everything under a lot of work. I did that on my own. I wouldn't much rather had somebody kind of hand it to me. Yeah, and then you decide, you know, then you can, you can do whatever you want. But I think that that really helps, and for us too, it was, it made a lot of sense. Like, I think people still are on the fence when they're thinking about real estate and buying real estate in a in a new country like El Salvador. And, you know, we charge, we charge for services like we charge for this, because for us, it's also a lot of knowledge and time that we've put in. So we can share that, but we we aren't also spending, I mean, we could spend all day giving out free information to people, you know, so at some point you have to. So this service makes a lot of sense. It's, it's, it's kind of a win, win. Yeah, it's fair for everybody on both sides. So, yeah, I think, I mean, I think that wraps it up, maybe, unless you have anything else you wanted to share. No, no, I I love living here. Everyone always asks me, like, what is it like living there? I lived in New York City for 10 years before this. And I've been here for five years. I still love it, so I really encourage everybody to come and visit as a first step to El Salvador. And if you are in the market for real estate, definitely hit up good life. I mean, I've been here for 22 years. And the other reason I bought this house that I'm in now because they found it and I had no idea was even for sale, and Roman went out there and beat the bushes for me and found this. So definitely, highly recommend them. And and then, of course, you don't have to deal with timber, because he's scattered like me. Then you actually get a deal with Lexi, who's very organized, so you get the best for both worlds between the two of them. So yeah, highly recommend you check out good life, and I appreciate you coming on. No thank you. Thanks for having me. Mike. You.