What is it?
I invest money here. Some of my own and some from friends and acquaintances. The investment is in first mortgage loans. I lend money to private individuals through lawyers.

Interest earned
You earn 2.0 percent per month on your investment. Twenty four percent per year. This is the nett return, there are no charges subtracted. You receive the whole of the interest at the end of each twelve month period. It is your choice as to whether you withdraw the interest or reinvest it. Most of the loans I make are at the rate of 2.5 to 3.0 percent per month.

Amounts
Minimum investment is ten thousand U.S. dollars.

Term
Minimum three years. This is a long term investment and it is best to plan in terms of at least three to five years.

Withdrawal notice requirement
The loans I make are normally for periods of six or twelve months and it is quite common for them to be extended into longer periods. Accordingly I need plenty of notice when you wish to withdraw any or all of your investment. The criteria are as follows.
Up to U.S. $10,000 three months notice
Up to U.S. $30,000 six months notice
U.S. $50,000 or more, twelve months notice.

Security
First mortgage. All loans are secured by a registered first mortgage held on a property owned by the borrower. The lawyer organising the loan does a personal inspection of the property and makes his own assessment of its value. No more than thirty to forty percent of the valuation is lent.

Risk
Currency fluctuation. This is a foreign investment in a third world country and all loans are made in the Guatemalan currency, the Quetzal. Over the life of your investment what the exchange rates between will do between the Guatemalan Quetzal and your home country currency is anybodies guess. They could move in your favour or conversely, wildly against you.

Tax
The returns on these loans are not taxed under Guatemalan law. As for your own tax situation regarding the income, that is something you would need to check with your personal accountant.

Interest rate history in Latin America
Interest rates in Latin America have traditionally been considerably higher than in the more developed parts of the world. This reflects the more unstable nature of the economies involved. For example. During the four and a half years I have been living and working here bank interest rates for personal and business loans have generally been around twenty two to thirty six percent per annum and can be extremely difficult to obtain. For this reason private loans through lawyers are a very common method of borrowing.

More information
If you would like to know more about this method of investing feel free to email me at the following address. xxxxxxxxx