Recently an associate of mine bought a beach condo on the West Coast of Florida. But in my opinion the real winner was the condo developer and broker who sold him the condo. He probably doubled or tripled his investment, and his profits are secure, whether the value of the condo rises or falls a year from now. The ultimate money-maker for the real estate developer has been time shares, where individual units are sold at huge premiums compared to the total cost of the units. Time shares are often touted as an investment, but they have yet to develop a secondary market, and customers are frequently disillusioned with the time-share concept after it's too late.
Many investors are interested in the profit potential of foreign investments.
But if you want to make a million dollars investing overseas, a better alternative would be to own a foreign bank or brokerage firm, or to become a financial intermediary for interested investors. In the 1970s, during the bull market for gold, silver and Swiss francs, a financial firm in British Columbia used to advertise its services, complete with an 800 number, to American investors who wanted to open Swiss accounts. The firm took in several million dollars during the 1970s, even though investors could have gone to the Swiss bank directly without having to pay any fees or profit-sharing. Many Swiss accounts were never really managed - they amounted to a simple silver bullion account. Certainly, that is one alternative which could make you financially successful.