Lief Simon has lived and worked on 5 continents and travelled to more than 40 countries.  His real estate investing started with a multi-unit building in Chicago.  After selling that building for an incredible leveraged total return of more than 1,800% in 2 ½ years, Lief turned to international investing.  He has personally bought and sold property in 16 countries.   As the founding editor of Global Real Estate Investor, Lief travelled most of the year in search of real estate opportunities around the world. In addition to excellent potential returns and the opportunity to travel, Lief feels that international real estate offers two key benefits to the investor: diversification and asset protection. Lief looks for one of two market situations when identifying opportunities to invest: an abundance of opportunity created by a market distortion (crisis investing) or a chance to follow the path of progress (new infrastructure or trends).   For example, Lief told readers of his Global Real Estate Investor to buy in Argentina immediately after the 2001 financial crisis, a time when CNN was busy showing riots in the streets. Lief saw not crisis but opportunity. Forward-thinking readers who followed his lead have since enjoyed appreciation rates of at least 100% in fewer than three years on buys in Buenos Aires…plus rental income.   In recent years, Lief has also turned readers on to investments in Mexico, Nicaragua, and Romania, buys that have appreciated 160% in 18 months, 120% in 12 months, and 82% in 15 months, respectively.   During his tenure as the Real Estate Director for International Living, Lief managed a multi-million-dollar portfolio of rental properties. In addition, he was the developer’s representative, managing Rancho Santana in Nicaragua for more than a year.  In his role with International Living, he was responsible for negotiating and managing marketing agreements with developers all over the world.   He has been quoted in articles on international real estate in Live and Invest Overseas, The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, USA Today, and Outdoor Magazine.

Quoted In... Outdoor Magazine - August 2002 The New York Times - October 2005 The New York Times (and reprinted in International Herald Tribune) - February 2006 USA Today - August 2006 Miami Herald - April 2007 Canadian Business - April 2008