British wants to retire close to Beach in Taiwan

hi,

We are British and thinking to retire in Taiwan as Taiwan is known as safe county in Asia. we also have the house in Cyprus but consider about the living cost and medical service. We are compare between Cyprus and Taiwan.

We must have location is the pleasant calm beach area to retire. We prefer to buy the house since we are not the apartment type of person.
We dont know if the property would be cheaper in Taiwan then Cyprus.

Hopefully, there are some expat could help us below questions.

  1. Any real estate agent to recommend?

  2. Besides, Kenting. Any walking distance clean beach area has better price of property and more expat?

  3. Any retirement suggestion from Expat living in Taiwan?

“…calm beach area…”? Ummm…

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There are.

There are no real expat communitiesi in Taiwan I think.
There are expats just not very many anywhere really.

There are lots of SE Asian immigrants though.

If you don’t speak or read Chinese and you don’t have a link (preferably relative or ethnic Chinese ) to Taiwan you can’t retire in Taiwan I think

When I came here 7 years ago, I soon saw that the price of property, especially relative to rent, made no sense. Always had a feeling that Taiwan has never had a huge interest rate rise or a huge market crash , being quite insulated .
IF you ever wanted to move and rent out your property , Taiwan has one of the lowest Price/Rent ratios in the World.
However, prices have continued to rise and I would have doubled my investment or more , had I bought then.
Most coastal areas are too windy and also can suffer Typhoons, so the locals prefer the City life.
Some friends looked over the whole Island, trying to find a Plot or house with “sea views” but after 2 years , gave up .
Land around Kenting is owned , predominately by er…dubious people which can complicate matters.
Thailand and the Philippines make more sense financially, also having the beaches/property you seem to be looking for.
That being said , Taiwan and it’s people, I have always found to be great ( with the odd exceptions) and I like the very low level of crime . The place grows on you over time and the Medical facilities are wonderful.
The food is terrible if you are used to Western food, Do not believe all the positives you read, I have eaten all over the World and that is my opinion only based on experience.
The language is quite a big issue if you don’t speak Mandarin but it can be learned.
I really don’t wish to sound negative as i still like Taiwan but from the little information you posted and being British also, I would check other places and compare.

What about Spain?

Taiwan isn’t really a beach destination. Have you visited? If not, then do that first.

Can you better define “pleasant calm beach area”? There aren’t many beaches or things to do at the beaches in Taiwan. Kenting is more and more becoming known as a shi*hole with the locals.

Medical can be cheap, but not great near any beaches. Living costs could also be cheap.

I second the motion of looking at Spain. But if you want Asia, then look at Thailand or the Philippines.

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I wonder if maybe OP really did mean Thailand? They mentioned Kenting though, so probably they are really thinking about Taiwan. If you haven’t lived here longterm before, I’d think really hard before retiring here. Taiwan is safe and friendly, but it’s not a super relaxed place. I also agree that Taiwan doesn’t seem to have a big “retired expat” community. I have met remarkably few people who live in Kenting and I don’t know what the amenities are like (rail, hospitals, getting around).

Standard of British English seems to have dropped considerably since the last time I was there. Wondering if this is not some local homework project…

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You have to check your legal possibility to settle down in Taiwan first. You know, buying a property is not sufficient to reside here. However, there is some option to get a so-called investment-based permanent residency card. But are you ready to spent ~500k USD? Here are some details

Yea, the English by the OP is terrible.

If you live near Costco, you can cook all the food you like to eat :smiley:

The place should be a pleasant calm beach area and nearby Costco, so west side?

I have never been to any west side beaches, what are they like?

West coast I should say

I’ve never been either. No Costco on the east side of taiwan. East half, or east coast?

We may need to know whether OP has ever been in taiwan.

Nothing to write home about, but there are some decent spots to check out the sunset. Swimming, however, is not recommended.

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Strong currents?

What are the waves like?

I have driven the West Coast all up and down looking for a decent beach and never found one.

There are some areas that people kitesurf and maybe swim, but pollution is supposedly hazardous in those areas.

Taiwanese food is terrible if you are used to Chinese, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Japanese or any good Asian food.

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