Rich Homebuyers Are Now ‘Test-Driving’ Multimillion-Dollar Mansions

When San Diego residents Marty Smith and Tracy Park realized they’d soon be empty nesters, they began an international hunt for a beach house. “I had been traveling to the Caribbean for 20 years, but it wasn’t until I saw a show on TV about Placencia that I even considered Belize,” says Smith, 53, founder of RMS Capital Solutions, a direct lender to California real estate investors.

The couple did some Googling, found a development that looked promising, then made a call to one of the agents they’d seen on television. “It turned out he offered a four-night ‘discovery tour’ to a new place called Itz’ana, so we booked it,” Smith recalls.