Thoughts on best options on where to buy land in Morocco

I live in the "City Beautiful" called Orlando.  I'd met my Moroccan wife here 24 years ago and we been together ever since. To bring back inheritance thing or beneficiary here in USA, my wife would get half if we ever did get divorce, but Allah Allam, that should never happen. If I die before her, she will get everything which is over million dollars worth of assets. Pretty good for being a housewife coming from Marrakesh with one suitcase. Money doesn't mean much to her. Praising Allah is more important to us.
Everything belongs to Allah.

As for music festivals, they have at least one every year in Essaouria for a few days. Marrakesh have several live music shows during the Summer. Fes have some too.

I don't get the housewife situation which is a reflection of my age, education and lifestyle.
I would rather have my own assets then "possible" assets tied to another person.  A million dollars does not go all that far anymore.  In my city the average home cost $800 0000/ the have detached house is 1.3 million.  So if I was a  housewife and obtained a million dollars in assests it wont take long to blow through that money.  For someone that comes from a country where that money could stretch more then this would be good if they are willing to loose the comforts associated with living in a more developed country.

I would never encourage anyone to be a housewife.  It is a really dangerous move as  you are putting your future in to someone else's hands.  Even if you have a good husband, well good husbands can get sick and die and when you dont have an solid education and work experience you cannot earn a good income.  Unless a women is content with the idea of floating about from husband to husband in exchange for stereotypical "female" domestic services to obtain food and shelter.   The older you are the harder it is to re-enter the work force and get a good income.  Also in reality the older you are ... the less likely you are going to find that husband number 2 that can support you.  The world is a very competitive place : ).  The person man or woman that has more money does in fact have more options.  I would rather have options ; )!

My wife chose to be a housewife, so she could raise our children. She's educated. That's how she got to come to USA. Praise Allah, that I make enough money for this to happen and live comfortable lifestyle. Those numbers that you threw out there from where you live, sounds like you shouldn't need to worry about money unless you live above your means. You should have millions saved based on what you said. In order to live in a house like you mentioned, your combined income should be no less than $250,000 to $325,000 USD a year after tax.

Based on Islamic law, if a woman makes an income, it's all hers to do what she wants to with it. You should like that.

My wife's youngest sister just went through a divorce in Morocco (both Moroccan). Like you mentioned, she got married young with only High school education, had kids, and was a housewife. Now, she has nothing to fall back on. Morocco has changed some laws, so the wife gets little something, if there's something to be had. Sadly, this is the majority.

I can tell by your responses, your an intelligent woman. Your money will go a lot farther in Morocco. Based on my calculations, the cost of living our lifestyle in Marrakesh is about half the cost of living where we live in USA.

Put this way, you can comfortably live in Marrakesh on $2000 month if you own your house and car. I grew up very poor, so I've learned how to save money. Inchallah, we should be able to live off just my Social Security when I retire which would be more than $2000 a month. Inchallah, the millions I've saved over the years in my retirement plans will still be there for my kids and my wife when I die. Also, I give Zakat and Sadaqah with Allah's money.

Truly Praise and Believe in the Almighty Allah with your heart and you'll be rewarded.

No I don't have millions saved lol.  I wish.  I am not that careful with money.  Also I bought at the right time.  The house values almost tripled in around 10 years.  But when house values rises property taxes rise. 

But your wife is a brave woman because choosing to be a housewife is not a economically rewarding job and life cost $.  Anyone who doubts how scary life can be when you don't have more financially
security does not understand how scary it can be to live without a clear source of income.  I have met "poor" people in Morocco and in my country as well and it what motivates me to work because once you are poor it is a trillion times harder to get out of poverty in most cases.

That also explains why there seem to be significant people in developing countries trying to meet that tourist or person online at try to get married.  The odds are usually against then if they are poor.  I have met a good number of men who were "mail order grooms".  Many of them came from poor families and were in hopeless situations even if they were education.  If you don't have money and you live in a country were it is expected that women are housewives you got a lot of burden on you if you choose to get married and have a family.  Sadly most of these men married older women or women that had had kids and were divorced, used them for papers and divorced them once they had papers.  In all these cases the men ended up heading back to Morocco now that they had more money through working in Canada and got re-married there.   All these men pray 5 times a day and claim to be religious but they and their families turned a blind eye to the morality of what they were doing to survive.

Re: Cost of living....

Now as a woman and a person that does not speak Arabic there are other social cost of living to consider.

I likely will not feel as comfortable doing most things by myself as getting openly sexually harassed in Morocco when by yourself is common.  If any man reading this doubts it I challenge you to dress like a women and walk around by yourself in Morocco even to go shopping in a market and then tell me about how fun it was to have men follow you around taunting you, making advancing or leering at you while you are just trying to go about your daily business.  After that multiply is by 100 if they figure out you are not from Morocco.  No fun.... in fact scary.  To help decrease the headache of open sexual harassment I will likely have to pay to live in a better area.

Also not speaking the language will limit my ability to work, be treated fairly when shopping, doing business transactions and dealing with health and legal issues.

So the cost saving of physical items my not be discounted as much as book values might suggest.
Also there will be not discount to compensate me if I fall ill and can't find anyone to understand I am trying to say and end up not being able to get treated fast enough in a hospital.  That example was a bit melodramatic ...but very possible.

In Morocco I will be spending money at a rate faster then I personally as a non-Arabic speaking women can make money.  If I was retired that could work as I might be spending less then I would living in a major city in Canada, but if I am not retired I am going to be loosing my ability to gain wealth.

This is part of the issue I guess people like my husband have when living outside of their country.  If you have a pretty descent life in your own country then your leave and now have a lower status if might not be worth it.  My husband who comes from a pretty well off family never had to stress about money because he did not really have bills.  He lived in a property owned by his family.  There was always food cooked by someone for all meals and snacks.  Life was pretty easy.  Then he comes to a country were he cannot communicate as well, his qualifications to do what he did to make a living a pretty meaningless and you have to "work" to pay bills and then have to pay taxes on everything you buy and then on everything you earn .... this does not sound like a good deal anymore.  Anyways that is basic why I am looking for ideas of where to buy because a "little sultan of Morocco" wants to go home because life is too hard in Canada .... too much stress for someone who had things of cruise control/ easy in his own country.

All these men pray 5 times a day and claim to be religious but they and their families turned a blind eye to the morality of what they were doing to survive.


Yes, this is true. I went to the cafe with my wife's Aunt's husband which has been unemployed for most of his life. I saw him sex texting another woman in English and he wasn't even trying to hide it from me. I told my wife about it, because her Aunt is a good person and supports him. She bought him a car and doesn't even ride her to work. She takes the bus. He prays 5 times a day at the Masjid. I go pray with him while I'm there.

Your husband should go shopping with you then.

So you have seen this type of behaviour too ...

This is by no means a critique to Islam because this types of hypocritical actions are done of people from any faith.  It is their actions that are the problem.

This is a strange social thing I have noticed in Morocco too.  It is likely all over the world, but I specifically noticed it in Morocco.  There seems to be a percentage of very parasitical men who live off their wives.  I am not trying to be too judgemental or sexist but I found it pretty ironic how men from a very patriarchal society and that want to act very patriarchal feel that is it okay to have children and not work.  My husband has a few of these types of men in his family.  I found this very strange behaviour.  Some of these men have like 5 children and don't actually have a job.  How can you be that irresponsible.  They are not physically sick.  They want all this respect for being a husband and father but .... no effort to actually work and support their families and they leave their wives to have to be begging and borrowing from family.  I really wondering if some of the people that married in to my husband's family really did it just because the father had money?

One of my husband's cousin is married to this man that does not work.  They have a bunch of kids.  They live in her father's house and I swear he supports them.  He lives in France and bought the house with money he made while working in France.  It must be so horrible as a father who works so hard to raise his children see this happening.  I would have loved to hear my father-in-laws take on this as a man who work very hard to support 13 kids and 2 wives.  A significant regret I have is not being able to speak Arabic so I learn more about father and mother -in-laws lives.

I can not speak for all women, but shopping with my husband is a punishment for both of us : ).

Shopping is a sport and I play to win : )!

I kind of don't really want or need my husband to know how I spend my money.

For example I will spend a lot on jewelry, make up, skin care products and hair products.  My husband does not use these things and does not understand how or why I choose certain products or how I determine value or if an item is a good deal as he does understand or care to know about these things.  Not in a million years could I see my husband happily waiting while determined which colour nail polish, shoes or outfit I liked best lol.  He is thinking of jewelry in terms of the weight of the metal and not designs or brand of the item.

I can't understand why he wound spend $300 on a pair of Nike running shoes when I have never seen him run anywhere, if he did no one would be paying him to do so and they don't really look nicer then a pair of Puma or Addias shoes that could be bought for less then a 3rd of the price.

When looking for land then surely you have to make a list of all the things you are looking for within your budget: type of land, size of plot, location, possibility of building on it, access to utilities and water, being overlooked by neighbours or not, noise pollution such as factories, building work, busy roads, barking dogs etc. Is it in a place where you enjoy being? Like the landscape? Access to activities you want to do, like swimming, local eateries and so on or do you want it to be in the middle of nowhere  as a retreat? What's your ideal shopping list? If you make a list then mark the items on it as either must haves or nice to haves then that makes it easier to when going to plots of land and deciding if they are for you or not.

Very good suggestion.  I am going about this is a very disorganized way.

First advice : if you are married with a Moroccan man and his family is huge be extremely careful becouse if something happens to your husband (God's forbid), you will have live to see with regret and anger his properties and benefits in Morocco being shared between his family and you will be pushed aside like you never existed.. Morocco is a real jungle with real animals when it comes to money and benefits. People will show their teeth within seconds. Forget about their generosity or friendliness.. It is fake. These people are monsters disguised with sheep skin.. So never ever buy land in Morocco. If you buy a home put the name of the house deeds in your doughter name. Not your husband name. Neither yours..
If you want to rent your property you better be around the place to manage it yourself. You can't trust a Moroccan except your husband to run your business while you are in Canada. They will destroy your busines in short time. Most of Morocco work force is lazy, dishonest and corrupted so don't start any business unless you or your husband are around here to keep in in check.
If I was you I will open any high end restorant with American theme in any city like Rabat or casa. I prefer Rabat. Trading too can be very good option.. Wish you good luck

What complete and utter trash you talk. Are you a morroccan? Talk of family in this way?
Why would you even contemplate being in such a country as you describe? Hypocrite comes to mind and biased prejudiced views help nobody with aspirations to move to Morroco.
Morroco is a wonderful country and your scare tactics followed by your suggestions on where to open business makes absolutely no sense.

Hi,

I actually agree with some of what you said regarding inheritance issues.  In most countries people become nasty fighting over money.  I have already seen this first hand in my husband's family after the death of his father and later his mother, but see it all the time in many different cultures.

Regarding investing my own personal money in Morocco ... lol ... hell no.  I would not invest money in any location in the developed world ( even including where my own parents are from).  I like to keep my money close buy.  This is my husband's inheritance.  I would fairly described most of his brothers and sisters as greedy and lazy, but I would not just assume all Moroccan's are like this.  His father have exceptionally driving so I have no idea why her ended up with so many kids that are just under achievers.

If anything when in Morocco this year I am going to try my best to get my husband to put everything in my daughter's name in advance.  Should something happen to my husband I have no interest in Morocco, it would likely be my daughter possibly wanting to visit.  We only have one child.  Both me and my daughter are in his family book.  I really want to do everything to block any member of his family from getting even a penny out of what he inherited.  They got their cut and should get off their butts and work to improve their situations like everyone else in the world.  They had an easy like unlike the average person and have no excuse for not being in better positions.

In fairness there is some truth to what the other poster wrote.
Morocco has problematic laws regarding inheritance for someone in my situation.
In other countries as his wife I would get 100% of everything, unless he gave legal written direction to give his estate to someone else.

Further more why should my husband's brother get a significant portion of his estate.  What have they done for him, my daughter or myself?  Also I am not Muslim I don't really like most of my husband's brothers and sisters and would describe them as parasites.  If they acted like this when their own parents died... I would not expect any better behaviour or moral behaviour should something happen to them.  So I would be very happy to do my best to surprise them with this reality should something happen to my husband as they proceed to the funeral with their hands open like beggars.  Further more to punish them for how they acted when my father and mother-in-die I would love to done to even donate the home to one of the exceptionally poor families they rented to really test their character. 

If you have never seen this type of behaviour in families when someone dies you either:
1. Come from a smaller family
2. Come from a family with more class/ morals
3. Don't have a family that has died with a significant estate

His father was a millionaire by Western Standards , but lived very modestly.  If his looser kids can't figure out how to use the at least $100 000 dollars plus in assets they EACH were give they are absolute idiots and deserve to be poor.  They need to spend less time trying to get stuff without working and stop being lazy bums.

As I said : most of families here have very spoiled kids greedy and lazy.. Don't expect nothing good from them. The sons in this culture are treated like Kings and they grow up believing themselves as such. They don't like to work. They talk like women non stop and they are greedy. Nothing good comes from such kids and such culture who glorifies the male and undervalue the female. I have lived within this community for years and believe me is the same story when the head of the homes dies.. Suddenly you will see the hienas lurking around the corpse waiting their unfair and undeserved share.. Make sure to never give even one Dirham to these beggars.

I spoke with my husband lady night and he has agreed to go to a lawyer and notary public when there to try and allocate all of his estate to our daughter.   She will still likely get cheated out of some things as many items are still jointly shared, but legally I think they would need her written consent every time they want to sell off land or larger assets which will drive them nuts.

I have no idea why anyone thinks this behaviour is a unique feature in Morocco.  I work with people that are dying and I see this behaviour a lot when a person with a large amount of assets dies.  My father- in-laws was self made.  I tend to dislike people anywhere in the world that have ever opportunity to be successful on their own and can't get it together despite having parents that have given them a good starting point.  I seriously wonder how well exposed certain commenters are to people from other cultures, religious and nationalities.... because a lot of stuff said has nothing to do specifically with Moroccan people, but human nature.

Good evening, I saw you were looking for a terrain for sale to build a house.
Maybe I could help you out. I don't know if you're familiair in Marrakech, but we sell a terrain approximately 15km from the city centre , direction La Plage Rouge in Marrakech (Direction Route d'Ourika). Let me know if you're interested!

I can suggest it to my husband.  Technically it his money.  We will be in that area innJuky so for a short time .... but I don't think he would like to live there.  I think he is more interested in coast areas near smaller northern Morocco cities.  But I will let him know just in case.  He also won't work with an agency.... He is old school.

Best wishes.

We're not working with an agency, but are selling the land private, without any intervention. Let me know if you want to know more or if you're husband would like to call mine for informations. Wish you all the best!

hi
if you want farm land in tangier , i know someone can find you a one , he's a middleman .

Charaf is a lovely peaceful village in Agadir and only 20 minutes from the coast and centre of Agadir.
Les Amicales its neighbour is also nice and cheaper for property.
Charaf has many diverse residents and a property here would be a super investment.
A two bedroom apartment is £150.000 currently
And there are nice villas.  Charaf has a mosque two grocers and an hammam

urbanshopping101 wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for your feedback.
I should have mentioned my husband is Moroccan.
He ( which really means WE .... or at least it better !!! ) own 2 properties there in Fez and Taza. 
The money I plan on using to buy the properties is already in Morocco and frankly it is a pain to move it out of Morocco.

I don't want to move to Morocco in complete honesty as I have no issues where I am.
I know he is getting tired of living in Canada so I have to be a bit more reasonable and at least more formally set up a "plan B" life in Morocco.

I am not living in Taza.  Over my dead body.  It is pretty and PAINFULLY boring compared to any major city I have lived in or visited.

I have been to the other places mentioned but they are a bit too south for me.
I seriously want to be able to get in and out of Morocco fast if needed too.  The extra effort and plane or train fare to get more south in Morocco does not seem worth it to me. 
My husband is from North East Morocco and most of his family is there.
It is also a pain to get there from Casablanca.  So I am feeling I want to be in the North part of Morocco.

Regarding your comments on being a woman in Morocco.  I am not sure if you are a woman, but I am and I disagree.  Open sexual harassment is pretty common.  Also sexual stereotypes are common.  I am not going to get more attention because I am "Western".  I can pass for being Moroccan.  I think thing are changing ... but things are still light years away from the freedom I experiences as a women where I am from.

We have to do something with the money soon as it is just sitting there and it is just stupid not to invest it.  I would rather own land.  My husband keeps on almost buying things.  I need this figured out as we are loosing out opportunities by wasting time.

I am trying to narrow things down a bit so I can head over there with him in the summer for a few weeks.  Pick something and get a lawyer to ensure that should something ever happen to my husband my daughter and I get 100% of any assets he has there.  That is the main reason  I am not willing to take even $1 out of my money to invest in anything in Morocco because should something happen to my husband it is going to be a huge pain to get the money back in my pockets.  I am being extra cautious in this area because I have family on both my mother's and father's sides that have lost claims to land and properties in developing countries due to carelessness.

Need to get out fast when you want to?
Tangier.
I walk from my house to the port and in 45 minutes ferry ride I am already in Spain
A taxi drive for 20 minutes takes me to the airport and in 1.5 hours door-to-door I am at my relative house in London, thanks to Gatwick Express.
The TGV will take you in less than 2 hours to Casablanca, where I can catch a direct flight to New York, where I work part time. 
Tired of the 45-minute ferry ride to Spain? Catch a shuttle flight to Malaga, get your passport stamped, and back to Tangier anytime.

There are plenty opportunity to invest in the North around Tangier, with much better projected ROI (Return on Investment) than in the South due to the fast train (TGV), the Free Zones and Port Med (the new port) and another new port in Kenitra. The low-end tourism is dead and not to be revived anytime soon. So stay away from cities that depends mainly on tourism industry.

I am from Taza.I would like to be friend with you.

@Moroccan1

I like the way you think and agree wholeheartedly that Islam needs to be reformed .... Shall I tell them or will you ?!

@urbanshopping101

   Hi i am looking to invest in morocco too but i am so scared to take any action as i am concerned about getting scam. I live in uk. And i want to think about making money for my retirement life. Csn you please advice me did you end up purchasing any thing jn Morocco  would you mind talking to me over the phone in due course. Of course i mean on whatsapp

@Goldkhalifa

   Bro would you mind talking to me over the wgatsapp i am in uk. Would like to talk to someone who got little experience.

Why on this forum no one is talking about buying property in casablanca ? Please any experience person shed some light on it. There are dozens of multinational company there ....please advice me to buy something there ?  I mean casa

@hiddeneyeservices

Yes, ring me on ***, send me a message before ring me

Thank you

@Firaznazmiya

I have DM you my contact number as we are not allowed to share here please call me

Thsnks