International Real Estate: Escapes from the Mayan Prediction

Until recently, the Mayan Calendar's dire prediction that the world would end in December 2012 had affected only the paranoid and the easily spooked. However, the international real estate industry has crashed in on this hype and is taking the term "safe investment" to a new level altogether.

A number of international real estate developers are constructing hideouts aimed at investors who would like to attempt to ride out the impending global destruction. These "survival condos" are designed to be self-sustaining and completely cut off from the outside world. Similar to the hideouts from famous fiction such as War of the Worlds, these high-end condominiums are almost always subterranean and are becoming increasingly luxurious.
Here are few options to consider for international real estate, if you believe in the Mayan predictions and want to beat the end of the world:

• Survival Condos, Kansas, USA: An old Atlas "F" nuclear missile silo is upgraded with luxurious fittings and fixtures, such as granite counter-tops and expensive flooring. These condos cover half a floor of the silo and come complete with a home theater and five years worth of food reserves -  for a cool two million dollars. A key feature are the virtual windows, which give international real estate homeowners the option of customizing the view; for example, an underwater scene.
• 20th Century Castles, Ohio, USA: A decommissioned missile site is subjected to an extreme makeover and transformed into a secure luxury residence. Every apartment is accessed via an elevator and has a personal gym, swimming pool and Jacuzzi. The blast proof doors are L-shaped hallways will help keep Armageddon out at a mere cost of only $ 1.5 million.
• Private Fallout Shelter, Devon, UK: Touted as Britain's strongest privately owned bomb shelter, this complex with its 32-inch thick, steel reinforced walls, will withstand a one megaton nuclear blast. For pound 350,000 you get six bunk beds, a Swiss-made ventilation system, plywood lined walls, a diesel generator, and for entertainment, a few board games.

Footnote: Ironically, the mythical Mayan city if Xibalba, or "City of Fear" also lay underground.