Costa Rica is nowhere different than any other country when it comes to real estate. In the early 2000s the hype of the countries cheap property, relaxing and eco-friendly environments sparked a real estate boom. And like the U.S, when the market busted several year ago, it threw many investors and home buyers into a world of financial ruin. Investments vanished when buyers gave huge sum’s to real estate developers for their dream home, and when the project failed, many realized they had no claim to the property, because they were never any titles or deeds of trust recorded listing them as owners.
Costa Rican civil law being what it is, has little recourse to the unsuspecting. In other words, it has always be a “Buyer Beware,” type of system. The judicial systems of Costa Rica is very costly, time consuming and still based on Napoleonic Law. “No Blood Drawn, No Cause for Action.” However, they do have a consumer law that has helped many.
Recently AM Costa Rica (a very respected newspaper) listed many failed developments, where in some cases purchasers and buyers were forced to take personal action where some has to reinvest into the project to get it built and hire attorneys for deeds of trusts. In once case, the developer told the buyers to move into their condos and claim squatters rights. Read more... (1002 words, 2 images, estimated 4:00 mins reading time)
Real Estate costs are down, now may be the best time to buy, invest or retire in Costa Rica.
My first time in Jaco (about 20 years ago) it was a sleepy and traditional Costa Rican town that did not even have a stop light. Three years ago the skyline was filled with high-rise construction on the feeding frenzy of developers and speculators investing in property. However, that has changed, most investors are doing damage-control, regrouping and wondering how to deal in the slump of the real estate market. Many have given the property back to the formal owners or banks. Those that invested 5-8 years ago are looking at the same property values today. And those with bucks are holding on knowing that anytime the market will change.
That time is now and the most to gain are the ones that made small investments and had the holding power. Read more... (603 words, 1 image, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)
Costa Rica joins the World Green Building Council
Liberia, Costa Rica, September 02, 2009 — PR web)– The Costa Rica chapter of the Green Building was notified of induction into the World Green Building Council. Environmental sustainability in Costa Rica is a major social concern as the country covers 0.01% of the world’s land surface yet contains over 5% of the world’s biodiversity.
In 2007, officials of the Costa Rican government stated that they aim to be the first carbon-neutral country in the world by 2021. In 2008, Yale University ranked Costa Rica as 5th in Environmental Performance among 149 countries sampled. The chairman of the Costa Rica chapter, Craig Williamson, stated, “The establishment of this chapter marks a historic point in Costa Rican history. It provides Costa Rica Real Estate developers the tools and information needed to make sustainability and carbon neutrality an attainable goal. It is important that there is a solid, measurable certification for Green Building, there has been far too much speculation, misleading labeling of projects, and pure green-washing in the past” Read more... (598 words, 1 image, estimated 2:24 mins reading time)
Fowler Group - Double Hook Up, Catch and Release
Better late then never, I always say, especially when 1) it’s something good and 2) it has something to do with my clients. So here are three photos of the Fowler group (Scott, Jack and Jason) who fished out of Los Sueños Marina in the Central Pacific on the 32ft Miss-Behav’in with Captain Dave Mothershead and on the 27ft Golden Rod with Captain Guillermo way back in March when the big sail bite was on. I received them just a short while ago. Took the Fowlers a long time to get the photos here, but there’s nothing shabby or outdated about this nice double or the wahoo or that dorado.
while another landed this mid-size dorado at Los Sueños
August has been an excellent month for fishing in Costa Rica all along the Pacific coast, a bit slower on the Caribbean where the rains have lingered longer than expected. Those of you who have taken the time to look at our daily Twitter fishing updates or glanced every so often at our monthly Costa Rica Fishing report page on Fish Costa Rica over the past month have seen four or five snippets posted daily abut the success of some of our clients and other anglers and groups fishing with the many world-class captains we book for our fishing charters and complete fishing vacations on both coasts of the country. Read more... (569 words, 4 images, estimated 2:17 mins reading time)
Real Estate fraud is becoming a major problem in Costa Rica
Yesterday I had a meeting with an account who was involved in a huge development project on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Anyway, to make a long story short, he asked me if I knew the guy who he had meant in Costa Rica. I shook my head, and my account proceeds to go to this guy’s website. The website was professionally done, looked legit etc etc.
Then my account took me to a another website where it showed this guy had twice been indicted on fraudulently securities in the US, and he was NOW selling real estate investment securities on his Costa Rica website.
When my account asked me if there was anything I could do about it? I responded, “Not Really!”
It is well-known that Costa Rica has attracted an increasing numbers of investors and people who want to retire and/or buy a vacation home/condo over the last few years. However, this has also sparked the increase in real estate and investment scams. It is said, that as many as 30% of all real estate deals may have some type of fraudulent dealings with them. Read more... (879 words, 2 images, estimated 3:31 mins reading time)
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