www.CostaRicaTicas.com

For the record, I have sold real estate in Panama (only my own in Costa Rica) but no longer do so. My advice is PURELY of my own experience as an owner of real estate in both places to a fellow member of the board. If you check the archives on this site you'll find that I am the former owner of Casa Vino. I bought it, rented it for a while and when I wanted to, sold it for a profit.

I am not suggeting anyone buy foriegn real estate, that will depend on a multitude of factors involving them that I am not aware of. What I am suggesting is that the blanket statement "Don't ever invest in foreign real estate" is ridiculous. There are tens of thousands of people who have done this successfully and have reaped great rewards. As for my credibility, my self-interest at this time is not in selling real estate, but renting it. I love renters.

It seems like the vast majority of people on this board are negative and emotional about this topic. It is a financial topic however and numbers and reason should trump anectdotal evidence and stories of "guys I've spoken to" and "stories I've heard".
Here are some numbers and facts for Panama:

1. GDP estimated to be over 9% this year-(estimated to be top 5 performing economies for the next 8 years)
2. Panama Canal is a cash cow- $4.2 Billion per year (expansion of 3rd lane underway, revenue jumps to $16 Billion when complete).
3. Expansion of Toucumen Airport from handling current capacity of roughly 2.4 million to anticipated 8 million arrivals in 5 years
4. Influx of Multi-national companies making PTY their regional hub to market to large South American economies. 41 at current count
5. Tens of thousand of wealthy Venezuelans emigrating to escape Hugo Chavez
6. 20 year tax abatement
7. U.S. dollar is the currency
8. Extremely cheap, quality health insurance as low as $80 per mo., John Hopkins Medical Center is available.
9. Large chain hotels making major investments- Hilton opening 5 hotels in PTY, RIU, Royce Carlton and many more all coming in.
10. Recently discovered Copper reserves, 2nd largest in the world.
11. Recently discovered oil in the Darien Gap
12. Construction of 8 Hydro-electric plants
13. Extremely large financial center
14. 2nd largest free trade zone in the world
15. Largest ships registry in the world
16. Modern sophisticated nightlife
17. #1 retirement program in the region

There are a whole bunch more, but each one of these items directly relates to; many people moving here, frequent trips from business people, workers, tourist and a very large circulation of capital. As a result, it is actually quite difficult for a person using a good lawyer, who buys in the right place and pays the right price not to do well on the investment.

With the tax abatement, low maintenance and operational costs, combined with a lot of high-end business people and tourists coming so frequently it is possible to get a much, much higher return on your rental than almost anywhere in the U.S.. The currency is the U.S. dollar so there are no currency fluctuations to worry about. With the amount of higher-end people moving here it is not difficult to sell your unit for a profit.

Besides the benefits mentioned above, depending on how much your unit costs you may qualify for a Pensianado Visa which entitles you to; 25% off airfare (even international), 30% of hotels (50% sun-thurs), 25% off restaurants, 25% off phone bill, 25% off electric (up to 600kw), 50% of entertainment (movies, concerts, sporting-events).
In addition, if you work it properly you can get a tax dedcution for your flights, meals and transportation costs when you visit your investment property. For people who go a lot, they will save thousands of dollars by not paying rent, while making thousands of dollars by collecting rent. A property manager takes all the headaches out of it if you don't want to be involved and charges only 10%.

Once again, it's not for everyone and A LOT of research and caution is involved but the pay-offs are very large for those who choose to take the plunge and do it the right way.

You have made this your business and /or investment to at least some degree. My advice is meant as a 'warning label' to protect non-real estate professionals and newbies. As a 'professional' you should know the risk and rewards and will ignore the warning labels. But for you to encourage newbies to buy is irresponsible and questionable. There is no gold rush here. Prices are still stagnate and sales at a full stop. I imagine that's why you are no longer participating in this market. There is no downside to an abundance of caution. Why are you pushing people to buy without renting for a year or two first ?
Who said "ever" or Never ? The prudent advice is to rent first and buy only after one has lived here, experienced the realities of living here and then still wants to allocate money that may be tied up for many years.

You have rental property. So you have an interest in people buying here as they will rent first. You cannot consider yourself unbiased as you have to gain from the real estate market.

I would take this as a huge RED Flag.
I think your bias has caused you to miss or ignore a lot of the first hand experience reported here as well as the results of research reported here.Did you miss this ?
Did you miss this ?

Here again you are discounting research and encouraging people to ignore the reports of experience of others and JUMP RIGHT IN !

_________________
* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

Incorrect, here you get gloom and doom and emotional responses from people who more than likely have not pulled the trigger themselves of if they have, have not done it the right way. I'm not really sure what your issue with this whole thing is but the statement that it CAN work out if you do things properly after doing all your research is a lot more realistic and well thought out than- "Never buy in a foreign country".

Buying might not be the right move or comfortable for you, but everyone is not you. If I had listened to all the naysayars I would have lost tens of thousands of dollars by just renting and not buying in CR and Panama. For the 3rd or 4th time now, it's not for everyone and I'm not suggesting anyone buy anything, but as tens of thousands of people from the U.S. and Europe can attest, it is possible to make a good investment and come out ahead. What exactly is the argument, are you denying that many people have made good investments and made money?, are you denying there are benefits to investing outside the U.S.?, are you convinced that everyone thinks exactly like you and has your fear and trepidation concerning foreign investment?.

No one is advocating putting your life savings in a place you haven't researched properly. But if after proper vetting the numbers all add up and the risk is minimized and you have a good lawyer and are buying in a reasonably developed area with a lot of tourist activity you can have a pretty good investment and make investment income if that is what desire. It can take time to sell, so you make sure to buy in an area with a lot of tourism so you can rent and have positive cash-flow for as long as it takes to sell.

Dude, what is your problem?. I stated several times, I'm not telling anyone to buy but simply that it is possible to buy and come out ahead. There are millions of people who lost their a**'s in real estate in the U.S. over the last couple of years, there are millions of people who lost their a**'s in investments on the U.S. stock exchange. Investment is risk, there is no way around it.

Yes it's easier to own in the U.S., as I stated- remember me mentioning "pitfalls"?. But in the U.S. you don't get a 20 year tax abatment do you?, you don't pay $200 per year for property ins., you don't have a plumber spend 2 hours fixing your toilet for $12 with parts do you?. There are plusses and minuses for buying, it's up to each individual person to decide for themselves, not for you to decide for them. I did not paint a rosey picture, I mentioned several time you have to exercise a lot more caution and be prepared for a lot more headaches and invest a lot more time in getting a quality lawyer. But if you do those things you can come out ahead with a good investment as I and dozens of people I know personally have. Where is your investment property in FLA?, how much do you pay in property tax?, how much do you pay for insurance?, for flood insurance?, what is your maintenance?, how is the rental market at present?.

As to my incentive for posting this, Panama has millions of people coming in each year and that number is going to quadruple- I don't need a few people from a chica orientated forum to buy or rent in order to help my bottom line.

Several people on this forum have said quite often, "Never buy, only rent" in answer to your question about who says never.

I am not recommending anyone discount any advice or any of the horror stories that are out there, for the 5th time now- All I am saying is that it is possible for someone to make a good investment and come out ahead- that's it. I'm not saying anyone should buy, I'm not saying it's easy or guaranteeing they will make money or that they won't lose money. I'm saying if you do things right and DO PROPER RESEARCH that it's possible to make it work. I don't have an agenda and I'm not trying to influence anyone in anyway other than to be aware that many people have succeeded at this and provide some numbers as to why a whole bunch more will as well (in Panama anyway,IMHO).

As to your comment about Panama sales being at a full stop, that is very far from the truth. There are thousands of Venezuelans coming here every month and buying apartments, there are lots of Europeans and a fair amount of Americans coming and buying as well. Prices have been stagnant for the last few years but that is pretty incredible considering the world financial crisis and how many real estate markets crashed, like in Dubai and FLORIDA. You can sell in Panama at full retail and make great profit if you are patient, you can sell very quickly if you make your price attractive. I sold two properties this month and will make a decent profit on both. What hasn't changed, even through the financial crisis is that the rental market is very strong. If you are in a tourist area like El Cangrejo, you have your choice of tourists, short-term business people, long-term business people, upscale families, foreign college students etc. The rents are at first world prices and the overhead is low and there is no property tax so your profit margin is very high. If you buy in this area and want to sell but can't, you can at least have positive cash flow to hold you over while you wait. Properties priced right in El Cangrejo go very quickly at the present time however.

I don't know if you are familiar with Panama or not, but it is a very, very different market than CR. If you are basing your judgements on CR than it is really not really applicable to what I've been writing here. I would not buy in CR at present, but have absolutely no hesitation about doing so in Panama. Once again, this is purely my opinion.

As far as someone living in the country for 1 year or 3 years before buying etc., that's great advice if you are planning to move to the country. The original poster from memory wasn't planning on moving to CR, but wanted an investment and to visit a few times a year. For someone like that with a full time job it would be a little impractical to move there for a year if he was considering an investment. You have to go at least several times and do ENOUGH RESEARCH to know what you are doing and make the best possible decision. Get it, ENOUGH RESEARCH?- not being a newbie and jumping in with both feet when you don't know what you are doing, I never once said or implied that. I bought Casa Vino before moving there and because of the price, the overhead, the availability of renters, security of the area etc. it worked out well with relatively few headaches. I put my time in and found a very good lawyer, an honest contractor and a great property manager.

Bottom line is IMHO, if you look for roses you'll find roses, if you look for weeds you'll find weeds. But just beccause your looking for roses doesn't mean you don't wear gloves and bring scissors to cut the thorns off.

The last time I was in that neck of the woods was two years ago... and Matapalo was a tienda and several houses surrounded by acres of African oil palms. It's ahard to believe that 2 years later, they are selling condos for $400K. I guess that's progress.

Speaking of Matapalo, I have a friend who thought he had a great deal on some land, concession property. He was assured of being granted the concession. He wasn't granted the concession. My roomie bought some titled beachfront land south of Limon. Titled is very rare and valuable. He went through Stewart title. 4 years later he's waiting for the courts to make a ruling on some bogus squatter claims. His 'investment' is frozen, unusable and unsaleable. Stewart title doesn't get involved in squatter disputes. How convenient for them.

As someone said, buyers are scarce as hen's teeth. If you are looking for a place to live and get a really good deal and somehow feel there is absolutely no danger of getting jacked around by the so-called legal system here, maybe buying is a good idea for you. Even in that case, what is the harm in renting first? Don't fall for that 'buy now or be priced out forever' line of BS. Prices are falling all over the world, with only the rarest exceptions, and Costa Rica is NOT one of them.

_________________
"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

Whoa!, I just saw this- how dare you assume to know me or my intentions and make a statement like this. Did you read this part of my prior post:

"As someone mentioned, do a lot of research on which attorney you'll use- that can be a killer. Whether from dishonesty or incompetence many of the lawyers in these countries can really mess things up for you.

As was also mentioned, it's very different buying in CR than it is in the U.S. Go over your contract voraciously and don't leave anything to chance. The only thing worse than some of the lawyers down there are the developers. I'd recommend only buying if the development was completed or close to being so." Does that sound like someone trying to talk someone into buying?.

I've been on this board since it's inception, why don't you do a little research before you make that kind of statement/accusation. You can feel free to check my references with people that DO know me; Admin1, Vegas Bob, BkTuna and Tman for just a few.

If you did know anything about me, you'd know that I am not a professional real-estate person but a private investor who got inundated with requests form friends and friends of friends who wanted to buy several years ago during the boom times.

You are buying a lifestyle choice with fee simple property that you not only own but is transferrable with title. If you like to roll hard and run with the chicas elegante then escazu and Santa Ana has some of the most linda chicas anywhere, if you like to be out in the country then San Ramon has some of the hottest chicas anywhere, If daybuzzin and seeing the best looking women this side of the internet then in San Pedro they are waiting on the bus right outside of Bar Rio.

_________________
* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

Are you serious?, are you saying that no one who is successfully involved with foreign real estate should be able to answer questions about.... foreign real estate?????. Should they just listen to the advice from people who failed at it and tell them not to do it?. I have 3 properties left, which I plan on renting for a while. When and if I want to sell them I will get my buyer from my real estate agent, I have no need or desire to influence anyone on CRT to buy anything, anywhere. I simply provided realistic information to the OP's question. It wasn't pollyanna at all as I included a bunch of negative comments and warnings that are legitimate.

Besides this my POINT was that I have never promoted property in any kind of a salicious manner or been anything but forthright in any of my dealings and that the people mentioned in the post can vouch for my character and integrity. I've given advice on this board on a bunch of topics over the years and have done so in an unbiased and fair-minded manner with no interest in self-gain.

Can you please respond to the my question about how my statements warning the OP; to be extra careful with lawyers, read the contracts voraciously, not to trust the developers and that he shouldn't by unless the project was completed or near completion was trying to talk him into buying?

Out of curiousity, can you please point out what parts of any of my posts you feel where; untrue, exaggerated or meant to sway someone to buying?

Sure, I see now that your are completely unbiased. Keep pouring the Kool-Aid.

_________________
* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

I have tried really hard to be civil with you during this dialogue but it's pretty obvious you've got some issues and either don't understand relatively simple concepts or that you like to have endless meaningless arguments about stuff that doesn't mean anything. Whatever your deal is I'm not going to play anymore and this will likely be my final post.

You haven't answered any of my questions to show where any of my posts were untruthful, exaggerated or meant to sway people to buy. You didn't respond to my question of how all my warnings and negative comments were examples of my bias or desire to sway people to buy. This topic could have been a meaningful one with people getting both warnings and facts to help them determine if buying was the right option for them. But as often happens on this board, it degenirated into meaningless back and forth exchanges of baseless accusations and response.

This whole exchange has been kind of stupid from the get go:

Here is what I posted in the morning of the 25th:

Here is your response in the afternoon:


I have been unbiased through this thread and have consistently supplied balanced information of the positive and negatives and have suggested extreme caution and thorough research. You are in fact the one who has been biased, you have presented only one side. It seems to me that since you failed with your investment you have an obvious bias towards anyone who has or may succeed as it will make you feel inferior. In looking over your previous thread on this topic viewtopic.php?f=20&t=35736 where you obsessively list over 30 reasons not to buy(many of them were avoidable)- it's pretty obvious you don't understand or are not competent enought to handle foreign investment. So please, keep on renting and putting money into the hands of people who do understand and are competent enough.

A closing thought, many of the people who are so against buying and have been making frequent trips to CR or Panama for many years could have been able to BUY a unit with the money they spent paying rent and lost by not renting. In addition, they missed out on great opportunities with companies like I-Travix http://www.itravex.com/main.aspx which let's you turn your rental property into free stays anywhere in the world.

I own property near Dominical, but I rent the house I live in. I will spare you the details, but I have the ideal situation.

A couple things bubba: Have you spent time in Matapalo? It does have a beautiful beach, but it is hot, no breeze, has a lot of mosquitos, no decent super markets/restaurants nearby, lots of thievery and the women are feas.
Listen to the general concensus on this board. Experience is the best teacher, is it not?
Rent, DO NOT BUY. Especially, do not buy if you are not going to live here. You will get hosed.
Most ongoing developments are busts, looking for suckers. LOTS of scammers here.
Travel the country, you might find areas you like better.

For what it's worth, I was in Panama yesterday. The infrastructure is U.S. like, food and goods are half price and double quality and last time I checked, land prices were not tripping as they are here.

This is my opinion only.

_________________
Bring on the dancin' girls and put the champagne on ice. -Bon Scott

Costa Rica: We make easy, hard........

Hoe Dog koo koo ka choo

To answer your questions:
My advice is to the general CRT group. This advice is general and each person will make their own decision based on what they believe is best for them. This is very good advice based on my experience here for 5 years. It is aimed at the starry eyed newbies . It is meant to be a huge warning label. If someone is a big boy and wants to ignore the warning labels then maybe they are savvy enough not to have regret.

I own two Condos here in Costa Rica with no intention of selling either one and I'm not self concerned that I may taint the market with horror stories at my expense. I have about a half dozen other properties in the USA. I have a wealth of business experience from construction to business purchases. When all those internet companies in Atlanta went bust, I would show up at the auction and buy the entire lot for one money or buy each thing separately. I've also purchased/rented/sold 30+properties in the USA. I have only purchased 2 in Costa Rica that I have no intention of selling because I don't need the money.
My personal financial situation is different that the average plus I'm younger than most here so I have more time to wait out a slow market.



I got my friends out of the internet stocks before they imploded.

I am advising my CRT buds to live in Costa Rica THREE full years before buying here.

_________________
* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

That sums it up in my book

For more translation Try the new app Greengo>English Only $2.99 Pm ID