One of our VIP Members from the USA – who is a Realtor – accused me recently of not telling the ‘truth’ about Costa Rica real estate. She told me that with many US real estate markets in meltdown mode, that Costa Rica real estate market must be suffering terribly.

For the month of April here in Santa Ana, our Recommended Realtor had a record month for sales with 14 apartments and one home to our VIP Members. I have also been helping her with the final negotiations for the sale of an entire building of 34 apartments with one of her best customers – another one of our VIP Members – who is not from the USA but who is a significant real estate investor.

So our Recommended Realtor for our Santa Ana area is looking at over US$10,000,000 in new sales which most Realtors would be proud of for one year’s sales never mind six weeks.

If you are a Realtor working on the beach market in Costa Rica and your business relies 100% on customers from the USA, then yes! You are suffering right now because the number of potential customers from the USA has declined but my question would be simple:

Why on earth would you want to only focus on one type of real estate customer and one type of product?

Shouldn’t we diversify our investments so that we don’t have all “our eggs in one basket?” And did we not see this coming for a long time? Surely a sensible business person should always try to look ahead, to plan for these types of problems and diversify your client base?

So here are a few examples of the ‘truth’ that affects Costa Rica real estate of the 9th May 2008:

1. Costa Rica remains a safe and peaceful haven for many real estate investors and entrepreneurs from other countries in Central and Latin America.
2. With the Central American free trade agreement a ‘done deal’, real estate investors, business people and entrepreneurs are no longer in a ‘wait and see’ mode, they are now coming here from the USA, Mexico, Spain, Germany and other countries in Europe.
3. In 2007 Costa Rica attracted 27 new foreign high technology companies which generated some 6,352 jobs and about US$421 million in investment. For a tiny country like Costa Rica, that’s huge!
4. Boston Scientific announced that they will invest another $35 million over the next three years and add about 1,200 employees.
5. The German company Continental AG will produce electronic components for car transmissions in Costa Rica after investing US$61 millions dollars in their new manufacturing facility in Alajuela.
6. The Baxter medical equipment company which has over 1,300 employees in Costa Rica recently opened a new, first of it’s kind 152,000 square foot sterilization plant in Cartago. This new manufacturing facility in Cartago, has already been recognized with the 2008 Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence, the first to be awarded the Shingo Prize outside North America and they are being “honored for their achievements in driving higher quality and improvements in productivity, manufacturing cycle time and customer lead-time.”
7. “Thanks to the human resources of Costa Rica,” Intel builds the most powerful processors in the world right here. Intel has invested about $800 million in Costa Rica over the last ten years and will invest another $90 million in 2008. “Costa Rica plays in the greatest technology leagues. Thanks to Costa Rica talent, millions of people can connect to the web.” Karla Blanco, Head of Corporate Relations for Intel.
8. While the working class and the middle class continue to be decimated in the USA as jobs move inshore to countries like Costa Rica and offshore to China, Costa Rica has plenty of work. At the job fair a few weeks ago, companies including Procter & Gamble, Intel, IBM, HP, Western Union & Fujitsu (recognize any of those names?) are having trouble filling 8,000 positions they have available.
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Companies like Procter & Gamble, Intel, IBM, HP, Western Union & Fujitsu do not invest billions of dollars inside Costa Rica without having a great deal of confidence in the future of Costa Rica.

9. And while America’s biggest banks and some of Wall Street’s largest investment firms are literally begging for money from foreign investors and the USA is by far the world’s largest debtor, after 40 years of deficits, Costa Rica will close 2007 with a surplus…

In any market, be it stocks, bonds, commodities or real estate, there are always pockets of opportunities so while the blood maybe running in the streets of certain real estate markets, I can assure you from first hand personal consulting experience with well over 100+ transactions in the last 12 months, that Costa Rica continues to boom as an emerging market, the real estate market in most parts of the country is excellent and there are plenty of opportunities for the savvy investor.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.