Costa Rica Real Estate’s Abandoned Projects – But the salesman said…

If you have read features and comments on this web site for any period of time you will have no doubt read Scott Oliver’s mantra that he only recommends, “experienced developers with a proven track record of building quality real estate”.

Still today, I have talked to some frequent visitors to WeLoveCostaRica.com, or VIP members who did not take the advice to heart and basically bought into the flashy marketing, unsubstantiated claims of success and progress, and eventually giving in to the high pressure hard sell tactics of an experienced phone sales person.

By the way, before we begin and show you the bad news, the good news is that since this site began over five years ago, our VIP Members can take comfort in the fact that not one Costa Rica real estate developer recommended on WeLoveCostaRica.com has failed which is quite an achievement.

While driving around this past week I started paying closer attention to some of the abandoned projects in the Central Pacific area of the country. Let’s give some of them the benefit of the doubt that their projects are merely “stalled”, but as the steel continues to rust on half built structures, and the weeds start growing up through the walk ways, the picture for those projects grows gloomier and gloomier.

With the libel laws as they are here in Costa Rica, it’s not the intention here to disparage or name any particular developer or project, so none will be mentioned by name. The purpose is to simply point out why you should work with developers that have, well, actually built something. Pictures speak a 1,000 words and I am sure after a potential buyer visits a similar project they can see and determine for themselves if their purchase might be a good investment.

The abandoned structures in the very top photographs are directly across from what at one time could have been described as an unspoiled beach. Not so unspoiled any more I would say. This project’s web site is still current and claims 22 units sold and is still offering a “Fly and Buy” program. I wonder how encouraged the 22 present buyers are by the incredible progress.

You can see in the above project the beautiful infrastructure promised to the buyers of this nearly sold out project… uh, no really, it’s there. It’s just hard to see past the weeds growing up through the paver stones. The web site for this project is current and still offers a “Fly and Buy program” and perhaps they should follow that up with a “Fly and Cry” program.

The project below was started more than a year ago, promising more than 150 beautiful bungalows. The web site for this project is still current and promoting this gorgeous gated community.

This project’s web site states that this is a “turnkey” opportunity. I thought I knew the definition of turnkey, but I looked it up any way. One dictionary had it as… “Turnkey… a product or service that is designed, supplied, built, or installed fully complete and ready to operate.” Uh… fully complete … ready to operate? Where do I put my key?

The picture below shows a development off in the distance that has basically destroyed an entire hillside. Notice the lovely green tarps dotting the pristine terraced lots. Last we heard this entire project has been abandoned.

It is still surprising how many people will buy property in Costa Rica, sight unseen, with some of them never having even been to the country before. With today’s global economic situation, the frenzy has died down and you don’t see as many developments springing up. That is not to say though that there still are not efforts by questionable developers to continue selling their proposed developments.

With money much tighter for most people today, it is even more important to get good advice from an unbiased source. Of course most people would say that a real estate agent is not so unbiased because they are trying to just sell you something they are going to get paid a commission on whether you like it or not.

There are those in the real estate business who will will try to sell you anything if it has a commission attached. Many people who have worked with us I think would tell you that there are more developments where we won’t take people to than where we will.

We get e-mails almost weekly from people wanting to sell property in one of these types of developments. An abandoned or stalled project is not a real good selling point and I can tell you, there are hundreds of people holding property in these types of developments and more likely than not, they will never see a finished product.

So why should you work with “experienced developers with a proven track record of building quality real estate”. Perhaps because in the end, you would like a quality home you can enjoy for years to come instead of simply owning a very expensive camp site. You be the judge.

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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.