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Has anyone bought from Minnesota Partners of Costa Rica or owned anything built by Grupo Mapache in the coco area?
I’ll be heading down to the area 2/4-2/14/06. any info would help.
We just purchased some properties from Grup Mapache recently and so far it’s been a good experience. However, we would like to hear more if anyone has more long-term experience in dealing with them.
How recently? Have you seen there work? Is you property finished or still under construction? Did you buy directly from them? Any suggestions on real estate reps and/or attorneys in the coco ocotal area? I’ll be down there 2/4-2/14/06 to check them and there work out. Any first hand experiences with them would be great. emeyer80@adelphia.net
thanks Eric
Hi: I just put a deposit on 2 of thier condos. 1 in the Marina and a 2nd. in heramosa? Please tell me what you thought. Thx Tom t5209@aol.com
Tom,
Costa Rica was perfect. We looked at the Mapache developments in coco, ocotal and a new one north of santa rosa (the marina and hermosa are out of our price range). They used more rebar than I have seen in any residence in the US. They are in earthquake prone areas. According to a resident, there have been two in the past year that she has felt. The are no signs of damage to her condo in coco, but the centers were not very close. As far as the company goes, they are everywhere. They have workers hanging from hundreds of condos in progress and they are clearing new developments. Their office seems overwhelmed and unorganized. They apparently have very high turn over. We were warned not to use them to rent our place out if we bought one. We stayed one night with them and they did not make us leave a security deposit (our flight home left before the office was open), no check list of the condition of the condo was used on check in or check out, they only take cash (it would be very hard to reserve from outside the area) and they just had us leave the key under a flower pot when we left.
Their finishing skills were not very good. I could lay tile better and I have only done it twice. They did however have a nice high, about 6ft 6in, shower head in the bathrooms (something the plumbers in the states don’t know how to do). I have heard from a current owner that you must order doors and windows that have a track for a screen or they will not put them in and if you want screens in the future, you must change the windows and doors. I am trying to confirm this with mapache, but no response from marco.
We are still undecided, but might put a down payment sometime next week if they finish answering our questions.
Eric
Eric,
We will share our experience as the building of our purchases progress (we bought one in Coco and two further North (Cuajiniquil). As far as managing the rentals once they’re finished, we are working with some friends who live in the area. They will also be checking on the property through all stages of development.
-JT
If possible, would you put me in contact with your friends who live in the area. If we buy, I would be looking to pay someone to manage some of the rental details. emeyer80@adelphia.net
Thanks,
Erichi all, i am wondering about purchasing an apartment with them. do you suggest this option or not? is there any alternative to buy at these prices?
Mapache is disorganized. I am starting to think twice about sending any money their way. I have asked for an English version of the condo bylaws numerous times, but I have yet to receive one. You would think that some of the other hundreds of owners have requested this prior to myself. Why don’t they have a copy? Is there something in there that would reduce the chance that I would buy? about minor changes to the condo. It has been more than a week and no response from the guy in charge? I have the money in hand, have seen the development and for some reason they refuse to answer so basic questions that must be answered before I send them any money. Call or email them with all the questions you can think of and when you get satisfactory answers in writing, only then would I consider buying. We did not see anything else in the price range near the coast. The two developments in the coco area are not very close to the beach. Only the one that is 90% done (only resale condos) is less than a kilometer to the beach.
Eric
eric, i found prices in that area much higher than their prices. whet is unclear is what you get for that price. is there anybody having purchased already a property with them to share info?
Hello to all,
We have recently purchased a property in coco’s development (grupo mapache). Our friends have already bought and are living there periodically. They referred us to margarita arroyo (she is in charge of the sales) and she not only answered all our questioned but presented various possibilities. My wife and I both had this sense of what if? initially –but this is only normal. Seeing the work and other projects on the go we felt more and more comfortable with the idea of purchasing. We used our friend’s lawyer too. We met and felt comfortable with him. We are in contact with the lawyer regularly as he oversaw the close and transition of property.
The close has taken longer than we expected and it made me wonder at times what was happening. But while there and as we have learned in this process things move at a different pace there. I guess this is why we seem to be attracted to this beautiful land, and pace of life! 🙂
After viewing finished and unfinished units we settled on a resale one that was fully furnished. We met the owners of the neighbouring unit, also Canadian, and talked with them at length. Hearing their story of the headaches of furnishing and supervising the installations of various appliances -furniture not ready when it was promised, the number of visits during construction etc. only solidified our decision to buy a finished unit that was fully furnished. Yes it did cost a few bucks more but in the long run it may save numerous headaches. If you are retired and can afford to be down there for an unspecified time then you may save quite a bit by furnishing it yourself and overseeing everything yourself. But if you are there for a specified timeframe and hope to get things done well you are setting yourself up.
We videotaped the unit while margarita was there and also again later on our own. We are presently trying to get them to rent the unit but as it has been said in other discussions above things are very slow. E-mails responses seem to take forever. Inexperience, or laidback culture?? I don’t know perhaps a bit of both. It’s a family run business so things seem to be handled all inhouse and they are learning on the job.
We are realizing that it is much more like a laid-back European style than our North American pace. Hence the bit about Eric’s experience of leaving the key under the flower pot, the area is safe and patrolled in the evening. They seem too trusting according to our standards but it’s not downtown Toronto or Chicago. But now I’m concerned about the lack of pre check-in and out inspections that Eric mentions. we may not proceed with the rental option.
We are going back in July and looking forward to it.
Our friends check on the place for us and this makes us feel much more comfortable with the whole idea of owning the property at this time. Until we also retire, we will need to depend on them to keep us up to date for now.Joe
Edited on Aug 02, 2006 23:56
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