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I have a friend and client who lives and grew up in CR. She says that one of the big beefs the local people have there is that their roads are in such bad shape. She says the politicians spend too much money lining their pockets instead of spending it on infrastructure. The last few presidents have all gone out of office with scandals and millions of dollars in their bank accounts. In Escazu which is sort of the Beverly Hills of CR, we were dodging pot holes the size of Buicks when I visited there.
I finally got my money back. It took them 60 days to refund my down payment.They are not using FedEx and USPS tracking system is not working at all.
Hi Guys,
I just found this site and I must say it’s been interesting reading. We purchased a lot from Paragon about a year and a half ago while Inri Robles was still President. We have been back, our latest trip just 2 weeks ago. We received our corp books this past June and the deed on the property we purchased followed in Aug. During our last stay, we were guests in the corp’s estate in San Jose in the company of the Chairman, Bill Gale for most of our stay. Incredible human being with a pretty awesome track record to say the least.
When we, and friends of ours first embarked on this adventure back in June of 2004, I admit we too were quite skeptical….BUT… we did lots of homework!! We have also seen tremendous progress since our first visit over a year ago and have been in constant contact. This past visit, not only did we purchase another lot, we were married on Tortuga Island and left CR as husband and wife. Paragon was so incredibly kind enough to have photos of our wedding, as well as our visit posted on the website.
I’ve spoken to many who have gone through the process, as well as those that have requested deposits returned for various reasons.
We have a 4 year plan in place to be in CR for good!Pura Vida!
My husband and I just submitted a deposit with contract for a lot in the Paragon property in Parrita (The Gables). In your e-mail I could not tell where you purchased land and was wondering if you are familiar with the Parrita property? I have been trying to do my best in gathering information on Paragon Properties, as well as Costa Rica. We are planning to travel to CR in the very near future to see the property. I have heard very good things about Manuel Antonio, but am looking forward to seeing the area for ourselves.
I was glad to hear of your positive experience, as I was planning on checking with people who are at different stages of this process. Thanks for the info and congratulations to you on your marriage!
It still amazes me that people will pay large deposits on property they haven’t even seen. Is it me or is it the world? The thing about Paragon that really got me, was when they out and out lie. I was told to call a local (Chicago) woman who purchased property from them before they’d even send me out information. They also told me this woman lived there 6 months out of the year, and was a retired teacher. When I talked to her, she told me she never lived there, and that her house wasn’t even built yet, but she had visited the site. And any ‘buyers’ you do call are compensated for their time (they are recruited, so can you really trust all that they say?)…She also told me that roads, electric, water, etc. weren’t in place yet (even though, on their website, they said that they would be by now). I’m sure you will end up with a house eventually, and if you visit they’ll treat you like a queen…(or king)…it might be a bit later than you planned, and you might need a muddy 4 x 4 to get there…with one property, they said the beach is only 2 miles away…but a friend of mine who looked said it might be 2 miles away as the crow flies, but to get there will take you almost 1/2 an hour. Buyer beware! Even if they had the best properties in the world, their sales and marketing are so annoyingly hokey, I personally would never buy from them.
sschmidt –
I have seen the two models now being constructed in The Gables. With the looks of things, they should be ready in about 4-6 weeks (my opinion) My husband has been in construction for 20 years, along with a dear friend who is a structural engineer (also purchasing property)and my Dad, an engineer himself.Our first lot is also in Parrita in Phase I of the Heights of Pacifica Development. Our lot has panoramic views of the hills, mountains and a great view of the ocean. We are about a mile and a half from the ocean about 260ft above sea level. Beaches are accessible within a 10 minute drive from the property. Roads have just about all been terraced out, property lines flagged and the 4″ main for the water and sewage system is in place. There is still some work left on that since Parrita was overcome by heavy rains this past rainy season, which thawrted work efforts with digging and trenching.
Manuel Antonio is about 40 minutes south of Parrita. Our newest lot is in Presidential Estates in Quepos, just 15 minutes from Manuel Antonio Park. We will have the opportunity to go back and inspect that lot by June/July of this year. God willing. We live at the Jersey Shore and realize that the proerty we bought was ocean view and not ocean front (which carries it’s own problems) The more I see panoramically of Costa Rica, the better. We have friends that have been in Los Suenos for nearly 10 years and run 26 boast out fo the Marriot Marina.
We came into this project very early on and only required a $5K deposit and total purfhase price for 1 acre was $16,500. The permits were issued for subdivision of the 1 acre lots into 1/4 acres. So for us, this was an opportunity to have a speculation that panned out better than the stock market has given us, so far.
Have to go but will be bcak to check in.
I agree AudEars…After speaking with my friend in Los Suenos (who has been purchasing properties in CR for 10 years), he suggested if we were going to go through with it this way, that I call the Developer’s attorney and obtain the filing # filed with the registry and titulo registration to verify clear title, which we did. But to us, $5K was a deposit we could live with while reserching to hold our place in the inexpensive offering. We were well aware of the marketing campaign Paragon was putting in place, and that those prices would be rising rather quickly.
I spoke to the same Chicago teacher, but was not told I had to do so before receiving any information and did so, AFTER I received it. I also spoke with an airline pilot that purchased 5 lotsI guess it depends on the salesperson you spoke to. I’m in Sales development and I know it atkes all kinds, but if you play it smart, you can work with them. I personally spoke to Paragon’s attorney (schooled in the states)for over and hour and he answered all my questions. I was well aware that Paragon had not issued lots on quite a bit of land they called ‘green land’ until they knew their permits for the subdivided lots were in place and approved. It turned out they were able to issue additional lots after the re-assessment was complete and measurement of property lines were designated and approved. I am not here to defend Paragon or discredit anyone’s less than adequate experience with them. I merely suggest to anyone considering the endeavor, to do their own homework. I also kept in touch with Paragon weekly, spoke and questioned several of the engineers about how things would be done and the ongoing progress. We had never been ‘lied’ to, to date. And if anything was unclear to them, they were honest in telling us that. I can only pass on our own experience.
A 5K deposit is not bad at all…they were asking me for either a 20,000 or 35,000 deposit(sight unseen) for a 2.5 acre parcel (lower if mountain view, higher if ocean view). And I got sooo many phone calls! One time, they called just to make sure I had the fedex envelope and contract, and asked when I was going to mail it!
Due to all the information that I have been reading on this thread, as well as many others, my husband and I have decided to “pull back” and go back to our ORIGINAL plan to research carefully through the many sources available, visit (more than once), rent, talk to many people, etc. I must admit that I did get “caught up” in the initial excitement after talking to some people that were doing this, but am very thankful to the many people taking the time to write in on their experience/opinion. Because of your information, I now know that we will take the time to make much better decisions. Isn’t the internet wonderful?!
I personally would be very leary of any of Paragon’s properties or their claims. I live near Parrita. I have seen their Gables project. Like other Paragon projects I’ve heard of they sold the 165 lots and then basically dissappeared. Nothing but a bulldozed mud road cut through the property. No infrastructure electric phone lines etc. in place as they promised. One gentleman that came to the project early on and was able to walk the site and pick out his lot at the top of a hill which gave him a great view, returned 6 months later to find that his lot# which was in his name was now assigned to a lot at the bottom of a hill and the hilltop lot had been re-sold to someone else…..my guess is at a higher price. He is still last I heard trying to get back his money. There may be success stories people have for Paragon, but if you do any searches through this forum as well as the other forums, the complaints about them far far out weigh anything positive. One red flag for anyone regarding Paragon should be their use of different names. While it is good business to tie up domain names on the Internet so you can direct traffic to your main site, it makes no sense to advertise under a different name. Last week there was a commercial on the Fox News Network (not cheap advertising) on investing in Costa Rica. The name and website given in the commercial I believe was buycrland.com When you go to that site it goes straight to Paragon’s website. If Paragon is such a legitimate company, why would they not promote their own name in a commercial on a national network such as Fox? My guess is they are getting such a bad name they have resorted to trickery to get people to their website.
sschmidt, don’t be discouraged….it is a wonderful place to move to. Research is definitely a good thing. Traveling here as much as possible is the best research you can do. My wife and I traveled here quite a bit before making our move in April of 2004. We were ready by then to move on a good deal that came along and make a purchase on our first investment property. Our experiences have been great with very few problems.
Thanks dkt2u –
I have your e-mail address and will be in touch as we progress with our research. Thanks for the info………..
Paragon Properties have updated one of their websites which you can see at
I’m confused as to why the photographs of the ‘Model Home’ and the ‘Gatehouse Construction’ are of the exact same home and the exact same gatehouse in the exact same location when they are featured on eight different projects but, this site and their videos has been done very professionally.
On their new video, the Paragon chairman again states that they are building a new airport in Orotina which we have already written about at ‘Costa Rica’s Invisible New International Airport (??)’ and after reading that, you may decide, as many of us have, that either the Chairman of Paragon is wrong about the new airport or, the now former Costa Rican Minister of Finance is wrong.
I would suggest that the Costa Rican Minister of Finance knows a bit more about the country …
As always, we would encourage you to do your homework before making any serious financial decisions about buying land in Costa Rica.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comI noticed the same thing – when I asked (Paragon) specific questions about what I was looking at on their websites, my answers were not directly answered. I found it strange that he (Paragon) was referring to their website as if it were a wonderful resource of information, yet I never really learned much – especially important things like specific stages of each development, what land was actually being shown, etc. I also asked specifically about the new “airport” and “super highway” he so often referred to, and again was not provided any clear information.
As I have stated previously, my husband and I are now content with spending more time learning and asking questions, along with a visit or more to Costa Rica before any further decisions are made. It can be overwhelmingly enticing to consider owning property in such a beautiful country, but as so many recommend, you need to pass through that “need to do now” phase and keep realistic in your approach.
Question:
Can any of you that have purchased land in any of the Paragon projects prove in writing to us that you are indeed the legal owner of that land? That you have full legal title to it?
All you would need to do would be to email me in private (at admin@welovecostarica.com) the ‘folio real’ number (the official property registration number) number and I can look it up online with the Costa Rica National Registry.
Because if you can’t find it in the Registro Nacional – as far as Costa Rican law is concerned – you ain’t the owner!
Scott – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com
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