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I visited the site yesterday as I had told several forum members I would check it out since we live here in the area. I took some pics I can send anyone that is interested. I had visited the site in August and all they had basically was a paved road off the highway that led up to dirt and gravel roads. The only progress I saw yesterday is they have basically finished a very nice gated area at the entrance. It has a large fountain and landscaping around the entrance. Not much progress in my opinion in what is now going on 6 months since I last saw it.
We had a very mild rainy season and other projects in the area were not delayed because of weather. I walked the area beyond the entrance and see no difference from what was there in August. No infrastructure yet as far as water lines, electric, telephone, etc. Only a few grated dirt roads and small lot # signs scattered around.
This is not to disparage the builders of this project. I think the problem in many developments is an overly aggressive estimate on their time frame for completing certain aspects of their project. Someone mentioned that these are the same builder of the Costa Montana project. If that is true then they have a beautiful entrance at that development and their sign as someone else mentioned says “Sold Out”. I have not been beyond the gate there though to know if they have the infrastructure completed.
As a side note. Paragon has three developments in the Parrita area as you head up the mountain road to Puriscal. In what is now over a year, the only progress they have made is to build a gated entrance at the first of the three developments you come to. As soon as the gate was complete about 4 months ago, the equipment and workers were gone. We travel that road at least a couple times a week and have not seen a worker or piece of equipment in 4 months. As happens with many of these types of developments from our personal observation is they build a nice gate that gives the appearance of nice things to come, thus enabling them to market their lots a little better.
Again, this is not to desparage any particular development or builder. Just don’t be surprised if the estimate they give you on completion of their project or even the installation of the basic infrastructure ends up being 2 to 3 years instead of only several months. Apparently a great business to be in for this area is building gates.
Very funny i have never seen Paragon advertising that they are the best in the business for building gates with nothing behind them but many people have told me that they are good at that. They have about ten land projects for sale now and from what my friends in the area have told me is that they have built only three houses do you know if that is correct? Doesn’t that sound fishy to you?
Esterillos sold out 300 lots with an average initial investment of $50,000. $15,000,000 is a very expensive gate, is it not?
US$15,000,000.00 Isn’t that a LOT of money?
Does anybody know why there has not been more activity?
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comI am not sure if this applies to them but one thing to ask about is do they have final approval from SETENA(sp?). With out this they can only build out there front gate more or less. They can not start infrastructure with out the final approval and permit from SETENA. And this is not easy to get, as I was told that they have 3 or 4 inspectors for the whole country!! Some builders will roll the dice and build once they have preliminary approval as it is a long shot the inspectors will be back before they finish. If they are caught building with out the final permit it can stop things for up to a year! The local permits are a cake walk compared to the one issued by SETENA,so ask the million dollar question as this is normaly the hold up, be specific make sure it has been issued, not just that it looks good.
15 million is a lot, but considering that is about 1/3 of what they will get over the next two years I would say 50 million is incredible. Why no activity? I think they made their money without doing anything.
This is all incredible to watch for me. Do you really think with that much money and all they have built is a gate, that they will in any way fulfill their obligations? I bought in a small development, 25 lots, and took a chance that they would complete the infrastructure after a lot of due diligence. They have completed the roads, wells, and all the electricity in the span of one year with a fraction of the money these people have. Please wake up and stop sending these people money. Scott has done everything he can to make you wake up and smell that good Costa Rican coffee, but somewhere else! I’ll probably be sued now too.
Edited on Feb 02, 2007 15:49
Edited on Feb 02, 2007 15:50
Edited on Feb 02, 2007 15:51
I’ve said it before, there is a big slowdown in real estate, especially here in Costa Rica. I’ve seen these before, very nice subdivision gates with nothing but tall weeds behind them. Anyway, good luck to anyone who bought in, however, sooner or later, it does get developed by the lot owners. Might takes years, but eventually it gets there.
One would hope the lack of activity is due only to the permitting process. This project does not even have good dirt roads grated beyond the gate they have built. It still amazes me so many people spend $50K so non chalantly on property they have not personally seen.
I really don’t think the lack of progress on most of these projects is due to a slow down in real-estate. Not if their claims are true of being 80% sold out, or in some cases their claim that phase 1 or 2 is sold out and they are on to phase 3, etc. People are buying, they just are not getting the promised progress in most cases and that is the rub with many buyers. Just my opinion.
I think what happens many times with these projects is the process ends up becoming such a hassle the builders fold up and get out of Dodge so to speak. We just met with a gentleman that is in the process of getting his money back from Columbus Heights because he came down a year after putting a deposit on his lot and wanted to see the progress. They are touting on their large billboard near the entrance that they are now 80% sold out. They basically have only built a gate and grated some dirt roads in the last year. His fear is if they are 80% sold out, where has all the money gone and if it has been spent, would selling the other 20% of the project even allow them enough funds to install the infrastructure promised? He chose to get his money back and look further.
The three Paragon projects I mentioned on the road to Puriscal are a good 10 to 15 minutes up into the hills and from what I understand it is in the contracts that Paragon is going to pave the road from the Costanera highway, all the way to the third development, and pay to run cable tv, city water, and phone lines. None of which is available in that area currently. I have no idea what it will cost to pave that much roadway and on top of that run the utilities mentioned…….but it ain’t cheap.
Wow Cindy and Kim: I don’t know where you presently are but do you really feel qualified to draw any conclusions about any project based on what is reported here? Without having an attorney do due dilligence, meet personaly with the developers and see the property, you just don’t have enough information to make an informed report on any project. Don’t blame the developers for people sending them money before setting foot here.Yes I agree this is not a wise thing to do, send no money until you are here and can do all your homework etc.. I think a lot of people are buying land, lets see how many follow through and build homes, I think a lot are buying to speculate and a lot are buying for the future. Columbus Heights, Costa Montana and Costa Esterillo to name a few are selling land with a promise of roads, water and electric. They all offer home building but that is up to the buyer, or you can use your own builder. I was not going to bring this up, but I bought in Columbus Heights when it was nothing more than a cow pasture. As of December they had not only completed the gate but most of the roads were in, water was at almost every lot and there were at least 30 workers on site as well as a lot of heavy equiptment and a portable soda to feed all the workers. I have also closed on my lot and will start building sometime this year. Corelca a well know builder is doing all the work. Here is what a lot of people don’t like, they use a purchase option to secure the land, put all the marketing together, maps, lot divisions etc…then start to “sell”. So far sales seem to be pretty good, as the money roles into an escrow account the developers start the process to close on the property, finish off all the permits etc..this takes at least a year or more to do…thats if they don’t run into any problems! In an ideal situation you would want the builder to have title to the land and all the permits etc..in place. But just like these condo towers in Jaco (or anywhere else) those who buy in first are rewarded with a discount, those who buy when the tower is complete pay full price. Are you a risk taker or do you like to play it safe? I was a risk taker and it paid off, I payed $6M2, now they are at $20-$30 and higher in the area. All that said if you are dealing with a company that is selling land and has no plans to do what they have promised…well your screwed?! To get back on point here lets not all assume everyone who build a fancy gate is running a scam, show us tangible evidence as that will serve us all in making decisions or even point out some “red flags” so we know we better really do our homework that will be very usefull. But just speculating from behind your keyboard is not helping anyone. what the Costa Rican real estate market is going to do as a whole is another story, but as said here before none of us has a crystal ball, so in the meantime “Buyer Beware”.
Reposted here
Posted Feb 03,2007 6:45 AM rshiver
this is my first time looking at this. i purchased a villa in esterillos oeste. we took the time to really check it and meet with the concession owners. good lawyers and good r.e. agents with knowlege of the area are vital. what part of Esterillos is everyone talking aboutDkt2U: I know you are right there in Esterillo (lucky you!). I was there for December and also checked in on the progress in Columbus Heights and they had gotten a lot done considering they started in late October, then had the Christmas break. I know they had problems getting there final permits as that was the hold up. But if you get a moment why don’t you drive back and give us your take on things. It is pretty cool to have some one there actualy able to check on things. I was told by a freind of one of the owner he was very anxious to get the thing finished, as they have started another project further North and it doesn’t look good to buyers that you have not completed your first project! Be intereted to get a full report from our man on the the ground!
I was actually thinking of going by the Columbus Heights project this week and getting some pictures. I will let people know if I’m able to get over there this week. I did get some good photos of the Costa Esterillos project. So again, if anyone wants to see them let me know. One other note on the Esterillos project, they did just purchase a 5000 m2 beach front lot here in Oeste for 1.3 million dollars. So they are spending at least some of their money on the future of the project and the things they say they will eventually have…I:E: the beach club.
I agree with the advice that you can’t make final judgements on many of these projects or even be critical of them if you haven’t seen them personally or have personal experience with the developers them selves. I don’t mind helping with some first hand info on things I can actually see and take a few pics of. There are a couple of projects in the area that are good people to work with. It comes down to getting as much good information as you can before making decisions.
kimyoa650
Please show us some figures that would back-up your statement that “there is a big slowdown in real estate, espcially here in Costa Rica.”
Because the official construction numbers will NOT – at all – help you, quite the contrary.
La Nacion 29 January 2007 had an article about the 46.16% increase in the amount of money received by municipalities (nationwide) and the amount invested in new construction with Santa Cruz showing an 197% increase and another area we know well – Santa Ana – showing a 87.10% over 2005
Does a 46.16% nationwide increase sound like a “slowdown” to you? It doesn’t to me…
I have heard other people say on this forum that ‘real estate prices are coming down’. That may be the case in some areas (I am not familiar with them) and some of these people don’t actually live here so I don’t know where they are getting their ‘facts’ from …
However, out of all the developers (experienced developer with proven experience of building quality homes in Costa Rica) that we recommend on this site, I do NOT know even one who is lowering their prices but, I do know that the majority of them are raising their prices.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comdkt2u: Regarding your last sentence about getting as much good information as you can… one fact that I learned on this forum is that Ellis Kahn is affiliated with Costa Developers. He has a very dubious past dealing with other peoples money and no experience in developing. That was all I needed to know to get out. I was glad they honored the return of deposit agreement, if you did not like the property after you inspected it. I would like to personally thank you Scott for this forum and the information that I learned here.
Edited on Feb 03, 2007 16:40
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