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Hello Andrew,
Well if you read some of my earlier posts you will see that I went thru the whole process with them before deciding to cancel out. The verdict is still out on Paragon. The real danger to me seemed to be the possibility of them going out of business before I received my executed deed. The whole process seems to take very long if you go thru with it. That was what I was worried about. But to be fair I should also say that it wasn’t just Paragon but that I decided not to invest in CR at all right now regardless of which land developer I used. I was looking for that great minimal risk venture that would justify me paying large sums of money to drag my whole family down there twice a year or so.
All the people I met at Paragon were very professional and personable. The real issue with Paragon is the way the deal is written and if it is really such a good deal afterall taking into account the risks involved. I believe they are earnest but the deal is structured to protect them and not so much you if any mishap should happen. Read your contract very carefully and be sure you are ok with it. The fact that you haven’t invested anything yet is good. I would be surprised however if they show you anything without having you put down their customary deposit of $35K. This is how they are financing all their advertising and operations while they try to sell and develop their properties.
Dear Chicmac,
No Paragon is not the legal owners of those properties. As long as they are in business they are legally bound to turn over the folios as soon as available under their “agreement for deed” contracts they made with their customers. However if they were to go out of business before permits were obtained, then everyone who purchased that did not have their deeds yet, would be the sorry owners of individual corporations that basically own nothing except an agreement with an entity that no longer exists. (Hence the the risk factor).
Hello Jim,
Well, I think it is no secret now that they are way behind in developing those properties. Until the infrastructure is in they can’t get the permits to subdivide so I doubt anyone has their folios yet. The reason I got out was because they seemed to be behind in doing things. At a certain point they were within their stated sched but once they crossed that threshold and fell out of sched, it all started looking very unattractive to say the least. I think I made the right decision to get out, thank God.I’ve got a folio number and I backed out of the deal with a refund! Just kidding 🙂
I don’t know, I’m not sure anyone has a deed by now. Even myself who if I’d stayed in, wouldn’t have had time to get it. The deal was you get it after you pay off the whole thing. The reason most people found it attractive is that they don’t have to pay off the whole thing for 5 years. E gadds! I don’t even know if I’ll be around in 5 years. I could get hit by a bus or something 🙂
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 thought Lucia was a super personable and very likeable person. Paragon has had the good sense to hire very nice and competent people. I really hope they are successful with their properties. People like Lucia deserve to have a good job! In fact I liked all the people I dealt with there. For me it was just a business decision I had to make based on the location of the property and increased risk of no infrastructure in place, when I decided to back out.
You should ask for a fed ex shipment. Don’t go with the post office. Keep following up with them. How long ago did you receive your tracking number? I’ll tell you a quick story about my refund. They had given me a Fed X tracking number but when I checked the fed ex web site it said nothing had been picked up even though a shipment had been processed. As it turned out it was a fed ex problem. I received the check the next day so somehow fed ex missed scanning it or something. When I tracked it again to see what the fed x web site said, it had gone from not being picked up to being delvd. So my point is that you may still get it in a day or 2 even though your tracking showed it didn’t go. Of course if has been a wk or something since they sent it to you then something did go wrong and you need to follow up. I’m a little worried that they seem to be taking longer and longer to get the refunds out. You can draw whatever conclusions you like from this fact.
In reply to Scott:
Sounds like a great idea Scott. You might even get me back down there to look around.
Sounds pretty good. Did they take you to see your lot on an ATV? That’s what they did with us. I paid the same (35K down)but later backed out of the deal and got my deposit back. I would love to know if they did the improvements to Playa del Sol that they told me would be done by now. It might end up being a great deal for you but I have heard through my contacts in CR that they are a bit behind in making road improvements. That made me a little nervous. I never thought it was a scam but I was afraid that if the real estate market falls apart it may make it more difficult for them to complete some of the projects. Remember that you are in a long line and if they go BK before infrastructure is in and before you have an actual deed you could be left holding ownership of a corporation that doesn’t actually own anything. In my contract it said you are not issued a deed until up to 100 days after paying your balance in full. Read your contract and know it well is all I’m saying. It may work out great for you but go in with your eyes open.
That’s interesting. I guess they feel as if they know their market. They seem to be trying to appeal to people who live in the US so they can get a large deposit as part of their sales approach. They probably figure rightly that people who already live in CR would be less likely to plunk down large sums before seeing the property. There is a psychological advantage for them if they can get this large investment up front in my opinion. I guess they saw me as a ripe prospect because they bent over backwards for me and were very attentive to my questions and requests. When I went to visit and view the property after sending them $35K, they treated my wife and I like royalty. I can only say that I was treated well and that if they saw you as a waste of their time it is not surprising however unfortunate that they would give you the brush.
Hi Scott,
Lot 43 in Playa del Sol was the lot we liked the best of the ones shown to us. The view of the ocean looked to be at least 2 miles away from the site. Playa del Sol is located so that you overlook the Punterenas port area near where the ferries launch from. Unfortunately there were no tourist type beaches nearby and the nearest ones were about 3/4 hr drive from Playa del Sol I was told. The pictures shown were taken on a cloudy day in October 2005 so I’m sure the view would look better if taken in the dry season in bright sunlight. Of course we ultimately withdrew from the purchase and obtained our deposit back. It would be interesting to know if Paragon did follow through and actually put improved roads in place of the rustic trails that we saw.
