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I don’t think the war was about terrorism or oil – how about that one?
I’m could be wrong, but I’m thinking that it was more about keeping terrorist so busy in the middle east that they wouldn’t have time planning any attacks in the USA despite the fact that our southern border is wide open. Of course, just as you think it is about oil, I just have a different feeling.
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In the USA – I wouldn’t want 50 years of dems or 50 years of repubs. Don’t think about the short term in politics, because it will drive you crazy! Think that over the long term, we maintain a balance in the middle which is a good thing. I have plenty to thank the libs for and plenty the thanks the repubs for.
Since I’m more focused on the long term, I’ll judge the war 10 years from now, not as it is happening.
Give it a rest.
Hiati is ahead of Austrilia, Kuwait, France and the list goes on and on… HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO HIATI? Go to Hiati and the list is proved very very very wrong – worthless. I have to give it to them though, they sure went about making it look official. Man oh man, the crap that people give credibility to in this world just makes me sick.
And where did you say the USA was on the list? 150 and if given the chance, all of those people in Hiati, at number 85, would be very happy getting to 150. Does that make ANY sense? Cubans, at number 6, are trying to get to 150!!! Does that make ANY sense? Cubans, risking life to get to the land of unhappy people? WOW!!!!! I’m really impressed with the list.
You are misinformed – congress rarely votes themselves a hike in pay.
You lose credibility when you make false statements.
Getting dogs in the USA has never been a problem. There are very few if any restrictions. Check it out, I think you’ll find that it isn’t a big deal.
Wow David, I’m impressed!
I’m a minimalist so I have only the bare essentials so there isn’t much I’d have to buy locally to satisfy my needs and wants.
I was wondering what the trailer was for too.
After they slap duties on all the goods you are bringing, those goods will cost you more than buying local. What material wealth is so important that you want to bring it to Costa Rica? Bottom line, bringing a 48 foot trailer of goods to Costa Rica isn’t a good idea (based on limited information). Everyone that I know sells nearly everything they own in the states and then repurchases in CR.
You don’t seem to have ever been to Costa Rica to be honest… have you? How many times?
You also seem young (not many 60 year olds are traveling with their brother). My point about being young is that you likely don’t qualify for either of the 2 residency programs – one being you have to be of retirement age and the other being that you have to have around a 1000 a month from investment income so CR’s gov’t knows that you don’t have to work (take a Tico’s job) to support yourself. You can’t LEGALLY work in Costa Rica. Read this: https://www.welovecostarica.com/public/953.cfm?sd=15
There aren’t any cons (I don’t think?) to becoming a resident – the issue is if you qualify.
Like Scott said, could wrote a book and I must add that it would be a very big book, because we don’t know much about your situation.
All true DaveT. Long term RE investing is truly a good thing. Recently in the states, even short term was a good thing, but I can remember when it took years to gain enough equality in one’s property just to break even after paying the realtor 6 percent.
I have a friend who owned a townhome in Maryland for 9 years (he had no second mortgage or LOC to pay) – he sold right before RE values started going up in Maryland. After paying his mortgage and his realtor, he put around 20k in his pocket (9 years and only 20k net!). This was his primary residence. He wanted to relocate to Reno and he did so just a year too soon, because had he waited 1 year his net would have tripled. If he had waited 2 years, he would have netted more than triple. He was extremely unlucky, because when he arrived in Reno as a renter, California RE profits were being invested there and so the prices were FAST rising. (Wages in Reno doesn’t support a lot of buying power, but California wealth does). Californians were selling out and moving to Reno in large numbers and it doesn’t take developers long to realize that a lot of cash is coming to town – they raised prices! (Reno is actually a very nice place to live – hot during the day but cools down nicely as evening approaches and it has a nice small town feel).
He eventually bought a home in Reno and it has increased and decreased in value, but he is still ahead of the game.
It turns out that right now, the RE values in Reno/Sparks area, have tumbled a lot more than other areas. Why? Californians have slowed to a crawl their move east, because the short term profit is gone. I see the California-Reno situation the same as the USA-Costa Rica situation. It is true, Calfornians could go to Reno and put so much money down that it allowed many of them to retire in a house double the size of their California home.
RE investing – you have to be willing to go long not all the time but most of the time throughtout history.
And DaveT, there is another thing about poor people (no offense to them), people who’ve always been poor often can’t help “seeing” themselves as poor so if you paid all their bills for them and gave them 20k, it would take most of them less than 2 years to do things financially to put themselves deep into the poor-house all over again. In order to have money, you have to be able to “see” yourself as a person with all the bills paid (except for the mortgage of course) and a healthy amount of cash in investments. What the mind does to us subconsciously is sad.
Thanks DaveT, the domino effect is exactly my concern but it relates and affects the casual investor more than a chartered investment group or a wealthy individual that has plenty of liquid cash remaining after the purchase of a condo in Costa Rica.
For those who are putting all or most of their eggs in one basket, I would not advise an investment in RE a long way from home.
I love Costa Rica and I’d put anything Scott has recommended at the top of my list so when I’m ready (if that day should come) I’ll certainly head to this website for advice and recommendations.
Personally though, I like the thought of building from scratch rather than buying an existing structure. The whole building process from land purchase to architectual design to building to landscape design is what gets me excited. Buying an existing structure bores me – I like the thought of living in a place where I can show pictures and tell a story and if I should sell the home to pass on the story. (never attempt to build in CR while living elsewhere!)
1. They are NOT all one bedrooms at all so let’s do some research before we start making those kinds of statements. There are plenty of two bedroom apartments at One Jaco but they obviously do cost more than the one bedrooms.
>>>I addressed 1 bedrooms because that is the subject of appossek’s post.
2. What exactly is “outrageously expensive” in Jaco? Compared to what? Real estate in Jaco is dirt cheap compared to Playa Hermosa and many other areas in Guanacaste, dirt cheap compared to Tamarindo and a pittance compared to Grand Cayman, Bahamas or any other Caribbean real estate. And if you want to compare price per square metre, these projects are very competitive indeed with what’s presently available in Jaco.
>>>When in Jaco “outrageously expensive” is what I hear. I wasn’t only talking about RE, I was talking about the cost of living too. I was also saying that it is outrageously expensive compared to a lot of other places in CR since this forum is about CR. Sure you can refer to a town or two or three that is more expensive than even Jaco, but there are a lot of towns where the cost of living is less than Jaco.
3. I don’t honestly think there are many “better” places to buy in Costa Rica as far as quality and price is concerned otherwise I would not recommend it but would be delighted to review your suggestions. I travel up and down this country looking at real estate, meeting with developers and real estate professionals, write books about it and can’t honestly think of developers that I have a higher degree of confidence in …
>>>I trust your recommendations, but again the apossek was talking about 1 bedroom condo so I was narrowing my response to 1 bedroom and Jaco and Costa Rica in general and with consideration to apossek inability to spend much time in CR.
4. There may be some developments in San Jose with many apartments left for sale but that would NOT apply to the two developments that I am recommending – CONCASA and Riverside (the people behind One Jaco) have sold everything they have built. The people behind Riverside have sold all of their Tambor homes and they haven’t begun construction yet and both of them have already sold a significant number of their Jaco apartments and they have not yet begun construction.
>>>I believe you though I do think more condos and hotels are to come in Jaco and this could hurt one’s investment. After so many are built, they become a dime a dozen. I’m also afraid that the cooling USA RE market will have an effect on CR property values. Maybe I’m just paranoid?
5. I explain that they are selling fast because they are selling fast and if you could have bought one for $90K six weeks ago and see that they are now selling for $120K is that “hype” or is that “fact”? Take a look at the front cover of last months’ Inmobilia magazine and you’ll see the CONCASA Jaco apartments advertised for $90K. This month $120K. That is NOT “hype.” And having spent part of my day with the One Jaco people, I can assure you that their prices will be rising soon too…
>>>No, the price isn’t hype, but the marketing of investing in property abroad has a lot of hype involved. I was suggesting that apossek should step back and take another hard look. These condos that you are recommending might be a good value, but apossek is talking about putting out 120k and there is a lot one could do with 120k that might be of better value closer to home.
6. And yes “like any investment, the risks are there.” My goal as you know, is to show our members high probability, low risk real estate investments and that’s exactly what we have here.
>>>For some, those that have more time than apossek, investing in CR might be a great idea. Apossek doesn’t seem to have much time so again I’d invest closer to home (what I’d do).
7. Costa Rica real estate investors that have followed my advice over the past couple of years have done very, very well indeed and seeing apartments being sold for $120K that they paid $90K for six weeks earlier makes them feel pretty damned good.
>>>This is great. Remember that I think the CR market might cool like the USA market, but one never knows. I’d just rather wait for a while after the USA RE market cools before jumping into the CR market.
8. And finally, your statement that “it won’t make sense for property in Costa Rica to cost more than property in the USA for God’s sake.” That’s just bloody silly and incredibly narrow minded. You honestly believe that only the USA deserves to have real estate that sells for high prices? Have you never been to London, Tokyo or any of the exotic beach locations around the world. Do you think we should ask them to lower their prices because they are higher than the USA?
>>>Yes, very narrow minded indeed. I’m assuming that apossek is from the USA so this is why I mentioned investing in the USA and not Tokyo or London. I shouldn’t have assumed apossek was from the USA (sorry). If he is from Toyko, I suggesting investing in Asia. Since I assumed apossek was from the USA, I thought it better to invest closer to home since apossek seems to have little time to be in CR. Also, I’m assuming apossek has some liquid cash in “at least” the 150k range since this is how real estate is purchased in CR (cold hard cash usually). With 150k, apossek could probably do very well investing closer to home.
Sincerely,
DwayneI’d save your money and invest closer to home.
If you can’t use the property except for 1-2 weeks a year, what’s the use? If anything should happen that requires your sudden presence in Costa Rica, you are up a creek. Remember, the more you own (especially property) the more it owns you!
The other thing I don’t like about this property is that it is just a 1 bedroom. A 1 bedroom is like a hotel (and a prison) so as a rental you are competing with hotels. It is different when you are renting a large home for a group where the group wants to save by doubling up (like sleeping 4 to a room) and wants to save by eating in. A 1 bedroom in a foriegn country that is likely more than 2000 miles away from your home-base *to me* has a lot of minuses especially since you can’t use it for more than 1 to 2 weeks a year. Even when you can use it, do you really like Jaco enough to want to be there day in and day out? Jaco is outrageously expensive and it is more “American” than anywhere else in the country so are you looking for a “foriegn” experience or an “American” experience far far farrrrrr from home? There are better places to buy in Costa Rica and better places to buy (for investment) in the USA.
Also keep in mind that the RE market is cooling in the USA and it will cool in CR (my opinion… lots of opinions out there). RE profits in the USA were likely invested in CR and with less USA profits to be made the less CR will get. Sure you’ll still get retirees going to CR, but not as much the casual investor. Do take into account that many retirees don’t buy since many of them (something like 60%) return to the USA after just 2 years in CR.
Also consider that a condo is a condo is a condo – nothing special about a condo so when you want to sell, if that should happen, your condo will likely be on the market with a lot of other condos. Maybe the beach will be to your advantage, however there are many huge condo developments in SJ where the developer has been long gone for 2 years and yet the developer STILL has empty units for sale.
These units in Jaco are selling, but step back from the hype for a moment. Realize that many many many more developments will come to Jaco in the years to come so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to invest and live in Jaco if you choose later in life. Future new developments will keep the prices in check – it won’t make sense for property in Costa Rica to cost more than property in the USA for God’s sake. Keep in mind that, as a rule of thumb, future developments are always better than their older peers because construction materials get better and technology gets better and all this can come at even a lower or very competitive price with respect to the older peers. New construction usually tries to out-do what is currently available so this could hurt your investment. Like any investment – the risks are there.
People will tell you “these things are selling fast” so get yours while they are cheap – CAREFUL!!!! Bottom line is just be careful and consider investing closer to home. The USA is still very profitable (long term and in some cases the short term) and will continue to be profitable.
I’m not completely down on CR – just careful about investing there.
The closest coast is 2.5 hours give or take a few minutes. I think all of the coast are within 6 hours.
Electricity isn’t dependable in Belize and since the pumps that get water to your home depend on electricity the water supply isn’t dependable either. Many people attempt to catch water from the roof as it runs off during the rain and store it so they have water when they need water.
Belize is 20 years behind CR and from what I hear more expensive than CR.
Some people like the 20 year difference, but few like the cost of living in Belize.
I live in California and there are lots of places I can’t get to in the USA by flying direct. It is the result of the hub and spoke system that the airlines use – fly everyone into the hub from the spoke and then fly them from the hub to the spoke. Of couse, first spoke being your origin and second spoke your destination.
I can get to CR direct from San Francisco… hahahahahahahaha! 🙂
