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One of the greatest things the ol’US has going for it..even in these times is anyone can bash the hell out of it! When that stops happening then we all need to worry! Why get upset? You are not the “US” just a being passing through that happened to take birth on this particular piece of land on earth. Karma, just dumb luck I don’t know but that’s really all there is to it no need to be patriotic just because of your current circumstance. Compassion, honesty, respect- we can treat each other this way regardless of what country we were born in, what piece of land we currently call home. Sure the US has been great to many of us but at the same time it has been so damn bad to many others-lets start with the beginning. Remember another group of people was here first, what happened to them? Was the US good for there culture, children, women, grandfathers etc…? Well there is no use living in the past but lets not forget and lets learn from it and accept “our” responsibility in the madness that takes place on this planet in the name of patriotism.
Well that’s another missing piece of the puzzle, is the broker legally entitled to work in Costa Rica? I was not speaking for any particular group, but in regards to humanity and what could/should come from the heart. I think at this stage of our evolution we should be able to discern from good behavior and bad behavior without having to rely on a written code. I don’t need a copy of the law to tell me I need to pay for that gum before I leave the store! lol…
I think we need more information. Some of you are assuming the broker was asking the buyer to pay them a commission on top of the sale price. After seeing the property did the buyer decide to contact the owner directly to see if they could get a better deal? Did the owner contact the buyer and say “Hey call me later, I can do better”. Did the buyer explicitly tell the broker “only show me listings that have signed exclusives, therefore I could not get directly from seller? The buyer engaged the broker and asked the broker so show them properties, one must understand that the money paid to the broker comes from the sale price of the home. It is understood by most there is no multiple listing service in Costa Rica hence very few signed exclusive sales agreements. This implies most listings are what you are calling FSBO’s, owners may advertise there home for sale while also letting brokers show it. Of course the price will be less without the broker involved, just as it is less to buy anything from a loaf of bread to a car if there is no “broker”. It is also generaly understood that the commission comes out of the sales price. If the broker showed the property and then told the buyer he/she would have to pay a % of the price to him for his commission well then that would call for an agreement before hand in my opinion. Again we just don’t have enough information…Brokers work on commission you want to try and save don’t call a broker find the FSBO’s on your own don’t use a broker to lead you there and then try and cut them out of the deal. I disagree stephenf we all can live up to a code of sound, fair ethics and morals whether a buyer, broker, seller or shoemaker.
get e mail alerts from kayak.com right now flights from NYC are cheap!! $359 direct-non stop on United.You just have to keep checking, you aren’t leaving for almost a year way to far out to get the best fares.
My question BB is why do we go along with this when we are obvious bed fellows with these Zionist bankers. The WASP white elite must have something to gain or they would just crush it. Rothschild has a big mouth but the crown could have taken him and his whole family out in a blink of an eye. They produce nothing just control the eb and tide of currency which easily could be seized. I went through a period of great fascination regarding these Zionist banking conspiracy theories and how the Illuminati were controlling world governments. I think you give to much credit to these Jewish bankers what about the clans of blue bloods that have ruled Europe for a 1000 years and the Astor’s, Morgans, Jones’,Vanderbilt’s to name a few that ruled the US?
Some of those Birmingham neighborhoods are quite nice, my point is there is a lot of affordable real estate in the US now…a lot! Not just in Birmingham either here’s a cute condo in Taos, New Mexico http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?ctid=5895&typ=3&sid=2c0ff2aed8f54f8ebed5bfae65137ed7&lid=1081909811&lsn=8&srcnt=556#Detail I love Costa Rica and am a property owner and am not trying to tell anyone not to go, but you are deluding yourself if you think you have no other choices, there are a million here and its a big time buyers market! To live up to North American standards in Costa Rica ain’t cheap and if you think living in a house in say Escazu that is not part of a gated community is worry free? Ask Hals wife at abroadincostarica or ask Hal about there security features. I mean people are buying condos in Santa Ana in gated communities for $350k, I agree they are beautiful but the average retiree is not going to live there on SS payments. How about y’all living in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina great year round weather and a golfers Mecca…http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?ctid=5509&ml=3&typ=3&sid=b84e0c4d23714a1e81c595eb82a6568d&lid=1081037563&lsn=6&srcnt=6456#Detail This looks like a safe neighborhood? I love Costa Rica because of the world class surfing and we are beach people, love the tropical lifestyle. We also bought land in a gated community 2kms from world class surfing beach Playa Hermosa for $6 dollars M2-to me it was a no brainer, I would not pay $350k for a condo in Jaco and I would prefer the high country of the Carolinas to the central valley if I had to choose a permanent retirement base.
I think Nixon said Israel was our cop on the beat in the middle east.Without our support they certainly would not have gotten to where they are now, armed to the teeth and able to defend themselves. To a certain extent I have to believe at this point with all there weapons if it was not for us they would have all out war with the Arab/Islamic nations. But BB after that “Rant” I must say I got a good chuckle out of the way you ended it; “What do you think?”.Lol. I am not even going to touch the way you refer to “Jews”, but I’m sure a few others will…
I am starting to feel like this “baby Boomer” retirement thing is starting to sound like the “they are building an airport or the highway is coming” thing.Lol! When brokers like Terry tell us about 76,000,000 boomers retiring is a reason that Costa Rica real estate is going to be going strong into the foreseeable future, I for one am very skeptical of this assertion. As pointed out somewhere else less than 10% of all US citizens have a passport just for starters. The US is a very big country and at this point you can retire here as easily as you could in Costa Rica, there are many very beautiful parts of the country where you can buy a house for well under $200,000 and if you do a little research in places like Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Washington State, New York State, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Georgia, Montana, California, Arizona you will find some very cool places that would work well for a retiree with low taxes and all for around $100k. Perhaps some of you retiree’s are overlooking this, I have friends and family that live off there SS income including my Grand Parents(well into there 90’s!) of course they don’t have a mortgage. I believe based on my experience with people here in the US very very few are going to be willing to retire in Costa Rica, out of 100 people invited to our wedding maybe 25 are coming, and our families are pretty typical segment of the population most either in the north east or Midwest, quite frankly they think we are crazy and I can tell you none of these folks will be on that boomer train to CR lol! I am also a real estate broker and it is very very rare to hear another broker tell you the market is bad and I don’t think I have ever heard a broker tell that to a client they were trying to sell a property to. My point is I think it is not quite right to throw out that big “76,000,000 Million Boomers Retiring” thing as a reason to invest in Costa Rica or as a reason that the market will sustain itself while the economies of the buyers of CR property are coming a bit unglued. It may happen it may not and when that’s your mantra I believe you are being sensationalistic and it sounds more like something i would expect to hear from a “boiler room” pitch man than a knowledgeable broker. Just my 2 cents. http://www.realtor.com/search/searchresults.aspx?ctid=424&mnp=13&mxp=17&typ=39 Lets all remember Costa Rica is just like any other market, when things accelerate to quickly based on “irrational exuberance” they will eventually unravel-that is the nature of the beast.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket as they say…Owning Real Estate in Costa Rica may or may not turn out to be a good investment. Owning a condo at the beach in Costa Rica is a luxury and I wouldn’t bet the farm that it’s going to make you rich. I am a fly by the seat of your pants kind of person but that works for me. That does not work for most people I know, so buy that condo in CR if you can afford it and calculating whether or not you can afford it is easy…simple math or talk to a good financial planner. Scott and this website can not tell you if you can afford to buy a second home, but they provided you with sound information to put you in touch with trusted people, and that’s half the battle right there. I own some land in the central pacific and really could care less what the current state of the real estate market is in my area, the views the same, the closeness to the ocean is the same, the brilliant sunsets, flowers they are still there and that’s why I bought it.
I know this is some what un-related to this thread…but there was an interesting article in the NY times with statistics that show better growth under Democratic administrations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/business/31view.html?_r=1&em&oref=sloginI am neither just for the record.
As a broker you take a risk showing a FSBO listing even with the owners permission. But as the agent sometimes you know of a property that may be just perfect but it’s an open? I think the client is best served by introducing him to it, rather than pass it by, what are the chances in an unorganized market place like CR that the buyer will stumble across it? The vast majority of my clients are very busy making money at there own profession and spending time at there personal life-family etc. and they hire me to find them the best suitable property and not waist there time. For those who want to scour want ads, FSBO sites etc.. go for it I don’t have time nor the desire to work with this type of client, I sincerely wish them the best. And I have also found that most sophisticated sellers want to be represented by a competent broker to handle the advertising campaign, the large amount of tire kickers,phone calls, e mails and the sometimes months of showing. When I work 3-5 months to sell a property 5% seems fair to me, I have spent up to 8 months on some properties.
As a broker in NYC this on occasion happens to me with rentals, as the client discovers another unit in the building that is “no fee” or can rent direct from the owner. I always disclose every property I am showing to a client and if they agree to be shown the property I expect a commission if they rent. In sales(here) the listing broker always has a written agreement about what commission should be charged. I on occasion will show a FSBO property but first I speak with the owner to understand what he/she is paying in regards to a commission. I have to imagine a good broker in Costa Rica works quite hard finding available listings that are “kosher” and showing these homes through out the various neighborhoods. Could a foreign buyer navigate his way through all this and find a random FSBO house that meets his/her criteria and is fairly priced and is not encumbered by any big problems? Unlikely or at best very difficult. If you are are going to hire a broker to help you find a home understand that person needs to be paid, if you want to save 2-5% don’t hire a broker, very simple…and that said you may not save with out an expert opinion on price! A good honest broker can really make the process of looking and buying a home a very seamless operation. It’s just sometimes people get the wrong impression that they are being had when they come to the conclusion that by leaving out the broker they can save money. Shame on the seller and the buyer! And that goes for everything we buy anyway. as a broker on the rare occasion this happens to me I will have a conversation with the owner and buyer and try and work something out, I usually do this through an attorney. If you have really been had, a threat of holding this up in the bureaucracy of the Costa Rican law system may convince the seller/buyer to work something out with you rather than risk having a deal be held up.
Edited on Aug 31, 2008 18:44
Social security is taken out of our paychecks…no? Why should we not count on it for retirement it’s OUR money! It’s our governments mishandeling of the funds that is the problem!
Keep in mind if you throw away the US passport and the IRS believes it’s to avoid paying taxes they can still go after you.
