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David,
I saw your note and think I have a good resource for you. I am good friends with the owners of a reforestation project called Finca Leola, who have some farms and wood production company near La Fortuna. I forwarded your message on to them this morning, and they responded that they thought they could help you out. Feel free to contact Fred Morgan at fmorgan@fincaleola.com
Kathleen Chiras
Edited on Aug 18, 2008 13:27
1. I thought the information you had about square-meter pricing in most parts of Costa Rica was very helpful at the time, particularly since there is no MLS. However, as with any book that must be printed, it can become out of date fairly quickly. This same information, with some sort of newsletter subscription included that might have semi-annual updates would be very nice. I understand that in some parts of the country, real estate is down as much as 30%, but it is tough to separate speculation and rumor from reality. A broker I trust in the southern zone just reported last week, “I would say a down of about 30% on the run-of-the-mill property, which there is quite a bit of. The good stuff is selling, at about a 10 – 15% reduction compared to a year ago.”
2. I thought many of the things you covered in the first book were excellent. You might go a little more into the downsides and risks related to investing in Costa Rica real estate for pure investment vs. second home objectives. The lending environment and again, a six month update to this would also be helpful.
3. What kind of bugs (insects) go with what kinds of real estate. Seriously! I’ve found there are some important things to know about this. What the emergency medical response system is like in areas outside of major metropolitan areas. Cultural differences, that you do a great job of discussing in the book and your newsletter continue to be impt. Socio econonimic trends in the bordering countries of Nicaragua and Panama is also impt., as well as the region.
In general, I liked everything in the first book, and your excellent writing style. I would just put in a few more things mentioned above and find a mechanism to keep the topics up-to-date.
Kathleen Chiras
