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really Angie, take the advice and leave the dog at home until you move here. I have a feeling you will regret bringing it.
He’s just a pup; flying is extremely stressful for a dog and that’s if everything goes smoothly. Don’t put him through it twice unless you are prepared to charter a plane and put him in the cabin. I’m not kidding and I know people that have done this from the U.K. to Spain.
Personally I would not put my dogs through it; if I ever moved back to the U.K. they would come on the QM2 with me..it would be worth it and the kennels cost very little.
Why do you think they sedate horses in planes? Just because everyone fly’s with their dogs these days doesn’t mean it’s okay.
dkt2u – Apparently you aren’t able to give details to lend credibility your story….(this is not a personal criticism).
1. To my knowledge only one developer has been caught red handed and that’s Mapache; a group with ties to some very influential people!! However, if you have more then please let’s have them. (You can’t be sued for stating facts, as Scott reminded us recently). If the National Press here can report on Mapache then I don’t see why you can’t give us these details that you have on these other “developers”.
2. You say people don’t have the resources to come to Costa Rica and pursue legal action; are these the same people that sent $50,000, $100,000 over the phone?
3. I would also suggest that some local developers might start construction without permits because they know they can get them with their “contacts”….but for a foreigner, back-handing the right public official might not be so straight forward.
4. If as you say these plots have been sold and title cannot be delivered how come I have not heard about it? The press down here is very active is seeking out such stories; so please tell me who is it that has been arrested for fraud or misrepresentation? (I’m not saying it doesn’t happen but there is nothing in the press here and not one person has complained in this site about not receiving title so let’s hear it.
5. If, as you claim you know so much then you will know that obtaining a permit to divide land into marketable 5,000m2 parcels is not a difficult process. It is in fact the most simple permit there is as it allows only a basic division of the land, nothing more. My understanding (and please correct me if you know of any selling small plots based on a Master Plan that doesn’t have approval) is that the firms selling land overseas are doing it this way. They may not even have any intention of developing but if the buyers know this then the only issue is price; lets hear what they are so I can be the judge as to whether they are fair or not.
Yours,
The bigger fool…and one more thing Lotus. If we rate them “avoid” wouldn’t we also have had to rate “Wellington” an “avoid” too based on the type of comments in this forum in the past? I would say so and yet aren’t you the one who recently told the story of how you bought from them and everything worked out to your satisfaction? (Correct me if I have the wrong company that you bought from).
Once again, for the record since some people don’t understand my position it seems, I am not pro these operations, on the contrary, many of them are probably, at best, selling sub-standard product. But when people post comments like, “I’m a financial planner and I’ve heard some horror stories” what do we really learn? We learn it seems that anyone can say anything about anyone online and it will be treated as fact, and so the story perpetuates itself with hearsay passing for informed comment. Yes the owner may be on fraud charges and this of course is enough of a reason to avoid them, but the same treatment is dealt out to all the hard sell phone room operations. Wellington it seems (hearsay) has managed to outperform all expectations in spite of the manner in which they were consistently bad mouthed in this forum.
Apparently many people complain about the hard sell tactics used, but why bother complaining? Why not hang up? These people don’t cold call, they receive “leads” or requests for info from the “prospect” and not the other way around.
It strikes me that in a litigious society like the U.S. no one wants to take personal responsibility any more and if they can pass the blame for their own poor decisions they will do so. This behaviour is actively encouraged by the Government as can be witnessed with the sub prime fiasco where people who wanted more house than they could afford lied, and were encouraged to lie by so-called “financial professionals” to get the loan. Now the Government wants to bail out all the liars in the chain at the expense of the tax payer…now that’s a scam.
I certainly don’t condone people who sell or misrepresent a product that is either over-priced, or worse, lacking permits, Title etc…etc.. and I certainly don’t condone the Fed Chairman Greenspan for deliberately keeping interest rates too low for too long and knowingly inflating the biggest real estate bubble in the history of mankind. There is, in my mind, little difference in the intent of these people, both of whom are offering something they can’t deliver.
or a “short”…
These types of sales operations need product and the latest fad in the U.K. is to offer farmland to investors. This land comes without planning permission and lies within a zone known as the “greenbelt” around London. This area has been protected for years and will likely stay that way leaving these investors waiting in vain for the town planners to change the status of their land.
The mark-ups on this land are sometimes 50 times what the promotors paid for it and that’s without a Master Plan or even an attempt at obtaining planning permission. This could be defined as a buy and hold investment…..it’s just that the holding never ends!
On the bright side the children of these “land owners” may live to see the day when they can cash in, or, if the ethanol scam keeps going the way it is, it may just drive up land prices so far that even these people will get their money back in their lifetimes.
Edited on Sep 13, 2007 17:08
About the title thing I have to say that I find that unlikely. These people are probably not stupid and although they might not be making the best offer down here (not that I would know either way) why would they take such a dumb risk when all they have to do to avoid a fraud charge is deliver the Title? It makes no sense.
My guess is that title will be delivered although probably under duress. If they don’t own any land or don’t have an Option then that would be the most idiotic operation ever and your comments would be completely just. It would though really surprise me if they all wanted to go to jail here as I hear it not the most comfortable place and the room service is terrible (allegedly).
Do you know someone that has been refused title? Have you seen the contract?
Yours,
The bigger foolEdited on Sep 12, 2007 20:51
One small sentence was removed from this post by Scott
Five years is a standard period here for trials. Arbitration circumvents some of the processes of a trial and you will be in front of the “panel” within 12-18 months with an answer within a few months thereafter. My lawyers used this method successfully, it may not apply in your case. I suggest you consult with legal counsel.
If you take the traditional route it will take up to five years to complete your case. You could opt for arbitration and this will take a little under two years if all goes well.
But wasn’t that the whole point of the argument – The trend is your friend – and now is the right time for gold and the wrong time for stocks. Furthermore your comments seem to underscore my own point that market timing is not easy so don’t bother with it. Find a bull market in whatever asset class you can and hold for the long term as long as the bull stays intact.
As far as I can tell their entire site is password protected! This is without a doubt the strangest marketing approach I have come across. I can imagine protecting parts of a site but this defies logic and runs contrary to everything I know.
You say you contacted them online, but I have to ask myself, why would you bother in the first place when they gave you zero reasons to do so?
great story crazyrj – which brings another aspect to the gold debate, confiscation; Gov’t interference at it’s best. When it didn’t suit them, they took away a man’s right to own it (1933).
Anything is possible with your investments when the Government get’s involved. Their fiat monetary system is challenged by gold and that is why they sell it; keeping down it’s value as long as possible. If you have faith in the Government you should hold the dollar, if you have a healthy contempt for them you should buy gold.
This Brinker guy has a good track record right? I will check him on the Hulberts Digest; is he in their top ten?
I’m not a perma bull or bear; I go with the trend.
crchuck – Perhaps you’re right. Certainly I can’t be bothered to time the market, it’s too much work. I would rather take a punt on a basket of junior miners on the ASX or AIM in London.
Regarding the 10% rule, I think most people say even less than that. To be honest I probably take on more gold, CR land and junior miners than I should! But I like the ride…
I said “most people, like you, will stay in the market” meaning that even if they sell now, they will jump straight back in because they see it as a buying opportunity. And I went on to ask in reference to those people; why bother trying to time the market? Semantics…who needs them?
Regarding wealth redistribution; of course the market is there to separate people from their money, particularly those that believe what their broker tells them about stocks for the long run.
Why can a broker not tell his clients to get out of the market? Because it is a conflict of interest – the interest of his firm! Unless he is truly independent he is unable to advise his clients to move to cash or other vehicles; only newsletters will do this for their readers.
Surely a decent broker would have said to his clients that the risk of fallout from sub prime was significant and advised his clients to sell months back. If you think this is unrealistic then how come my advisors did exactly this? Is there not one other person who was advised to do the same thing by their broker?
