Prices For Quality Costa Rica Real Estate Remain Stable – In contrast to sensational and unsubstantiated claims made by some.

I normally enjoy Garland Baker’s dark but well researched articles in AmCostaRica.com, but this week’s sensational and unsubstantiated article included no facts or real data…

On a “personal trip” to one small area, he states that “property prices have dropped on some real estate 50 percent or more” and later in his article says that “Costa Rica is at war. It is at war with crime.”

Sensational and unsubstantiated scaremongering at it’s finest which must thrill their advertisers! After he scares the living daylights out of you – poor reader – he adds that he is “… bullish on Costa Rica.”

If real estate prices are truly down by 50% please show us some facts to back that up and we will also publish them, but there are no facts whatsoever to back up that statement!

Costa Rica real estate prices are not collapsing and they are not down 50% – that’s pure unadulterated rubbish!

I am not afraid of the truth, of publicly declaring that an investment has lost value – anyone that has been involved with investments professionally for 20+ years as I have, has had similar conversations – and would have no qualms about publicly announcing that the real estate market is down by 50% if it was the truth but, it is not.

Should that time come, we will write about it with as many accompanying facts and figures from Realtors as is available to back it up… Talking about Realtors, I did speak with many professional Realtors this week and what they are telling us is very, very different.

Prices for quality Costa Rica real estate remain stable, not one of our Recommended Realtors is seeing an overall decline in prices.

Just because Mr. Baker found a handful of properties that were being offered at a discount in the Parrita-Quepos area, that does not mean that reflects the entire Costa Rica real estate market. There are few large developments in the Parrita-Quepos area so it’s especially difficult to measure any change in prices.

We should also note that the Parrita-Quepos is an area that has tens of thousands of plots of land that have been sold – sight unseen – to thousands of unsuspecting buyers by various groups of boiler room sales/con men operating out of Florida. Many of those customers have since discovered that the ‘ocean view’ land they thought they bought, doesn’t have an ocean view.

I don’t want to understate this point because I receive emails from desperate people every single week begging me to help them sell their land in Parrita or, recommend a Realtor who could help them sell their plot of land in ‘one-of-a-dozen-or-more’ projects that are sold by these boiler rooms. Professional Realtors are NOT interested and we don’t want these listed on WeLoveCostaRica.com either.

And as Tom Rosenberger points out: “Parrita has always been the armpit of the Central Pacific coast which suffered serious flooding earlier this year. After hurricanes and flooding in Louisiana, Alabama or anywhere, land prices drop dramatically as well. Who wants to live in a low lying area that floods?”

Over the last three weeks, we have done dozens of video interviews in English and Spanish for a new project with Realtors and attorneys from all over Costa Rica and this is what we all agree on:

1. There will always be the occasional homeowner desperate to sell because of personal circumstances, deaths in the family, divorces or whatever but, none of the Realtors we interviewed are seeing experienced developers with a proven track record of building quality real estate lowering their prices
2. They are indeed seeing underfunded ‘fly-by-night’ cowboy operators who are selling at discounts but to be blunt – Good riddance!
3. Not a single one of the experienced developers with a proven track record of building quality real estate that we recommend on WeLoveCostaRica.com are lowering their prices. Zero!
4. True! There are fewer real estate buyers out there and some sellers are willing to accept more aggressive offers but then again, we all also know well funded, quality developers who have growing waiting lists for buyers for their new project.
5. But Costa Rica real estate prices have not dropped by “50 percent or more” in any geographical area that we recommend! In fact, real estate prices have not dropped by 20% in any geographical area that we recommend.

And yes we have crime but saying that: “Costa Rica is at war. It is at war with crime.” That’s just irresponsible! Would we all be loving living here – in many different parts of Costa Rica – if that truly was the case? And if they think crime is that bad, why are they living here?

Is the English language press going to publish yellow, orange and red ‘crime alerts’ next? Maybe give their real estate advertisers a special, deep discount for advertising their luxury real estate for sale on a page also featuring the latest bloody murder?

• Are you “at war with crime” in Jaco Lisle? The answer is No!
• Are you “at war with crime” in Esterillos David? The answer is No!
• Are you “at war with crime” in Atenas Terry? The answer is No!
• Are you “at war with crime” in Turrialba David? The answer is No!
• Are you “at war with crime” in San Isidro Victor? The answer is No!
• Are you “at war with crime” in Orosi Steve? The answer is No!
• Are you “at war with crime” in Puriscal George? The answer is No!
• Are you “at war with crime” in Arenal Laura? The answer is No!
• Are you “at war with crime” in Conchal Becky? The answer is No!
• Are you “at war with crime” in Manuel Antonio Martin? The answer is No!
• Are you “at war with crime” in Dominical Daveed? The answer is No!
• Are you “at war with crime” in Escazu Sean? The answer is No!
• Are you “at war with crime” in Playa Hermosa Scott? The answer is No!

Because I know we’re not “at war with crime” in Santa Ana.

Like many countries, the worst crime – by far – is in the capital city which for us is San Jose however, I’m in and out of San Jose 3-4 days a week and apart from having my car radio stolen about five years ago, I have never had a problem with crime even in San Jose but maybe I’m just dumb, lucky or perhaps more street smart than most.

Costa Rica does need to become more efficient about tackling crime, locking up offenders and keeping them locked up – there’s no question about that – but are we all so mercenary that we’re saying how wonderful it is to live here while barricading ourselves in our homes at night? Of course not! And typically the further away you are from the city the less crime there is…

Costa Rica Real Estate Investments in San Jose:

Our VIP Members will know that I have personally invested in a penthouse apartment in San Jose for $2,100M2 in pre-construction, most people would consider this a substantial investment I and would not have made that commitment that if I genuinely believed we were “at war with crime.”

Less than 250 meters away from this new apartment building are two new, yet to start luxury apartment projects being sold (and yes! They are selling!) in pre-construction for $3,000M2 in obra gris! Obra gris literally means ‘grey work’ which is where you take delivery of your property in concrete, the structure is complete but totally unfinished.

When you and your higher paid craftsmen (the lower paid regular labourers have finished their work at this stage) have completed the work that remains, you would add – at the very least – another US$1,000M2 to the price giving you US$4,000M2+ for a finished apartment compared to mine purchased one year earlier at US$2,100M2 – finished.

And in August 2008 – Yes! Just a few weeks ago, – I sold a Santa Ana home for 30% more than I paid for it after all costs to a family from Venezuela after owning it for 15 months in a real estate market that Garland Baker tells me is down “…50% or more.”

Clearly the prices are not going lower in the Costa Rica real estate that I’m investing in so maybe you should be spending more time on WeLoveCostaRica.com?

Costa Rica Real Estate Prices – Our Recommended Realtors comment:

1. Our Recommended Realtor in Atenas Terry Mills tells me that: “We have had many more raise prices than lower.
2. Our Recommended Realtor in Manuel Antonio Martin Gill says that: “Real Estate prices in the Quepos and Manuel Antonio area have remained steady during the US downturn for most part.”
3. Our Recommended Realtor in the Osa Peninsula Jim Cameron says that: “There is little to no crime where we live… The prices in the Northern Osa Peninsula have steadily increased over the almost three years I have been living here due to continued foreign investment and the local Costa Ricans general feeling that their properties are worth more and more every year.”
4. Our Recommended Realtor on the Caribbean Manuel Pinto says: “Here on the Caribbean, we have not seen any of these phenomenoms – yet – at least. This year we will produce our best year yet – in terms of number of buyers and $$$ amount of properties sold – as well as our average sale. That being said, we do expect a drop over in the near future. Our US market has diminished, but our Tico and European markets are still very strong!”
5. One of our Recommended Realtors in Arenal Laura Murray says: “Some of the local Tico sellers are beginning to realize the impact that the U.S. economic downturn is having on property sales here. But some of them don’t care and will continue to hold their prices too high, good market or bad…” And “We absolutely love living here and thank ourselves each day for getting out of the U.S. when we did.”
6. Costa Rica Realtor Terry Moran in Arenal says: “Our prices have not fallen one iota and our market is much better than most in Costa Rica and certainly the united states, the article in AMCostaRica was just BS.”
7. Our Recommended Realtor in Jaco Lisle Head says that: “Prices on the beachfront have not dropped 1 percent. And I don’t know of one condo or single family home in a gated community that has dropped in prices.
8. Our Recommended Realtor in Playa Cochal Becky Clower says: “We have seen amazing growth in our area over the last 5 years. Our growth is and still continues at a fast rate – just not at 300% returns as it was 3 years ago. The ‘slowdown’ refers to only certain projects in our area that perhaps were priced to high to begin with and are very ‘neighborhood specific’. Beach properties in Guanacaste still hold their value.”
9. Our Recommended Realtor in Dominical Daveed Hollander tells me that: “we have seen very few areas where prices have dropped, none that have seen a 50% drop and some areas have seen price increases. I would say only about 5% of our sellers have dropped their prices by no more than 10-20%.”

We’ll add more Costa Rica Realtor comments when we receive them …

PS. And yes. I did send a letter to the Editor of AmCostaRica with much of this information and he replied that: “I amnot going to print recycled stuff from some real estate Web site.”

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Written by Scott Oliver, author of How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa and Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.