Costa Rica Real Estate Blog - Latest Comments

Re: Use Your Brain

Audrey Darrah — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:14:30 -0000

Cool drawing! You are developing a nice talent... keep it up, brainiac!

Re: Sierpe Del Pacifico – On The River, Off The Grid

Ben Vaughn — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 07:37:17 -0000

Hello Dave,

Many thanks for your thoughts. Crime here in Costa Rica is certainly different than anything I have experienced anywhere else.

I have been the poster child for CAP and crime in The Zone, due to the fact that I was nearly killed by a thief after confronting him in the act of burglarizing my home, and then chasing him in my car and ending up getting a bat to the head.

The repeated stories of thievery here can be a bit disconcerting. Personally, I find myself in a position of "picking one's poison". I have chosen to live in Costa Rica, and continue to do so, despite its negatives. When I look around at the world and consider where I want to live, I conceptually pick a spot, let's say someplace in the US. I then consider the pluses and minuses of the decision, and I keep coming back to Costa Rica as having more pluses for me, AND less minuses, than elsewhere.

The crime thing here is a definite booger on the quality of life, but I choose to live with this, and in fact believe that it is manageable. By being informed, and thinking about the prevailing conditions, wherever we are, we can avoid a lot of the problems. There seem to be boogers on life no matter where one goes. We humans have done a pretty good job of mis-managing the planet at large.

My thoughts on Sierpe are similar to my thoughts on going to the beach:
don't leave anything in the car. Sometimes I even leave the glove
compartment open and the doors unlocked. The roving band of punk thieves
might take a quick gander through the car, but won't do any damage, nor
take anything since there is nothing to take. A sting would be a good
idea. The video surveillance that CAP is putting up around Dominical has
put nearly 15 of these guys in jail since its inception. While in jail,
they evidently talk a bit and it would seem that word is getting out that
The Zone is not the place to ply their trade and so they need to move on to
greener pastures. Crime is currently on the decline here.

I welcome this discussion and look forward to your response. Crime has had
a HUGE impact on my life and I think that it is a service to my clients to
openly discuss it.

Ben Vaughn

Re: Sierpe Del Pacifico – On The River, Off The Grid

Dhenley15 — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:33:35 -0000

Hi Guys--I was interested to read your review of Sierpe del Pacifico, as I am looking around for a sustainable development to invest in despite these down economic times. Their lot prices don't seem discounted to me at all--225K just for a river view--wonder what you think of their deals?--A house w/ some sort of panels between framing seems cheesey and is priced over 300K! and everyhouse built seems to be for sale--people getting tired of needing to board a boat when they want to shop?.

Anyway, my comment is this: I was surprised you showed no concern at leaving your car at the dock at Sierpe. While we waited to board a boat for Drake Bay w/in 3 " of standing with and transferring our backpacks to the boat a small group of teens had already lifted everything they could from our bags from flashlights to penknives. They seem to have made aliving that way they were so slick. But that's just a postscript: I wouldn't trust leaving my car for ten minutes let alone an extended day. My impression of the S. Zone's no-door jail w/ no prisoners is because there is no police to arrest them! Or even operable patrol cars! The one chkpt by Baru is the only presence I've seen and according to CAP, the last report had a couple people being tied up and robbed at shotgun point along the first ridge of homes in Dominical. Scared to buy now. Care to comment?!
David

Re: Relocation FAQ

Sathish Kumar — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 06:26:22 -0000

thank you for sharing this information
nice article great job keep going....

Lands for sale at
Chennai

Re: Relocation FAQ

Drew97404 — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:19:59 -0000

Thank you very much for your help Ben! This has really given me and my family some great starting points. We are heading down in late Feb 2012 to check out some areas and schools!

Andrew Bellah "The Bellah Family"

Re: Poll #1 Results – Top Reasons To Buy Property In The Zone

Danny Welsh — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:06:58 -0000

Great post guys. As always, very informative and insightful. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Retire to What, Boredom?

Minerva — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:31:35 -0000

It's absolutely a good thing to be in the real estate business. And yes, you are right at saying that even if we work at the real estate industry, we sometimes do not have any idea that we are already doing real estate. :D

Re: Retire to What, Boredom?

Danny Welsh — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 18:00:59 -0000

I really enjoy reading your posts. I like your perspective on boredom being in that part of the world. Great share.

Re: Think Outside The Box (Property in Costa Rica)

Tobias — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 12:38:55 -0000

Unfortunately so many sellers do not want to "chop their lots 4 times per year" and just do not get the big picture...

Re: Wire Transfers, Escrow and an Investment Idea

Stay — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 20:40:02 -0000

70k profit what no closeing costs carrying costs and of course the realtor is free ?

Re: Think Outside The Box (Property in Costa Rica)

Danny Welsh — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 17:37:20 -0000

That is an excellent post. I can appreciate your outside the box thinking in increasing your sales process. As the quote in the beginning so rightly sums it up "Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

Re: HOA? CC & Rs ? Developments? I thought this was Costa Rica!

pool installation price — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 04:17:12 -0000

I'll
back again for sure, thanks for great article :D

Re: Ben’s Predictions

Lorraine Walker — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:20:28 -0000

This is quite nice prediction's by Ben.

Re: Rainy Season In Southern Costa Rica

Juliet Meeks — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 07:49:16 -0000

Pretty impressive article. I just stumbled upon your site and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your opinions.

Re: Talk Show – Episode 11

kaizenranger — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 23:03:55 -0000

It is a informative post. I see the video of a look at 2011 Costa Rica real estate trends shared by Ben Vaughn and Rod Martin. It is so helpful advice for that people who want to buy a property in a Costa Rica.

Apartments for rent in Toronto

Re: Costa Rica Real Estate Closing Costs

Ben — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 08:20:18 -0000

The fees and stamps don't affect the timing of the closing. The due
diligence period is what takes the time. Typical timing of a deal in
Costa Rica is 1 month. 3 weeks for due diligence - checking title on
the property, verifying the survey, soil analysis etc... then 1 more
week to allow the buyer to transfer funds down for the closing.

Re: Real Estate Guy’s Super Powers

Tobias — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 20:49:25 -0000

I really like your article, as it represents what we are seeing also with our clients.
Will definitely come back to your blog.

Cheers
Tobias

http://tierralinda-blog.com

Re: Costa Rica Real Estate Closing Costs

Danny Welsh — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 13:19:42 -0000

A very interesting process closing a real estate deal. I am curious as ot how long it take to close, considering all the fee and stamps needed?

Re: What People Are Buying In Costa Rica

Danny Welsh — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 12:41:57 -0000

I think most people would agree that buying a property with all those unique features, do offer a unique living experience. I’d like to see what more people think of that in depth.

Re: Hard Money Lending in Costa Rica

payday loan — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 18:14:03 -0000

Hard money lending usually charges much higher interest rates than soft money lending situations, and if the money is intended for a mortgage, hard money lenders will also charge many more percentage points on the loan. ...

Re: State of the Market – The Guys Report

costa rica real estate — Sat, 28 May 2011 07:39:38 -0000

hey you guys done a great job..keep it up

Re: Talk Show – Episode 12

Dan Statlander — Thu, 12 May 2011 14:35:38 -0000

Nice post.

Dan Statlander
http://www.statelandbrown.com
(Real estate experts in Boca Raton Florida)

Re: “Yodel Naked” Sweeps the Globe

living in costa rica — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:14:06 -0000

I want to debunk these notions, and others, and suggest that Costa Rica is still a terrific place to retire, or to start new life in if you are not yet retired, particularly if you choose your location and activities carefully.

living in costa rica

Re: Exclusive Listings Re-visited Part 2 of 3

Ben Vaughn — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:07:31 -0000

The problem is that there are a number of sellers that really could use some
representation down here in Costa Rica. An exclusive listing, at the very
least *offers* such representation to the seller. The system is such that
it is tough, even for us well-meaning agencies, to deliver on the promised
services. All we can do really is notify the other agencies of a property.
We can't guarantee that they'll actually promote the property on their
sites.

Thanks for your comments Bill.

Ben Vaughn

Re: Exclusive Listings Re-visited Part 2 of 3

Bill — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:02:44 -0000

I've been through the exclusive listing gimmick with a Realtor in Tamarindo (franshise firm) who did absolutely nothing for us once he got our listing. As a matter of fact that firm sells properties by exclusive and non-exclusive listings. We locked in with this firm with the exclusive listing, while a neighbour went for the non exclusive listing. The Realtor sold my neighbour's house and didn't even show ours. Go figure.

What is an exclusive listing in Costa Rica?
- Advertise on your website
- Place a sign on the property

Before we listed with the Tamarindo scammer he fed us a pile of BS that he would place a sign on the property, make brochures, contact his list of "interested buyers", take photos, make videos and show the property.

After we signed I had to hound him for a copy of the listing agreement, had to bug him to bring the sign. He did place our property on his website though.

Now when I here the word exclusive from someone selling Real Estate in Costa Rica the only word that comes to mind is scammer.

Seller should be aware of the exclusive listing gimmick.