News in The Zone

Shrimp n’ Street Talk

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Guys in the Zone heresay service: I thought that I’d behave like a blogger this morning and so I cruised the Costa Rica news & real estate blogs.  The following are my findings along with some current gossip:

The PRETOMA (Programa Restauracion de Tortugas Marinas) website

The US Department of State`s Bureau of Oceans, Environment, and Science imposed a trade embargo on all Costa Rican shrimp exports to the US, effective as of May 1.  The embargo is due to Costa Rica’s failure to enforce its laws that require commercial shrimp fishers to protect sea turtles from capture and death in trawl nets by using Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs).
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And then a little commentary on the matter from Globalpost:

It’s not the first time that the United States, Costa Rica’s chief shrimp buyer (shrimp exports to the U.S. grossed $2.8 million in 2007), has put a trade embargo on Tico shrimp. The ban has been imposed four times since 1999, in an attempt to penalize this country’s shrimping habits.

Fishers are netting shrimp illegally near river heads and protected marine areas in the Pacific, and aren’t using technology designed to prevent turtles from drowning in trawl nets, according to PRETOMA.

The article included statements that the biggest hit here is to Costa Rica’s “Green” reputation.  Costa Rica is apparently allowing shrimp harvesting in such a way that endangers the marine turtles — the green sea turtle, the olive ridley, hawksbill and leatherback.  So the U.S. is wielding its influence, and for those of us that like the idea of preserving the earth’s natural resources, this is good news.

Yesterday I was talking with Chef Dave from La Cusinga.  He’s doing some pretty interesting things here, one of which is cooking up a culinary experience at the La Cusinga restaurant which is called The Gecko.  I haven’t tried it yet, but for those that have, they say that it is nothing short of divine.

Anyway, it turns out that Chef Dave is a bit of a writer, and that he is interested in a lot of the things that I like writing about as well.  He’s started his own blog over at Chef of the Jungle.  He is the one that had originally told me about the U. S. ban on Costa Rica shrimp imports to the U. S. (You can read his commentary on the matter by clicking here).  That is indicative of the topics found in his blog.  Here is a clip from his website:

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In Memory of Sean McGraw

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Very much in keeping with the theme of Costa Rica real estate, I thought I’d take advantage of the liberties afforded me as the owner of this blog and write about the death of a professional associate, and a friend, Sean McGraw. Sean died Tuesday night, March 24th, 2009, in a car accident. He was … Read more

The Question on Everbody’s Mind

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How would you describe the current “crisis” impact on the local economy and on Costa Rica real-estate in general?

Yesterday I made the trip up to San Isidro de el General to take care of some things. I was to meet Rod and Lindsay for lunch at “Mexico Lindo”, an amazing genuine Mexican food restaurant there, run by a bona fide Mexican Armando and his lovely wife. I have known them for years and used to frequent their little taco hole in one of the off-the-beaten-path streets of San Isidro years ago. Now they are located right on the central square and my, how things have changed since those days of long ago. I don’t think that there was a single empty table there, and at least 50% of what I heard was English – my, how things have changed.

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Running the gauntlet of greetings as I made my way back to Rod and Lindsay, I looked up to see a couple who are particularly good friends, but that I have not seen for awhile. I greeted them with something like “how are you guys doing in this new world in which we live?” (reference to the economy), to which they responded, “what is going on?”. Working in real estate provides one with an interesting position in life. I didn’t realize it for a long time, but it is now clearer than ever. This industry is at the very foundation of life. We all need to live, play, and work somewhere. I received the above question in an e-mail from one of my clients just yesterday, so I heard the question a total of 2 times over the course of the day, and that wasn’t an unusual day.

Here’s what I think

We have lost a lot of buyers due to the economic crisis. We are gaining some buyers that we wouldn’t have otherwise had. It may look something like the graphic there to the left. It means a slow down for us here in Costa Rica, but not death. I have a client/friend/partner that is a high output kinda guy. I’ll call him Steve, a lawyer in Florida. He purchased a piece of land from me 3ish years ago. Subsequent visits have given us the opportunity to forge a friendship. Steve had a plan.

  • Sell his beach condo that he bought for investment
  • Sell his main home
  • Let the lease on his Porsche run out
  • Finish up obligations at the firm
  • Set up some means of income in Costa Rica
  • Move to Costa Rica

Steve LOVES Costa Rica. This is home to him. Every visit here confirms it to him. He just needed to get the ducks all lined up in a neat row prior to making the move. This is a common scenario. Life was fine. Plans were being made. Then, it all changed.

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“Yodel Naked” Sweeps the Globe

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Some are touting the global phenomenon of Yodeling Naked as the possible solution to the many divisive problems now confronting mankind. Originally developed as a privacy measure for property in Costa Rica’s remote southern pacific zone by none other than us here at Guys In The Zone, “Yodeling Naked” has swept the globe. Some are … Read more

Yodeling Naked & Firesales

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Rod & I sold a piece of property yesterday and I’d like to tell y’all about it. Be ye buyer or seller I think that it will be informative and hopefully helpful.

The couple came to us from a Canadian referral, primarily to view the San Buenas Golf Resort. I’ll call them the Schmerds.

After viewing the course and deciding that it was for them – they’ll likely get a clubhouse condo for investment and income generation. All this plus the fact that they like to golf made that a no brainer. They asked if they could see some general market properties as well.

We started in Uvita with some lovely whales tail view properties. View from lot 6 Bella Vista Uvita Costa RicaBella Vista Lot #6 has occupied “The Best Deal in Uvita” slot for some time, but was recently nudged into second place by a fire sale opportunity that we had just received.

The Schmerds LOVED #6, with its beautiful ocean and jungle views and absolute privacy. A little over 2 acres and end of the road quiet.

From there we went to Bella Vista #5 Bella Vista 5 Whales Tail Viewwhich is a re-sale and was formerly “Ben’s Favorite Uvita Property” but it too has been relegated to the #2 position by another property that I’ll describe here in a minute. 

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Big Earthquake no Big Deal in Uvita

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When I first posted the below article, I was “street informed” and had heard nothing about anybody being hurt by the earthquake. When I first read a news report on the earthquake, and the fact that people had died, I was shocked. The toll has gone from 2 to an estimated 34 over the ensuing days. We barely felt it here in Uvita. Hence, my title for this article is now inappropriate. The Big Earthquake has now become a Big Deal in Uvita. Our condolences go out to the loved ones of those hurt or killed by the quake.

I was sitting in my real estate office here in Uvita Costa Rica yesterday when I felt the floor tremble a bit. I looked around for a nearby glass of water, as is my custom. There wasn’t one. I shrugged and went on with my day, responding to e-mails, working the web sites, conversing with clients. earthquake.jpg

A couple hours later word comes in that there was a major earthquake centered up around Poas Volcano. (Click here to read the CNN article about it.) Clients write in and ask “How you guys doing there in the zone?”. We’re fine. I remember thinking that I had felt the floor shake a bit, but I never really trust it when I feel that.

Having lived in Costa Rica for 10 years, I have gotten used to earthquakes… well sort of. I think that something tweaked in my head after having experienced a few of them. I’ve never felt threatened by one, so there isn’t an “ohhh I’m scared!” kinda thing. Actually they’re kinda cool. But they do shake the very ground you walk on, and that has had a rather strange affect on me.

After a notable shaker some years ago, I noticed that there were an inordinate amount of aftershocks going on. During one of these “aftershocks” I noticed that

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Help for Buyers and Sellers Takes a Big Step Forward

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Imagine this: you are interested in buying a piece of property in Costa Rica’s southern zone, so you walk in to one of the real estate offices in say – Uvita. You consult for awhile with an agent there. (For the sake of this article, lets call him “Ben” :o) and off you go looking at properties that fit your interest. After looking at all that Ben has to show you, nothing strikes you as the right piece (hard to imagine, but it has happened a time or two).

So far not a lot of imagination has been required. Here’s where it gets a little more difficult.

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Ben says: “how ‘bout we pop on down to this other agency, some competitors of mine down by Ojochal, and see what they’ve got” or “Let’s go on up to an office of my peers in Dominical that’s been around for years. They’ve probably got a few listings that I don’t that may be a perfect fit”.

I know – hard to imagine, but stay with me here.

Last Saturday marked the 2nd meeting of… well frankly I’m not sure what.  I’m not being evasive – we actually don’t know what to call it: Costa Ballena Realty Board? Association of Real Estate Professionals?  There were a few other names tossed about: Think Tank, Master Mind Group, Coffee Talk… whatever it ends up being, it holds the key to making the real estate buying and selling experience in our zone 10 times better than what it currently is.  (I like “Unified Realty Professionals”.  This could have the distinguished acronym URP which would be said something like – well, like ‘urp’ which would bring to mind the satisfied feeling one has having just enjoyed a good meal.)

Ojochal, Uvita, Dominical, Hatillo Platanillo and San Isidro are the towns that make up “The Zone”.  There are numerous real estate agencies in these towns. Some with recognizable names from other parts of the globe such as Coldwell Banker, Century 21 etc…  Then there are the “no namers” such as yours truly with Dominical Dot Biz Select Properties, and there are many such private label real estate companies.

The objective of the meeting was to improve our ability, as a unified and cooperative group, to serve people who want to either buy, or to sell property in our zone.  This is a beautiful, and much needed thing.

The meeting was attended by the owners of Osa Tropical Estates (Ojochal), two of the Coldwell Banker partners in the Dominical office, The Land Company (Dominical) principal and myself (Uvita).  We all have knowledge of all areas of The Zone, but have greater expertise in some areas over others.

Problems Identified:
It was agreed that the non-MLS (Multiple Listing Service) business model in Costa Rica makes it difficult for sellers and buyers.  The core problem is the lack of REPRESENTATION available to our buyers and sellers.

Buyer’s Problems:
When a buyer spends a day or two with a single realtor looking at property, they are only seeing what that particular real estate agency has for listings.  To really know that they have seen everything, a buyer would have to

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Who is Buying Land In Costa Rica?

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I think that this question is probably the second most asked question of a real estate agent in Costa Rica. Second after: “what’s going on in real estate in Costa Rica”? Actually, the two run hand in hand.  In my recent post where I stuck my neck out and made some specific predictions regarding the coming season, I basically said that I felt that there was compelling reason for 1) relocators and 2) land bankers, to buy land in Costa Rica in the present financial climate, and specifically, the southern zone.

I’ll profile my two most recent showings below.

Profile #1:
I’ll call them the Boydsons, were the ones that inspired the post: “Do You Have to be Rich to Buy Land in Costa Rica?”.  We spent a couple days together here, and I think that they represent a large percentage of buyers that we’ll be seeing here this season.

Mr. Boydson had mentioned that he had a little money, $50,000 to $75,000 to put down on a property, and that he would like to have an existing house. His budget was around $150,000.  So seller financing would be required.  An ocean view wasn’t required, but privacy and acreage were. Mr. Boydson is an avid gardener.

The Boydsons and I met in the office and spent our first couple hours discussing their objectives and arranged to go out the next day and put our feet on some available Costa Rican soil.

In our conversation, I mentioned that a lot of folks come to Costa Rica looking for a finished house so that they can avoid the hassle of building, but after looking around some they more often than not, end up buying a piece of land and building.  This has been due to the fact that we are early in the real estate cycle and the bulk of our inventory is still raw land.  The available houses enjoy somewhat of an inflated value due to their scarcity, and the fact that many folks don’t want to build.  After looking at land and houses, the calculations generally make it clear that the best financial decision is to build.

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