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 35 and is leaving behind his wife Jessica and 2 children. Living in a very small community here in Costa Rica’s southern Pacific zone, the feel of having just lost one that was known by so many is in the air – palpable.
Sean was one of four partners of Coldwell Banker Vesta Group here in Dominical, and he was a reader of this blog. He was also one of my competitors, and despite this unsavory handle, we enjoyed the opportunities that we had to work together with various clients, and on various projects. We also shared a definite interest in improving the overall quality of our currently un-certified industry. Sean was a student of the real estate business and on occasion was a help to me in understanding certain aspects of Costa Rica real estate law.
Living and working in Costa Rica’s southern zone is like living in old time, small town USA of a long time ago. You can’t go to the store, walk down the street, or even poke your head out of the office without the potential of bumping into someone you know and engaging in a brief “how ya doing?” session. Very few of these in these past few days have not mentioned Sean and the shock of his passing.
The word that pops into my mind every time that I think of Sean is “vital”. The man was very much this – full of life. Sparkling eyes and an ever present smile.
Click the “Play” button (upper left) to listen to the show.
The newest feature on GuysInTheZone.com, our “Talk Show” is your audio source for news and information about real estate in Costa Rica’s southern Pacific zone. Hosted by Ben and Rod, these conversational shorts can be listened to online (just hit the Play button below) or download them to your iPod and listen to us at your leisure.
Episode One, “Under 100K Ocean View Properties” offers a quick overview of the evolution of local real estate, followed by short descriptions of the current ocean view properties we have in this under $100k category–
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.
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. Continue Reading
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 calling it the “New Yoga” as Muslims, Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, New Agers and others are being witnessed in the activity.
“I used to hate my neighbors” said Mildred Dinglewhitz of Scottsdale Arizona, “now I love them”. This quote was taken as Mildred was coming in from her back porch after letting fly with a good yodel in the buff. She credits her new ritual of yodeling naked for 5 minutes twice a day, for the change in attitude.
There is a proposal being presented to congress in the upcoming session that a 7 minute congressional Yodel Naked session would help to “add clarity” and “breakdown barriers” as they deal with today’s thorny issues. A similar measure is being drafted to present to the World Religious Counsel.
Costa Rica real estate, the theme of this blog, limits my ability to come up with some really grabbing titles. I am hard pressed to equal the curb appeal of a title containing the word “naked” juxtapose with “yodel” and then “fire sale” thrown in for good measure, but I can assure you, I’ll be trying.
I had a rather positive experience come out of that article in the form of a gentleman, Brian Requarth. Brian has put up a website that endeavors to list properties throughout Latin America as well as helpful information, similar to Guys In The Zone. You may recognize the name since Brian is a regular commenter here on Guys In The Zone.
Brian contacted me and asked if I would be available to do an interview over the phone, actually we used Skype. I was honored. Brian recorded the interview and posted it to his website. I have posted it here for your listening enjoyment.
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 calling it the “New Yoga” as Muslims, Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, New Agers and others are being witnessed in the activity.
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