Comments on: The Memo http://www.costa-rican-real-estate.com/2010/04/the-memo/ Costa Rica real estate - Where it all starts. Sun, 08 Jan 2012 03:14:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Kelly http://www.costa-rican-real-estate.com/2010/04/the-memo/comment-page-1/#comment-500 Kelly Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:27:43 +0000 http://www.costa-rican-real-estate.com/?p=1138#comment-500 Having just come down to the area twice to look at properties, I can really relate to this post. I have been an agent in the States for 20 yrs, and find it very confusing to try and figure out what the actual value of these properties may be. It appears there is no comparable database that a buyer can access, and most of the agents I have talked to are far from forthcoming when it comes to value. I got the sense that most agents just put the price that the Seller wants, irregardless of market conditions. Some advice to agents in the South Pacific Region: Get together and come up with a system that gives prospective Buyers some confidence that they are being given information. Buyers are not afraid of what they know, but many will not buy if they feel that everything is a big secret! The world is trending toward transparency in real estate transactions, and embracing this will actually help your local market, not hurt it. Right now the process and fact finding there is exhausting. Thanks! Having just come down to the area twice to look at properties, I can really relate to this post. I have been an agent in the States for 20 yrs, and find it very confusing to try and figure out what the actual value of these properties may be. It appears there is no comparable database that a buyer can access, and most of the agents I have talked to are far from forthcoming when it comes to value. I got the sense that most agents just put the price that the Seller wants, irregardless of market conditions. Some advice to agents in the South Pacific Region: Get together and come up with a system that gives prospective Buyers some confidence that they are being given information. Buyers are not afraid of what they know, but many will not buy if they feel that everything is a big secret! The world is trending toward transparency in real estate transactions, and embracing this will actually help your local market, not hurt it. Right now the process and fact finding there is exhausting.
Thanks!

]]> By: Kelly http://www.costa-rican-real-estate.com/2010/04/the-memo/comment-page-1/#comment-611 Kelly Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:27:00 +0000 http://www.costa-rican-real-estate.com/?p=1138#comment-611 Having just come down to the area twice to look at properties, I can really relate to this post. I have been an agent in the States for 20 yrs, and find it very confusing to try and figure out what the actual value of these properties may be. It appears there is no comparable database that a buyer can access, and most of the agents I have talked to are far from forthcoming when it comes to value. I got the sense that most agents just put the price that the Seller wants, irregardless of market conditions. Some advice to agents in the South Pacific Region: Get together and come up with a system that gives prospective Buyers some confidence that they are being given information. Buyers are not afraid of what they know, but many will not buy if they feel that everything is a big secret! The world is trending toward transparency in real estate transactions, and embracing this will actually help your local market, not hurt it. Right now the process and fact finding there is exhausting. Thanks! Having just come down to the area twice to look at properties, I can really relate to this post. I have been an agent in the States for 20 yrs, and find it very confusing to try and figure out what the actual value of these properties may be. It appears there is no comparable database that a buyer can access, and most of the agents I have talked to are far from forthcoming when it comes to value. I got the sense that most agents just put the price that the Seller wants, irregardless of market conditions. Some advice to agents in the South Pacific Region: Get together and come up with a system that gives prospective Buyers some confidence that they are being given information. Buyers are not afraid of what they know, but many will not buy if they feel that everything is a big secret! The world is trending toward transparency in real estate transactions, and embracing this will actually help your local market, not hurt it. Right now the process and fact finding there is exhausting.
Thanks!

]]> By: Rod Martin http://www.costa-rican-real-estate.com/2010/04/the-memo/comment-page-1/#comment-477 Rod Martin Sat, 08 May 2010 21:05:14 +0000 http://www.costa-rican-real-estate.com/?p=1138#comment-477 We hear you loud and clear, TD. The reason many sellers have not reduced their prices to the current market are two-fold-- 1. Many of sellers do not need to sell. They would like to sell, but they are not desperate. 2. Many have been here for a long time and they feel like they know the market as much as we do. In some cases that may be true, but we are involved in real estate, with our "feet on the ground" as Ben likes to say, everyday. We know what is being shown, and more importantly, what has sold. Fortunately for brokers, there are many people who must sell quickly for one reason or another. "Firesale" prices get a lot of attention and many have sold. There will always be buyers looking for a deal, because there is still a lot of upside to the southern Pacific zone of Costa Rica, moving forward. Finally, there are many ocean view properties under $100K now. In fact, $79K for an ocean view parcel in Uvita is a reality. We hear you loud and clear, TD. The reason many sellers have not reduced their prices to the current market are two-fold–

1. Many of sellers do not need to sell. They would like to sell, but they are not desperate.
2. Many have been here for a long time and they feel like they know the market as much as we do. In some cases that may be true, but we are involved in real estate, with our "feet on the ground" as Ben likes to say, everyday. We know what is being shown, and more importantly, what has sold.

Fortunately for brokers, there are many people who must sell quickly for one reason or another. "Firesale" prices get a lot of attention and many have sold. There will always be buyers looking for a deal, because there is still a lot of upside to the southern Pacific zone of Costa Rica, moving forward. Finally, there are many ocean view properties under $100K now. In fact, $79K for an ocean view parcel in Uvita is a reality.

]]> By: Rod Martin http://www.costa-rican-real-estate.com/2010/04/the-memo/comment-page-1/#comment-610 Rod Martin Sat, 08 May 2010 21:05:00 +0000 http://www.costa-rican-real-estate.com/?p=1138#comment-610 We hear you loud and clear, TD. The reason many sellers have not reduced their prices to the current market are two-fold-- 1. Many of sellers do not need to sell. They would like to sell, but they are not desperate. 2. Many have been here for a long time and they feel like they know the market as much as we do. In some cases that may be true, but we are involved in real estate, with our "feet on the ground" as Ben likes to say, everyday. We know what is being shown, and more importantly, what has sold. Fortunately for brokers, there are many people who must sell quickly for one reason or another. "Firesale" prices get a lot of attention and many have sold. There will always be buyers looking for a deal, because there is still a lot of upside to the southern Pacific zone of Costa Rica, moving forward. Finally, there are many ocean view properties under $100K now. In fact, $79K for an ocean view parcel in Uvita is a reality. We hear you loud and clear, TD. The reason many sellers have not reduced their prices to the current market are two-fold–

1. Many of sellers do not need to sell. They would like to sell, but they are not desperate.
2. Many have been here for a long time and they feel like they know the market as much as we do. In some cases that may be true, but we are involved in real estate, with our "feet on the ground" as Ben likes to say, everyday. We know what is being shown, and more importantly, what has sold.

Fortunately for brokers, there are many people who must sell quickly for one reason or another. "Firesale" prices get a lot of attention and many have sold. There will always be buyers looking for a deal, because there is still a lot of upside to the southern Pacific zone of Costa Rica, moving forward. Finally, there are many ocean view properties under $100K now. In fact, $79K for an ocean view parcel in Uvita is a reality.

]]> By: TD58 http://www.costa-rican-real-estate.com/2010/04/the-memo/comment-page-1/#comment-475 TD58 Sat, 01 May 2010 15:48:05 +0000 http://www.costa-rican-real-estate.com/?p=1138#comment-475 I visited some friends last winter who have lived in the Dominical area for awhile now and was checking RE while I was down there. I was surprised at the price levels of some of the properties that were on the market. Just raw land was in the 200G+ per acre range and it was obvious there was little or no activity at all. Construction companies had gone out of business, there was intense competition for the available work, yet sellers were clinging to RE bubble prices. Add to that the amount of RE up and down the coastline of CR in the same situation, the amount of foreigners willing or able to move there, because the average Tico can't afford these prices, and there is nowhere to go but down. Europe is having its own problems with their markets, especially in Spain, and that puts a big dent in the next biggest purchaser of CR RE. Even with prices dropping drammatically in the states, the RE market is still sluggish so there is no guarantee it will produce the result sellers want, but keeping prices where they are now will definitely keep markets in CR in the doldrums. I visited some friends last winter who have lived in the Dominical area for awhile now and was checking RE while I was down there. I was surprised at the price levels of some of the properties that were on the market. Just raw land was in the 200G+ per acre range and it was obvious there was little or no activity at all. Construction companies had gone out of business, there was intense competition for the available work, yet sellers were clinging to RE bubble prices. Add to that the amount of RE up and down the coastline of CR in the same situation, the amount of foreigners willing or able to move there, because the average Tico can't afford these prices, and there is nowhere to go but down. Europe is having its own problems with their markets, especially in Spain, and that puts a big dent in the next biggest purchaser of CR RE. Even with prices dropping drammatically in the states, the RE market is still sluggish so there is no guarantee it will produce the result sellers want, but keeping prices where they are now will definitely keep markets in CR in the doldrums.

]]> By: The Memo | Costa Rica Real Estate http://www.costa-rican-real-estate.com/2010/04/the-memo/comment-page-1/#comment-474 The Memo | Costa Rica Real Estate Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:58:38 +0000 http://www.costa-rican-real-estate.com/?p=1138#comment-474 [...] Originally posted from The Memo [...] [...] Originally posted from The Memo [...]

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