Costa Rica Real Estate Blog - Guys in the Zone

May 22, 2009

Sierpe Del Pacifico – On The River, Off The Grid

Filed under: Land For Sale, Relocation — Tags: buy land in costa rica, projects — Ben @ 11:45 am

Writing a blog about Costa Rica real estate has its perks. We’ve got readers out there who are doing some pretty creative projects and we don’t even know about them… until they get ready to go to market with their project. Such is the case with Sierpe Del Pacifico (SDP). Fred and his son Cassidy approached Rod & I about a month ago to tell us about their project in Sierpe. I think that this type of inquiry wouldn’t normally have much interest to us Guys, but Fred had written such an eloquent and well crafted introductory e-mail that we were intrigued.

Sierpe is a bit out of the way, on the fringe of “The Zone”. I’ve also heard that it is hot and buggy. I’m not much for hot and buggy, but in truth I couldn’t speak from personal experience regarding the place, so I kept an open mind.

What Fred & Cassidy have done is they have formed a father & son team and are passionately developing a piece of property that offers what, I suspect, a lot of readers of this blog are looking for: a truly unplugged, solar powered, bio-digesting, boat access project, surrounded by some of the best fishing, both fresh water, brackish and deep sea, in the… country? World? I don’t know, but you always catch big, tasty fish when you go out with them.
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April 25, 2009

Guys In The Zone Talk Show, Episode 2

Filed under: Talk Show — Tags: Selling Information, Talk Show — Ben @ 4:26 am

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Click to Play

Guys in the Zone Talk Show offers a look at real estate in the southern Pacific zone of Costa Rica. Hosted by Ben Vaughn and Rod Martin, Episode 2 features a discussion on Property Values, Sellers’ Options and a few Featured Listings that serve as examples of great lifestyle and investment options.

Episode Two, “Seller Options and How to Evaluate a Property”

All Listings mentioned by number can be referenced by going to www.HotCostaRicaRealEstate.com and inputting the number into the “Property ID” field.

We welcome your comments. Be brave and just do it. Click that “Comments” link below and jump in!

- Ben and Rod

Click here to browse all of our listings in the zone.

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April 22, 2009

Seller Options: Exclusive Listings

Filed under: How to Sell, MLS — Tags: exclusive listing, MLS, Selling Information — Ben @ 11:39 am

In my previous article I considered the workings of the standard Costa Rica real estate model – the Open Listing.. If you haven’t read it (and would like to) you can by clicking here.

I have been a bit negative about exclusive listings in the past. My attitude towards these is now changing and, if anything, I’d say I’m a bit positive towards them now – with caveats.

The Exclusive Listing is a hybrid business model between the existing Costa Rica non-MLS model, and the Multiple Listing Service model that so many are accustomed to in the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere. I have recently learned that England does not have an MLS and, get this, that Mississippi doesn’t have an MLS. The point about England came from a reliable source. The one about Mississippi was chit-chat. I did a cursory study of the Mississippi matter on the internet and found a little bit of information but it’s still unconfirmed.

A Spot of Trivia
Realtors in England are called “Estate Agents” and the term “Real Estate Agent” is looked down upon. The non-MLS model has been used forever in the UK and they are quite settled with it, thank you very much. In a single yard of a house for sale you can see numerous signs to the various agencies that have the property listed. The typical commission paid to an Estate Agent in the UK is 1.5%

The exclusive listing attempts to provide buyer/seller representation in the Costa Rica market place.

The Way it Works
You approach your favorite real estate agent. You give that agent the listing for your property. That agent then takes the full responsibility of marketing your property so that it receives the broadest possible exposure. Sounds good right? Well, it is, but…
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April 13, 2009

Costa Rica Property Seller Options

Filed under: MLS — Tags: exclusive listing, MLS, Selling Information — Ben @ 11:20 am

I have written about the nature of our marketplace and the listing options open to sellers. Its not a pretty site in this non-MLS (Multiple Listing Service) marketplace. The seller is confronted by the decision to personally market the property to each of the real estate agencies in the area (Open Listing), entrust one agency to the task (Exclusive Listing), or go it alone with a For Sale By Owner. Here are the pro’s and cons of the options.

Open Listing: this is the type of listing that is considered the norm here in the non MLS model. The seller walks into my office with a packet of information on their property. I ask a number of clarifying questions: access, water, electric, phone, Internet, view, privacy and of course, price. Provided the answers to these questions indicates that the property is sellable for what the seller has in mind price wise, we set up a time to go and view the property. We visit the property, take photos/videos and then the listing goes onto my website.

This generally pays 8% commission to my agency.

The seller then goes down the road to the next agency and does it again.

Pros of the Open Listing: The agencies are motivated by the full commission. Right now the inventories of the various agencies are ripe with great listings. When a prospective buyer comes into the office, or starts up a dialogue via e-mail about their search for property, the well-intentioned, but commission motivated agent is going to gravitate towards the full commission listings first. This is a weighty point that will not be fully dealt with until we have a fully functioning Multiple Listing Service here in Costa Rica.

If you think it through, the seller has no actual representation in the marketplace. For that matter, neither do the buyers. You’ve got seller, buyer, and a commissioned sales person in the middle trying to make a deal happen so that he/she gets paid. Not the best of business models, but it’s ours and somehow it works.

Cons of the Open Listing: (more…)

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March 28, 2009

In Memory of Sean McGraw

Filed under: News — Tags: Personal — Ben @ 4:58 am

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.

He is going to be missed.

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March 10, 2009

The “Guys in the Zone” Talk Show – Episode 1

Filed under: Land For Sale, State of the Market, Talk Show — Tags: Talk Show — Tigre @ 4:59 pm

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Talk Show logo

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–

We welcome you to post comments on the blog and, if you like what you hear, sign up for future Talk Show episodes and blog posts.

- Ben and Rod

“Success is not a place at which one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey.” — Alex Noble

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March 8, 2009

The Question on Everbody’s Mind

Filed under: Land For Sale, News, Projections, Relocation, State of the Market, Stories — Tags: buy land in costa rica, firesale, Projections, State of the Market — Ben @ 5:29 pm

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. (more…)

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March 3, 2009

“Yodel Naked” Sweeps the Globe

Filed under: Just for Fun, News — Ben @ 3:31 am

Yodel naked for world peace.jpg 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.

All right, enough of that. I must admit though that I now understand the power of the Title. I have received tons of comments and e-mails from my article here that contained the words “Yodeling Naked”.

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. His website www.vivarealcostarica.com is also setting out to be a sort of Costa Rican Multiple Listing Service. 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.

So, spread the word! Yodel naked for world peace!

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February 19, 2009

A Brief History of Real Estate in The Zone

Filed under: How to buy, Info & How To's, Projections, State of the Market — Tags: buy land in costa rica, history, prices, State of the Market — Ben @ 6:24 am

“The Zone” is made up of a stretch of coastline starting from Hatillo in the north, and stretching south to Palmar Sur. Included in that zone are the following towns, noted from north to south:

Hatillo
Dominical
Uvita
Ojochal
Palmar Sur

The inland portion of The Zone is a leg that runs from Dominical to San Isidro de el General, also known as Perez Zeledon. In between Dominical and San Isidro is the town of Platanillo.

The Southern Pacific Zone of Costa Rica

A word about pricing:
When dealing with ocean view properties in Costa Rica’s southern zone, the usual criteria of looking for a “per square meter” pricing fails us. This becomes evident quickly as one familiarizes themselves with the market place.
Evaluating an ocean view property in this area is a combination of attributes, or virtues that come together to give the property its value. Based on observing land buyers over the years, I rank these virtues in roughly the following order:

view
access
size
infrastructure
amount of usable land
proximity to the beach or a river
privacy
air motion

As an example of this, I once had a 10 acre property that had a window view of the ocean. Of the 10 acres, perhaps 1 ½ were usable, the rest falling away in jungle covered hillsides. Price: $115,000
Across the way from this property, perhaps within 500 meters, I had another property of 2 acres with a sweeping ocean view, (more…)

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February 3, 2009

Relocation – Surviving the Transition Financially

Filed under: Construction, How to buy, Info & How To's, Land For Sale, Relocation — Tags: budget, buy land in costa rica, commercial, Construction, costa rica conservation, Relocation, State of the Market, strategies — Tigre @ 5:32 pm

Are you an entrepreneur who wants to relocate in Costa Rica? Many of you have ideas of what you would like to do but you don’t know if it is feasible. Do you buy a well-priced piece of real estate then develop it to your liking? Or, do you buy a turnkey business in one of the small towns of the Southern Pacific Zone (SPZ)? Those are two questions The Guys In The Zone are asked often, and I thought I would shed a little light on the possibilities.

Buy land, build structure, announce grand opening.

Relocators who lean toward the Buy & Build model are the most common brand of investor. Rarely, does the building process go perfectly smooth especially if you are a “first timer” in Costa Rica. Even with a good contractor, we encourage most owners to be on-site often. In fact, the more you can be there to answer questions and provide direction, the better. There’s nothing worse than flying down to check on the status of your building only to discover the size of your custom kitchen and bathroom have been interchanged?! If you follow this advice and move down to oversee the building process, then there are the obvious costs associated with living here (rent, bills, food, gas, etc.). However, this increases your chances to end up with the small (or large) business you always dreamed of. I have attended a few “Grand Openings” in the past few years, and most owners smile with pride, albeit with a touch of fatigue.

Most of our commercial land sellers are open to negotiating price and/or carrying paper (seller financing) as long as there is a significant down payment. Currently, we have excellent “raw land” properties that can accommodate businesses ranging from a small hotel-restaurant (listing #224) and one of the best “large commercial” pieces on the Costanera (listing #312).

Or, buy a landmark!

Until just recently there were very few businesses to buy in the SPZ. Over the past five years, the ticos and early bird gringos have successfully (more…)

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