Costa Rica-Real Estate Condos for sale in Guanacaste

Even though I usually recommend the use of a good 4×4 transport when coming to Costa Rica, in order to deal successfully with the roads; I’ve been noticing a growing trend among the population, they are getting more and more motorcycles.

As I started a brief research on this subject, I discovered a couple of things that catch my attention; the first one would be the difference of units sold between 2006 and 2007 (And even if it is a little early to talk about numbers, I was really surprised.) the actual number of units sold on 2006 (17.728 to be precise) transformed into 37.524 last year.

That is a big number; but let me get to the other “thing” that draw my attention to this Costa Rican motorcycle topic, and that is actually the identity of the main supplier for this product, who is none other than China.

Yes, I know what you are thinking; but let’s continue.

So 10 years ago Costa Rica use to have around 10 different motorcycle brands; now however you can find at least 90 brands out there. As you can imagine, the motorcycle market is flourishing in Costa Rica, and the different shops are always ready to provide any part that requires replacement. (This unfortunately happens quite often)

There are several factors at work here; never the less the 2 major ones are the growing number of cars in the streets of Costa Rica, and off course the price on the gas (Which makes the daily use of a car a real luxury for most of us.)

And now let’s see the numbers!!

A total of $60 million (US) have been invested in motorcycles in the last 2 years; and if you want to purchase one the price range for a bike go from $700 to $2000. (And remember that there are 90 brands to choose from now) 45% of the motorcycles “more sought after” are those designed for “delivery work”; while the 25% are scooters.

As with many other situations in life, when one sees a “productive trend” in the market, another sees an opening for investment; let us hope the people is taking notes regarding this “new” opportunity for business in Costa Rica.

Even though perhaps not so many people are aware of this, there are several stars that actually own a piece of Costa Rica real estate; among them we could name: “Flea” from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chuck Norris, and yes famous actor/director Mel Gibson as well. (I’m telling you guys, Costa Rica is becoming a real hot spot.)

Take this visit for example; while most of the media refer to it as “Britney Spears and Mel Gibson going on holiday to Costa Rica together” Other people currently wonder if the decision to fly to the Central American country has a more serious aspect than just give a chance to the media to write about “Britney and Mel’s weekend in Costa Rica” or even “Britney Spears & Mel Gibson Go Wild In Costa Rica Together”

But let’s try to see beyond the names for a second.

As everybody that has access to the E channel knows, this is not the first time Britney and Mel have been seen together, and taking into consideration that they are traveling with their relatives, time for “serious party” is more likely out of the menu.

So before you start thinking this is actually a: Spears/Gibson family holiday in Costa Rica thing, I will simply point out that Spears’ father, Jamie, and Gibson’s wife, Roby are with them.

Britney Spears is working hard to get back were she used to be; no only in terms of popularity among the crowd, but also in “credibility” in reference to the music sale charts. And while she had been offered many small roles in different shows, she is still looking for the right project to “boost” her career back on track.

Could this be one of the reasons for this trip?

As it is quite common for many celebrities, they flew from LA to Costa Rica aboard a private jet; and upon arrival the group was quickly transported to Mel Gibson’s Costa Rica property.

So while the Mel and Britney group is having a good time in Costa Rica; (Perhaps getting ready to enroll in a tour adventure among the gorgeous forest in the country) the media will keep on asking the same question:

What Britney Spears and Mel Gibson be doing in Costa Rica this weekend?

As a direct result from the different digital alternatives that are currently taking place in Costa Rica, more and more “tech oriented” companies are seriously evaluating the possibilities of opening a new regional office in the country.

The advantages of Costa Rica’s geographical location, fast access to seaports on two different Oceans at an amazing speed, and the upcoming CAFTA; are factors that many companies are evaluating, Quorum from Venezuela is one of them.

Quorum (AKA Quorum computer Group) is one of the major computer/software distributors for Latin America; and even if their name sound new to us, they have been in the market for over 14 years by now. Quorum interest in Costa Rica is well founded, for as I have mentioned before, 80% of the Software that is sold in Central America comes from Costa Rica. (And plenty of hardware as well.)

Now let’s see some numbers:

The initial investment for Quorum in Costa Rica will be of $1.5 million, and once their offices are ready it will open its 25000 product catalog so the public can choose between 50 different brands available.

Quorum currently has 15% of the computer/software Central American market, and among their clients one name is very easy to recognize, Intel.

Henry Waissmann, President of the Quorum Computer Group, mentioned the fact that their main goal will be to focus on the “big companies”, and to create different campaigns to promote technology.

And for those of you that want to know more on the digital development of Costa Rica, try this post when you have a couple of minutes:

Costa Rica New Digital Approach

Bill Gates in Costa Rica

Costa Rica New Telecommunication Law

Sometimes is hard to realize that things are not what you though they were, and those types of mistakes can result in disaster for investors, take Costa Rica for example, hidden in front our noses behind a preconceived image of “just another natural paradise” to visit during our vacations; when in truth it has so much more to offer.

It is encouraging to see the world market and international investors realizing this.

It happened yesterday, the members of the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly approve the new telecommunication law that will finally open the country gates to a wider Telecommunication Market.

As perhaps most of you may remember from my post: Costa Rica to approve new telecommunication law , this news certainly represent a big change in the future of the country; and not just in terms of options for the people, but also in job opportunities that will follow the arrival of new regional offices from new telecommunication companies.

Regarding the CAFTA (AKA TLC among locals) this is an encouraging steps towards the approval Preview »of the agreement as a whole; never the less, there are actually couple of points to consider before pulling the cork off the bottles.

Even though this has been approved, this initiative must be published in the official press release publication of the Costa Rican government, La Gaceta; and once that this has taken place two institutions will be in charge of managing the concessions for the market:

The Telecommunication Superintendence (SUTEL) and the Costa Rican Ministry of Ambience, Energy and Telecommunication (MINAET)

This could take some time, as believe it or not, these two institutions must formulate a plan and present it to yet another institution: The Costa Rican Regulation Authority of Public Services (ARESEP) who will approve the creation and development of 19 new regulation statements that must be ready in less than 9 months.

I know what you are thinking; but there are good news showing in the horizon.

According to Roberto Dobles, current minister of the MINAET, they have been working ahead of schedule on the creation of the 19 regulation statements, and more likely the wait shall not be long.

Now let’s see some details (Nop, no numbers this time)

Basically what the new companies will need to be allowed to work on this new Costa Rican Telecommunication market will be, to get a concession from the SUTEL and MINAET, and abide by the rules and guidelines soon to be establish by ARESEP.

This new opening in the Costa Rican market has put the country on the treasure maps once again; for the ticos are quite “hungry” to get access to new and better options in phone and internet alternative as the year advances.

The real estate market in Costa Rica has always been one of the most attractive for people from all over the world; and lately more of the tourists that come to the Central American country express their interest in acquiring a property.

The natural treasures and the people of Costa Rica are capable of conquering anybody; believe it or not, those two elements alone had contributed to make Costa Rica one of the favorite locations to enjoy “retirement”

When I first thought of moving to Costa Rica things were a little different, there were fewer cars in the streets, not so many people spoke English, the public services did had a lot of things to improve, and there were a limited quantity of good quality tours available.

I know what you are thinking; so why did I decide to come to Costa Rica if things were looking so bad? Well, the answer is simple; I took under consideration the following:

1- There were a considerable number of big international companies in the country.

2- There were a lot of development projects to upgrade the public services.

3- The security was certainly higher than other Latin American countries.

4- The $ was considerably higher than the local currency.

5- The potential of the country to “grow” was enormous.

Today I am more than happy with my decision of moving to Costa Rica (And so is my family) Along the way we have been able to adapt to our new environment, learn another language, enjoy our best years with our love ones; and off course, buy a couple of good properties as well. And if you are wondering about the reasons that brought me to Costa Rica; the changes during the transition between then and now are considerable.

1- More international companies have opened new regional offices in the country

2- The public services have improved overall in more than a 40%

3- Costa Rica is one of the safest countries in terms of security in Latin America

4- The $ is not only higher than the local currency; but it is slowly rising.

5- The growth of the country in the business, tourist, and cultural plane has exceeded the expectations from international experts.

Today the real estate market in Costa Rica is flourishing with new opportunities around the corner; giving more options to the investors in terms of a smart purchase; for as we have the ability to choose from so many options, the bigger our chances will be to find the best option according to our needs.

There are currently a lot of good reasons to make an investment in a beach condo in Guanacaste (Avellanas), or found an interesting “for sale by owner” deal in San Jose (Cortijo); never the less, remember that time is of the essence.

A friend of mine once said: “Timing is a practical way of anticipating the future”; and whether he read that somewhere or not, he was right, as timing can be used as a tool to be a little ahead of what is to come.

I love Costa Rican coffee, and as I have mentioned before in several posts I am by far not the only one who does, and there are quite a bunch of reasons as to why the taste of the Costa Rican coffee is so unique; but perhaps I am getting a little ahead of myself, so let me start from the beginning.

As many of you may know, Brazil is currently the biggest coffee producer in the market with a massive 35% of the world production, followed by Vietnam with a 13% (I bet you were not expecting that) and Colombia in the third place with 10%. These are currently the worlds “coffee giants”

So what about Costa Rica’s production?

Even though Costa Rica’s world production is merely 1.5% they have already made a name for themselves in a more selected sector of the market; for everybody knows that there is a difference between quality and quantity. And that is precisely what has set the Costa Rican Coffee apart from the rest, capturing the attention of huge companies like Starbucks; and even the interest of a tea oriented country, China.

For those of you that want to learn more on these subjects I suggest to check out the following posts: China ready for a Hot Mug of Costa Rican Coffee!! - Costa Rica Coffee + Starbucks = A Good Deal!

The Costa Rican Institute of Coffee (ICAFE) has work hard on the raising the bar when it comes to the standard quality of the product; the results from this new initiative have been not only what they have expected; but even a little more, as the production went up 35% for this year.

In addition to the ICAFE initiative, there are also several other tournaments and local and international competitions and tournaments like the one described in: The Best of the Best Coffee in Costa Rica that keep pushing the limits of the Costa Rican coffee in terms of taste, making it the preferred choice of the connoisseurs.

These are great news for Costa Rica, and off course for the many projects that are to be developed in the Guanacaste area; as a new reservoir could make a huge difference for the future investments in the province.

The project will be known as Rio Piedras Reservoir, and it is an initiative from the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (I.C.E) aided by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) It will take an approximated time of 4 years to see it completed; or more precisely, a year to evaluate the proposal and present the different reports on the subject, approve them and finally proceed to the building part that will more likely take 3 years for its completion.

The main purpose of this new reservoir initiative in Guanacaste will be to deal with the excedent water coming from the Hydro electrical reservoir Arenal (Corobici); whose currently operational procedure sends 30 cm of “unused water” per second to the sea.

And yes that is actually a lot of water

If you are wondering why is this happening? Let me give you a brief explanation, for currently when the Arenal Reservoir produces a lot of electric power, the water used in the process overflows the irrigation channels (Hence they throw it on the sea in order to protect them.) Never the less, when the reservoir’s electric production lowers, the irrigation channels suffer from lack of water; this new initiative however would change things quite a bit, as it will collect the water in order to be used for the different irrigation projects and the local community projects in Guanacaste.

Now let’s see some numbers.

The technical analysis alone will have a cost of $400.000, and once the construction company has been chosen the project will have a 3 year “deadline”

The Rio Piedras Reservoir will have a capacity of 85 cm million of water (In an area of 800 Hectares.) will give water to 200.000 people in Guanacaste, and will have an approximate cost of $20 million.

As I mentioned before, these are great news for Costa Rica and more specifically for the province of Guanacaste, with projects like this one it won’t be long to see another boom in the real estate industry in Costa Rica.

For those that are on the real estate business in Costa Rica this news should represent no big surprise, for the current sales for beach condos, luxury homes in the city and different terrains for future business development projects have certainly been gaining “momentum” as this years keeps on going.

This is due to many different factors; but those that appear to be the most consistent among the customers and new investors are: Costa Rica’s fame as a “green” paradise, the love for the nature and arts among its citizens; a growing working force with enough potential to be successful in any task, and a strategic geographical location.

For those of you that really want a “better picture”, this posts are a must read in order to understand why Costa Rica must be taken into consideration as a “small giant”

Why Costa Rica’s popularity is growing as the new “India”

Costa Rica Job Fair Scheduled For this Week

Hewlett Packard looking to hire 5000 new agents

I know it seems like a lot to read; but is well worth it (Trust me)

According to reports from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) Costa Rica has been moving up the charts (Regarding foreign Investment) making a total amount of $1.889 million for 2007, leaving behind all the countries in the Caribbean; and other countries like Panama, Venezuela, Bolivia and Uruguay just to name a few.

So where is Costa Rica in the “pop” chart?

Currently the number 1 spot is taken by Brazil, who is followed by Mexico, Chile Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Costa Rica in the 7^th place; never the less before I continue I would like to draw your attention to one fact that must be addressed before moving on, for those countries that are “ahead” of Costa Rica in terms of foreign investment, have more than 4 times the physical size of Costa Rica.

And yet the Central America “small giant” is catching up one position at a time.

The Business panorama is looking good for Costa Rica in 2008; but as I have mentioned before in previous posts, there is still a lot of work ahead. The good news however are that the Costa Rican government is working on new projects to upgrade the country infra structure, as well as promoting new campaigns in order to raise the bar in educational programs. That would translate directly into more investment opportunities for the country, and better chances of employment for the population.

The negotiations between Central America and the European Union are finally giving signs of progress; thanks mostly to the Costa Rica negotiators, who had been pretty much leading the way in terms of business proposals for the area. And making a stand against the different UE (Less appealing propositions)

For those of you that are not aware of this “epic saga” I recommend reading:

Europe ready to take a “Big bite” on Central America

So now that the third round of negotiation is over, let us take a brief look at the good things that came out of it:

1- A special business “safe guard” to protect the market

2- A policy to regulate taxes on heavy “import” numbers

3- A better path to access the different options on the EU

Europe is trying to go as fast as possible, for they know the coming of the CAFTA approval could bring a whole different panorama on certain “key” elements on the Central American market, and especially in Costa Rica (That is still the favorite player on the Central America Team)

The Costa Rican negotiators led by Costa Rica Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz are quite happy (For once) with the current results from the 3 round, as many of their proposals had been met with approval from the EU.

The CAFTA negotiations however are drawing near, and the race for the best offer is getting better for Central America.

As a former “New Yorker” this news caught my attention; imagine the looks of the people as they see the busses decorated with pictures of the breath taking mist forest of Costa Rica, or perhaps some shots from the different canopy tours options, or maybe the awesome white sand beaches that wait to be explored.

I know that those images would have definitely speeded up my visit to Costa Rica

Well this is actually a new reality for the big apple dwellers as the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) has a new strategy to promote the many natural treasures the country has to offer to the visitors. (And the Bus publicity is just part of it)

Yes they knew they could do better than that, so they did!

Thee ICT plan to promote more visits to the Costa Rica includes a new strategy; the creation of special booths were the New Yorkers will be able to use their cell phone Bluetooth feature to “download” sounds of the Costa Rican Forests, traditional Costa Rican music, Costa Rican birds singing and even more cool stuff (As my daughter would say)

The Costa Rican Tourism Institute plans to have different promotional messages in different bathrooms facilities in the city (This is actually a classic for NY) and the representatives form the ICT have declared that the initiative will be take place in the city of San Francisco.

Even though this is could be a good idea, I am a little worried about how the different facilities in the country (Like the Airports) will respond to a successful answer from the ICT initiative. And for those of you that are raising their eyebrows saying “what is this guy talking about?” I suggest checking one of my previous posts: Tourists vs. Costa Rican Airports

According to Maria Amalia Revelo, Marketing Director of the ICT; the institute is already taking all the necessary steps to upgrade and further develop the services and infrastructure of the Costa Rican airports and other tourism oriented services.

I just hope they are “putting their backs to it” for the Costa Rica tourism market already show a 17% growth compared to last year numbers.