Friday, January 28, 2011
Dear Reader,
Tourism and the second home market is big business in Costa Rica. In fact, it’s their biggest earner. I saw this first-hand in the Manuel Antonio area last month. Along with other visitors, I chased sunsets and dolphins by boat and joined guided tours through the jungle. I saw condos that would set you back seven figures. Last week, I golfed on Peninsula Papagoyo and enjoyed the world-class Four Seasons resort. Again, I visited condos that will set you back seven figures.
Early-in investors in these areas made a killing. In these locations, the early-in opportunity has passed. Today, Costa Rica’s early-in opportunities are in two areas: the Southern Zone and Limon.
Last month, I visited Limon. This forgotten province, running along the country’s Caribbean coast, is starting to remind the world what it has to offer.
There has been little development in the real estate and tourism markets here. It’s hard to understand why. The drive from San Jose brings you through jaw-dropping protected rain forest, in Braulio Carrillo national park. The coastline boasts stunning white sand beaches.
The port city of Limon, the capital of Limon province, was a company and fruit town. United Fruit managed the port, built the railroads and bridges, looked after the city’s colonial buildings, and was the biggest employer in the area.
When the company pulled out of town in the 1960s, Limon became Costa Rica’s forgotten province. When the Costa Rica tourism machine began bringing in droves of foreign visitors in the 1980s, it was the northern Pacific coast that most benefited.
This place has serious potential and two guys who recognize this potential are William Ogen and Gill Phelan. These are the guys behind the largest and most successful real estate project in the area, Grand View Estates. They also have interests in the fledgling tourism business in the area.
I spent some time at Grand View last month, with Gill. Grand View Estates is a 640-acre project, set deep in the Talamanca Mountains. You get magnificent views of the Caribbean and the surrounding mountains and valleys. The 1,300-foot elevation allows for fresh ocean breezes. The site is diverse, with virgin rainforest, five rivers, two waterfalls, and gently rolling hills. The wildlife is abundant, with hundreds of bird and animal species.
Thirty-five minutes from here you hit the beaches of the Caribbean. Untouched, pristine, they stretch south toward the border with Panama. I didn’t see a soul on these beaches. Piles of driftwood, stacked randomly by the ocean, lie under the mist of breaking waves.
Grand View is also only two hours from San Jose’s international airport. Since the airport is only two hours from Miami, you can arrive on site in just over half a day from Florida. Despite this accessibility and beauty, lots here are still less than one-fifth of what you would pay up north.
Grand View have kept their pricing competitive. Today, you can buy a lot from $51,000, thanks to a generous developer discount. And I don’t mean something the size of a postage stamp. That $51,000 buys you a 1.9-acre lot.
The prices are this low because, despite its beauty, Costa Rica and the world have forgotten about the Caribbean province of Limon. Few Ticos I met in the capital or on the Pacific coast have traveled here. Many foreigners don’t even know that Costa Rica has a Caribbean side.
William and Gill have their finger on the pulse of what’s happening in this part of Costa Rica. They are big champions of this area, and they have put their money where their mouth is. Grand View is the largest project in the area, and their tourism business hosts visitors on fishing, scuba diving and rafting trips.
They have chosen this area to live and invest. On February 2nd, at 8 PM EST, they will share their reasons for choosing Costa Rica’s forgotten province, and why you should consider it too, in a live webinar broadcast. They’ll talk about Grand View Estates, and give you the lowdown on how to snap up a lot here at a discounted price (starting from $51,000 for that 1.9-acre lot).
Sign-up here for this free webinar.
Ronan McMahon
Posted Under:
costa rica, profit play, webinar
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