Costa Rica Luxury

When we sell a luxury property in Costa Rica we are not just selling a piece of land with a house on top of it... we are making dreams come true! This is what buyers usually say at closing day, and we are very clear that behind that special moment there are many years of planning and thinking, fears and expectations, mixed feelings about the future and a great desire for adventure. It is a radical change in lifestyle, and most families that we deal with are looking for that change. It involves new school for the kids, new doctors, new grocery shooping lists, new neighbours, new friends, new everything... and the changes that these families experience everyday have an impact in the lives of their families overseas as well. Yesterday I got a call from a client from Spain who moved with their kids to Costa Rica. They had just finished touring half of the country with family members who came from Spain to visit, and they are in love with the country. Changes involve a large variety o...

SELLING OF MILLION DOLLAR HOMES IN COSTA RICA AND THE ISSUE OF THE COMPARABLE MARKET ANALYSIS By Yalile Alpizar, President - Costa Rica Luxury Estates I wanted to share with you some input about what it is to purchase a luxury home in Costa Rica. Many of you have asked about the data bases of comparable market analysis for properties sold in Costa Rica over the last two years. I am very sorry to tell you that there is no such thing as a data base of comparable market analysis of properties in Costa Rica! Properties that are listed for sale, presently pending of sale and properties that have sold with/in the last year are only a part of each real estate office’s private data base. Costa Rica does not have an organized real estate system that would allow for realtors to update this type of information in order to make it available to buyers and sellers. Finding out comparables can result in a titanic task to any realtor or buyer who wants to have a better definition of what is in...

THE DANGERS OF OVERPRICING By Yalile Alpizar, President, Costa Rica Luxury Estates The big mistake in trying to sell luxury real estate starts right from the beginning of putting the property in the market… it has to do with OVERPRICING. Costa Rica is characterized by a real estate market where in theory everything is for sale if the right price is paid. This is what most buyers are told when they are putting their house on the market. Then we have the fact that there is more inventory of houses for sale than buyers who can actually qualify to purchase those homes. The equation is then more sellers competing for fewer buyers. There is a myth that sellers have to face from the very beginning if they are truly interested in selling the house at the right price on a timely basis, this is: “"The initial listing price isn't that important because the price can always be adjusted down later." This is NOT true, and the fact is that buyers loose a lot of time and ef...