Purchasing in a development

Justagirl8870 wrote:

Buy an existing home period. There are a jillion and though I agree with the codes and skimping etc, one thing is for sure, you can have an existing home Inspected, you have an agent and attorney helping you-you know the end result, you can begin your Costa Rica dream, and, you won’t be 3/4 the way in and get hit with this and that and these and those. I’ve bought and sold many homes over the years, there is always risk but in the states, could get a home built in 90 days, Costa Rica more like years and a lot can happen in years. However, if you insist on building one thing I can say over all my research and experience is when it looks feels and seems too good to be true it most definitely is.  After going all over Guanacaste and seeing different developments, talking to people and reading about “failures” if one fails to launch and they advertise years of success instead of just being genuine and transparent, you can pretty much assume you’re not the exception customer and are heading into dicey territory.  The company we dealt with advertised world class homes, luxuries, hundreds of homes sold, nine “phases”, world renowned architect, number one development in Costa Rica and on and on and one tour could tell you that 14 years only brought lots of sales and few homes, which are occupied by staff, investors and friends. They are now building in the “backs” of lost dreams; sound like a community you’d want to live in?  You won’t even know what it will be like for many years- not worth the risk unless you just want to rent your place to them for discovery tours. Good luck!

For the most part I do agree with you; however, a serious problem lies with "...you can have an existing home inspected...."  Well, yes and no.  There are NO licensed home inspectors in Costa Rica.  There are a few individuals that have some construction experience that will "call" themselves inspectors, but they are NOT.  And they will charge $300-$500 for their service.

I worked in construction to pay off my college debts, remodeled and sold a number of homes and have built from the ground up two homes.  I can install plumbing and electrical, weld, etc.  I am NOT qualified to inspect a home just because I have some experiences in construction.  It takes "a lot" more knowledge and expertise in other areas, i.e., how the soil was prepped, if at all, was is the saturation rate of the soil, ability to test all electrical runs, understand retaining walls, (common here), see cracks in a wall and know what they mean, are they structural issues or simple cracks.

I had a friend down the road from me sell their home to a lady who also became a friend.  She asked me to help with some home repairs which I did.  The so called inspection report that she paid $400 for stated that she would need a new retaining wall, (estimated cost on the report $30,000).  The retaining wall the report referenced was in reality a wall that was built so that the garden area would be level.  It had not relevance to the structural integrity of the home.   There were cracks in the wall that the report stated needed minor repairs.  Yeah, minor.  The sheet rock did not align with the studs.  To fix this issue we had to remove all of the sheet rock, install additional studs to bring it up to code and then replace the sheetrock, mud, sand and paint.  The bathroom had a electrical outlet that was too low to the sink, was not grounded and was not a GCFI plug.  Someone could have easily been electrocuted.  No mention of this in the so-called inspection report.  This type of thing went on and on in the report.

Unfortunately, I do not have a simple answer to this issue either.  It would be nice if a licensed home inspector moved to CR and offered their services.  Be a great way to earn and income here.

So, bottom line, home inspections are another matter to be wary of in Costa Rica.  Yep, I'm just full of great news today.  Sorry.   

- Expat Dave

scubaterrik wrote:

Yes, there are many homes in the development. I am one of the lot owners. Have been there now for the 4th time, and every time we have gone, there has been more homes completed and new ones underway.  There are always horror stories when buying in a foreign country. I had an issue with property I bought from an American Developer...long story, but got my property sold at a loss and since bought in CR.  Another thing to keep in mind is the weather, and that causes building to not goes as fast as compared to the USA. If anyone knows anything about construction, it nevers goes as planned!
I agree you need to be cautious, but you have to also keep in mind when someone had a bad experience, they may have just had a bad draw of the straw, and not everyone owner feels the same way. I am still waiting to hear other owners tell their story besides the same person over and over. If I heard more stories like the one on this site from others, I may pay a little closer attention. Just some food for thought!

My advice is, as I believe I posted above, or maybe in another thread about this, RESEARCH the names of the people and corporation involved.  IF you find people who are being sued, not honest, not reliable, not truthful, etc etc then think twice before getting involved...

scubaterrik wrote:

[edited to focus on only this statement by scubaterrik:] And yes, it takes a couple years to build in CR due to weather and other items. It is not the same building in a foreign country like it is in the USA. [edited]

I just wanted to point out that this is not at all normal here in the area I live in Costa Rica. My house was built in a few months, and I've seen many others go up in a few months. MAYBE if you're building a 4-5 bedroom custom-built mansion, it could take 9 months or so...? But if you think it is normal to take a house 2 years to get built here, you have drank the wrong kool-aid!
In reality a Development run by professionals  should probably be able to build faster, so it should take less time than others, not more...

Sorry to tell you that, and I wish you the best of luck.

Again, to anyone planning on buying a lot and building in any development:
Be very very careful in dealing with developers. Yes there are some good ones but also there are some very very bad ones.  Remember that sales people are all about making sales and are often prone to exaggerate or worse.

So good luck and just because people talk nice and have a professional appearance, doesn't always mean they are professional or telling the truth or not cheating you. In fact the best scam artists are very personable and very good at making a positive impression - that's one of their "abilities".

Do your due diligence or you could be sorry!
And lastly "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is".

The comments above do not necessarily apply to any particular developer, they are general comments re "purchasing in a development" as the subject of this thread says.