New to Trujillo

Hi my name is Sebastian, and I currently live in San Pedro Sula, but go once in a while to Trujillo, since I have good friends overe there. Trujillo is really a very quiet nice pretty beachtown, it is where actually Christopher Columbus put first his foot on the ground...., but also needs some time to pick up and there is definetly investment needed to make this a perfect tourist attraction...
have some infos and pretty pics on the following link.....
if you have any questions or need more Info on Trujillo and the situacion overe there,...just let me know
Sebastian

hi goNsouth, we too have purchased lots with recap at trujillo eco beach resort, and think a forum to gather all purchasers would be a great idea (power in numbers to protect our investments). we've been reaching out to whomever else has purchased there to stay up to date on progression etc. it seems the cruise terminal has stalled, but i'm looking in to it. there are now a few villas going up at eco beach resort. you know of anything new? cheers neighbour.

hi guys, i dont know if u guys have already gone to trujillo but its so nice and roatan is even nicer,  anyways i was at the port site of contruction when they started its a miami firm,, i tried to buy land around it and there was no way,, it was already reserved,, if u check out franchises to buy and run them at the port site ull see its crazy ,,, there already reserved to be put there,,, me and my wife bought number 130 in the recap develpment and i cant wait to bring her there,, i just hope the hotel in our resort will be up and running,,,

hi guys!!!

im currently in the process of buying some property with the trujillo eaco beach resort.  I live in vancouver and own there.  I have no experience in buying foreign property.  My friends and family tell me I'm crazy and to go travel before I buy.  But I see this as an investment.  Get in before the prices sky rocket.  I'm 25, and work as an electrician in northern alberta.  Just wondering if anyone else had had any fears or worries about buying foreign property?

Any information or guidance would be greatly appreciated.  Glad I found this thread

Thanks

Nevada Gillis

Yes, I'm planning to relocate to Honduras, hopefully the Trujillo area, but since I dont' know much about the country, my plans are to go and look to rent something inexpensive and tour the country.

Hey guys I was wondering can anyone tell me the going rate for rent in Trujillo,I plan on moving there this spring. I'm looking for the cost of rental property for someone planning to live there not vacationing there. I await your feedback.

Hi Byewinter,

Have you actually spoken with other Recap purchasers at Trujillo?  If I understand correctly, a few owners have been down to check out the site.  I'd love to see some pics and hear some impressions.

hi go n south, we've exchanged emails with a couple other trujillo eco beach buyers and mr jorgenson, and saw some pictures from someone's visit in December. They're posted on facebook under the Trujillo Beach Eco Development Honduras group. Nothing much to see as of yet, we plan on visiting in late March and will definitely report back. from what i hear, the cruise terminal is finally under way after a lot of red tape, and the eco beach development is coming along slowly, they apparently had to remove a few alligators who'd made the new canal a home. cheers.

jay

hi people,i plan to retire in honduras,trujillo area(trujillo beach eco developmpent.is it a good idea?thx in advance.

hi,byewinter..couldn't find on facebook trijillo beach eco development group.do i miss something?thx

hi pateu, if you search on facebook for Trujillo Beach Eco Development, Honduras, it should come up. not sure if i can link on this forum, but if so, it's facebook.com/#!/groups/115643255360

thanks byewinter.i found it.a lot of info ...

(Moderated: no free ads in the forum pls)

Maybe a Direct Flight from Canada to La Ceiba is needed with so many travelers

400 lots times $750.00 per lot per year for maintenance works out to $300,000 for recap to pay their ten workers with shovels and weed wackers and one guard station,That's what we pay and I've been there. Petty hefty fees for Honduran labor.
Dave

$300.00 per month for workers in this category is the rough rate here in Honduras. Not sure the difference between Trujillo and here in La Ceiba

I am from Canada and would like to learn more about Honduras

Caution: Read this before investing!

I came across this forum by accident and thought that it might benefit some people if I posted here to provide my slant on the Trujillo eco development.

I was really high on the project and had advanced fairly far into the purchase process, to the point that I had reserved a lot, put down a deposit and actually bought plane tickets for me and my wife to look things over before purchasing.

Before making the trip, I came across references to the Garifuna indigenous population fighting to protect their land rights, references to illegal real estate purchases and, a challenge to the validity of the legislation creating the charter city in Trujillo.

Examples of articles and posts can be found below (but there are many others)

intercontinentalcry.org/honduras-garifuna-communities-take-legal-action-against-canadas-porn-king/

alethonews.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/vallecito-resists-satuye-lives-the-garifuna-resistance-to-honduras-charter-cities/

rightsaction.org/articles/Garifuna_repression_021711.html

In a most recent development (October, 2012) the Honduras supreme court ruled that the Legislation creating the charter cities was not only illegal, but unconstitutional. See below

hondurasculturepolitics.blogspot.ca/

What I have also seen is that international rights groups are supporting the Garifuna in their fight. In Canada, we've seen what the impact can be of native land claims.

I was disappointed to do so because I wanted to retire to the ecodevelopment, but decided to pull out and not go further. I didn't want to live in fear that the doorbell would ring one day and that someone from the Garifuna would tell me that I had to get off their land or, pay an exorbitant sum to be able to stay.

I don't suggest that Honduras is not a good place to invest, just that Trujillo and the Ecodevelopment should be looked at very very carefully.

I haven't seen anything of this type of reported conflict concerning La Ceiba.

Hope this helps some who might be looking at an investment in Honduras.

You have done your due diligence. I have brought this situation up on a few site but foreigners put me down stating I was biased. Well perhaps I have other interests in La Ceiba BUT do not want the entire country to be let down over something in Trujillo. You may want to check out a place with no issues with land disputes and Canadians feeling safe with their investments.

the group resposible for the Garifuna issue is Life Vision Properities not
Recap investments...as far as charter cities well your correct however things may lean in that direction down the road..stay tuned...re the project.. recap is on target..villas being constructed..amenity centre being built..eco tour co-ordinator hired..tours developed..cruise lines about to arrive in next year...this is a no brainer...bye the bye be aware of references to La Cieba.. postings from posters from this area tend to be negative re recap in keeping with their own economic interests.

This could be about what is/was promised too by developer(s) in Trujillo.
I personally have met 20 + owners of lots in Trujillo that were not only frustrated but felt lied to. Fact. Then again, there are others that were satisfied. So, like I had stated just search before making purchase or deposit.

'Pave Paradise Put Up a Parking Lot' If anyone remembers that old song maybe they can relate to what may be happening in the Trujillo area. When you get people putting down payments on lots without ever seeing them it really starts to get scary! I was always curious about Trujillo and being a windsurfer I had another motive when I learned it was a good place to windsurf part of the year. Well last winter I was four months in Honduras (yes I am fluent in Spanish) and decided to visit the coast before I left. Trujillo was  nicer that I thought it would be. But with developments the size of what is planned I can see it going downhill. Remember money attracts evil and this will start in the area sooner or later. With the government of Honduras hanging by a thread and a law enforcement system that is a total joke one needs to be cautious. I went out to a Garifuna village,Santa Fe de Colon and left with a tear in my eye knowing that sooner or later these people will loose something precious, their lifestyle! Cut and paste my youtube presentation to see one of the last remaining paradises.
'Santa Fe de Colon Honduras,How long can it remain unspoiled?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBZGyiPtuzI
To tell you the truth I hope there will be legal challenges to the developments since as always in these cases someone did something either illegal or corrupt to get them started in the first place by buying someone off.
For those of you whom have never been to Trujillo see my youtube presentation;  Trujillo EXPOSED!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NHO5P18Lyw 
Too bad all these Canadians don't go to Haiti and spend their money where it might do some good... And hey they speak French there!

This guy has never been to the eco development because it has nothing to do with Sante Fe colon it is so far away from anything there was absolutely nothing there until the developers built what is there now with no one living in that area,It takes 20 minutes just to get to the site when you leave the highway down a road if you want to call it a road  to get there.The cruise terminal that they built in the town of Trujillo can only bring that town wealth like they have never known.

We have invested in the ECO Development and just spend 5 days in the Trujillo area. We looked at our investment at ECO Beach and NJOI Trujillo. We also looked at some others in the area. We did not see any glaring issues with ECO or NJOI developers. The 1st set of Villas were almost completed at ECO and the construction quality, from what we could see, looked good. We met the designer, the engineer, the ECO tourism manager and the maintenance manager from the development and met up with others who were staying there who had invested. There was lots of activity and they seemed motivated. Only thing that I noticed was thier website advertises undergroung power but the power lines are above ground. The villas looked very similar to thier conception drawings (pool seemed a little smaller) but all looked good. NJOI also seemd on the up an up, we met their lawyers, engineers, construction contractors etc... Saw their title documents etc.. etc.. and it seems more than legit and developers are moving forward. Marea develpment - although they have many developments that they have done in the past picked the wrong land in Trujillo. It is basicall a low swamp area near the lagoon and is underwater in the rainy season and will flood whenever it rains. There was construction activity at the cruise ship terminal, buildings are completed on land and there was landscaping and maybe some internal finishing. Once this is done they are supposed to start the dock but will boat the people off the cruise ship until this is completed. We tried to go on the construction site. The people we were with called the site manager but the site supervisor wasn't there so we couldn't go in. The first cruise ship is booked in December this year. The main street along the ocean front at Trujillo has been updated. Restaurants have been updated and look quite nice from previous pictures I have found. Path up to Santa Barbara Fortress has been built, some new brickwork on roads etc... There is still a lot to do as Trujillo is very much a 3rd world city but there is progress. On January 26th the Honduras Congress passed by a vote of 126 to 2 to amend the constitution to allow Charter cities in Honduras. We met and had discussions with the Mayor of Santa Fe who spoke of the Betulia power plant upgrade that is supposed to be happening and other positive projects. There is a lot of police presence to protect the north coast and keep things safe for the tourists and the tourism industry. Police corruption is better - 4 years ago 80 % were corrupt, now it is 50 / 50, this is according to a Honduran businessman from Teguis. We found the local people very friendly and generally happy to see the potential from the tourism and development. Over the past 10 years a lot of international companies have moved in to Honduras - fast food chains etc.. etc.. Good indicator??

All this being said there are still questions that I have,

- Honduras has massive debt and "on the brink of bankruptcy". I have heard that they have been unable to pay their public servants at times - i.e. police, military etc... I am not sure how this will play out and what potential negative affect this will end up having on the movement towards charter cities and the tourism industry. Will money be taken away from this or directed towards this and become even more urgent to get this tourism and charter city in place to help turn the country around.
- Government corruption/stability, swings in direction with change in government - talking with an educated businessman in Honduras I am told that the countries government should remain stable under either government (Stable relative to Honduras). 2 party system with one slightly right of center (the one in power now) and the other is center and slightly to either side of center. The most probably new president will be the current head of congress who would have voted for the Charter Cities per the passing in congress at a vote of 126 to 2. There also seems to be connections with Trujillo area to government meaning government officials would also have "personal interest" to move forward in the Trujillo area so it should stay a priority. This information came from a Honduras business man attending school in the US who I sat beside on my flight leaving Honduras. They are also looking at investing in Tela and/or the Trujillo area.
- NJOI states that all documents to be legal must be completed and signed in Honduras for property titles etc.. ECO development states that they can transfer titles without having the documents signed in Honduras and the title transfers are legit?
- ECO tourism is big right now. ECO development has their ECO Venture Tours in place and seem to be fairly organized and pro-active in promoting the rental of the villas and units. Hoping that they can get the tourism and rentals that we all hope to see.

I still wonder if I am making the right decisions investing in Honduras Trujillo area. Factors affecting the country of Honduras outside of the developers or anybodies control that could turn things around on a dime? Any feedback on my comments or additional information would be appreciated.

Have you join the facebook group. Good place for updates.I do have a lot in the Trujillo Eco development

I read all of that too. It seems like a hit piece by a politically slanted lobby group.

None of these deals are squeaky clean.

Hey..

I bought a Villa in phase 1 of the Trujillo eco development.. I’m a little disappointed as an investment.. There has been a zero return to date and not looking very promising in the future.. I really hope the rental market there picks up for tourists or I just flushed a lot of money down the drain..

When do you take occupancy?

I am thinking of purchasing a condo at the Eco resort by Recap. To the new owners of the condo development....any advice? Are you satisfied with your investment and treatment by Recap? There is some pressure to sign up for a condo so would really appreciate your input.

Im selling my villa if your interested? Less expensive than the condo.. Recap stated they are entering their busy rental season.. i owned the villa through the construction phase and now its renter ready... ive had zero returns to date but may be because of the resorts infancy stage..

Its a very very long wait before you see any returns.. the villa at the very least is entering its prime rental season..

Cheers

Hi Anthony
I am interested. Can you send me some particulars about it, location, furnishings etc
Thanks
kevin

Hey Kevin..

I sent you an email with my contact info.. lets chat via email..

Hey Kevin..

I sent you an email with my contact info.. lets chat via email..

Hi Anthony
email is kevin.hoadley@sympatico.ca
Haven't received info as of 12:15
kevin

In La Ceiba beach rentals are booked up pretty good from the end of September - March. Trujillo has less of a rental market considering the new communities there. It takes time to build a market.

Chris,

Are you a real-estate agent?

My response was stating what La Ceiba has now that was built over time. Trujillo can build up this over time also. A solid rental market needs more than a city, idea, or a beach here. The future of Trujillo's developing rental market is dependent on the developers in that location.

Are you an agent?