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Robert W Demes
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Strudwick Wealth Strategies
SPECIAL REPORT EXCERPT:
Right now Costa Rica is booming with “early adopter” American retirees. As we said earlier, throw aside the Banana Republic image of Costa Rica. Costa Rica abolished its army in 1949 and dedicated those resources to education. This progressive experiment has paid off handsomely as Costa Rica has not only the most stable political environment in Central America, but also its most highly educated work force. Here’s a surprising stat: The number one export from Costa Rica? …Ahead of both coffee beans and bananas ……Intel microprocessors! Three years ago Intel opened a huge chip plant in San Jose that now exports over $5 billion of chips a year. Some ex-pats mark time in terms of ‘BI’ or “Before Intel” because of the incredible boost it’s given to the economy. Manufacturing is booming in the area around the airport where land now sells for $500,000 an acre. Costa Rica has also tied its future to developing “ecotourism” linked to its incredible natural beauty. Volcanoes, world class fishing, tropical rainforests.
Forests, and pristine beaches are all within two hours of San Jose. No question, Costa Rica is booming.
Two Big Questions: Is it too late in Costa Rica? And how do I participate?
The answer to the first question is “no” unless you consider 1965 to be too late to have invested in Florida. Sure, a pre- Disney 1955 would have been better, but we are where we are. The answer to the second question is also favorable.
Depending on the level of risk and involvement you want, the investment options run the full spectrum. If you just want to put your big toe in the water, a good friend is putting together timeshares at Los Suenos. This might be a good base of operations to investigate other opportunities.
If you’re the type inclined to get your hands dirty and “do it yourself,” you can hop a flight and start checking out parcels of land yourself with a real estate agent. Every morning the lobby of the Hampton Inn by the San Jose Airport is full of people doing just that. We can hook you up with several first rate real estate agents in different parts of the country. But if you aren’t inclined to master the nuances of real estate development in a foreign country, we have several options for you to consider.
At the Whitney conference I was able to spend two days with Robert Demes, an American Ex-pat who moved to Costa Rica 22 years ago. Robert is project manager for another Zurcher designed project called Rancho Monterey. Just 20 miles down the Pacific Coast from Los Suenos, Rancho Monterey is a luxurygated community located on 2,000 acres with Polo fields, equestrian facilities, conference center and its own airstrip. Four phases will be developed over the next 10 years. Phase One is already underway and construction is already started on a convention center and is running 16 days ahead of schedule. Here’s the distilled scoop on why Rancho Monterey is exciting right now:
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