United States Heading towards a Depression?

Very true. $2M for a home in Central America is just nuts, especially in Panama. Overall, Costa Rica property is more expensive, and you can get some very sick nicely built out (~4ksqt) property sitting on the pacific for ~$1M. Seems like the same thing in Panama should be at least 30% cheaper, depending on what part of Panama we are talking about.

Another thing is those price hikes were based on US prices skyrocketing. US customers made up 70% of the Central American market. The buyers from the US have mostly evaporated leaving a much smaller market and lower prices once again. Overall, including the ups and downs, the trend has been up for the last 40 years for Costa Rica, and the last 15 years in Panama(since Noriega). Personally, I like to deal in large parcels of raw land, preferably with a sick ocean view. It doesn't require maintenance, its impossible to steal from, and there is only so much of it. Get something in the path of development, but just a bit outside of civilization, and you are talking a thousand dollars an acre in some cases. I've seen more than a few 100% profit flips done in escrow. Lets face it. the guy getting it at 2k/acre still feels like hes getting a great deal, and in most cases, he is.

There is a ridiculous amount of money going out of the US into reforestation projects in Central America to help fight global warming. I knew one guy down there buying up thousands of acres of ocean view pasture land for "reforestation" projects. The forest he would plant on the land would always be the same type of tree. Teak. It has a 20 year harvest cycle, and yields a healthy profit. If at some point civilization arrives and the land becomes more valuable as a golf resort or something of that nature, his "forest reserve" just moves a little farther down the road. His investors got to make the planet a little greener and made a small return on their investment, while he filled his wallet just a sickening amount of green paper currency. All in all, a win win.

You HAVE been to Costa Rica! All the unwashed hippies in CR come from Florida it seems, except for the surfers on the west coast, but I generally don't categorize them as hippies. Costa Rica is literally jam packed with America hating self loathing liberals who sit around at night selling each other on conspiracy theories about George W. Bush. Its comic. I showed up to a Halloween party in 2004, 2 days before election day dressed as an Islamic terrorist wearing a variety of "Vote Kerry" buttons. Needless to say, it went over like a fart in church. The bartender wouldn't even serve me.

 

You probably went to Montezuma. Tambor and Santa Teresa is different. Way different. Cabuya and Montezuma is the place where you just waste away and miss the whole Costa Rica experience while in Costa Rica. Also called MonteFuma.

 

I've just noticed something - Every post from BW is standalone babble with no coherent structure.

I think that BW is either a child, OR someone with Attention Deficit Disorder, OR a 'bot.

 

The previous two elections have refuted the principles applied by the now relegated minority opinion.

With tomorrows primaries the process will continue in finding solutions to the real problems with appropriate inclusiveness for all the citizens.

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It is the "plant" he smokes to worship the "Garden"

See the affects below:

 

It doesn't appear that BreezeWood's elevator goes all the way to the top floor.

 

Birds of a feather flock knowingly together - and now to assume in decent as well.

The gusher in the gulf is the Republican / Conservative lasting legacy and their rightful demise.

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I vote child. I'd say bot based on the poor grammar, run on sentences, etc, but you can tell he is trying to respond to your posts. My guess is that he is a 9-12 year old sitting at his dads computer using Google to put together educated sounding responses.

 

Their little group is called "missing balls chicken brigade" because they were all pro war but they all had some medical excuse "missing balls" which didn´t permit them to join the arm forces.
little willy believed that he was actually a General and was posting about military matters because he was getting high scores on his x-box games that he was playing while hiding under his bed but now he has given up on that illusion and pretends to be an investor instead.

 

Jesus man, you are so predictably Quebecois. It reminds me of why I don't keep in touch with my aunt and uncle. On topic though, which do you pick? Breeze is a Child, or Bot? Or are you going to say you find his posts intelligible? At some point, doesn't reality have to outweigh French Canadian resentment in your commentary?

 

And look at their economic record with deficits since Reagan, the wars etc.....they have no credibility but their silly pranks.

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It's all the fault of the Marshmallow Men of the Third Kingdom. When they destroyed the Magic Mushroom of Thaal they let loose a powerful evil upon the land. This evil poisoned the minds of the children, causing them to forget they were children. These children got jobs and settled down and held BBQ's on the weekend and other senseless acts of willful slavery. Only by ingesting the Magic Weed of Laothar can the children be freed from their imprisonment.

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Will, thank you so much for that! I was checking DP after a day of hard work. As I was going through the posts about BW I came to gworld's illegible rant, then your little observation made me sincerely laugh out loud, a nice gut-buster. Thank you for that!

 

We were mainly looking at beachfront houses in the Farallon area. While we were there, we were living about halfway between the current President and the fellow who won the election after we left. Great guy, BTW, the citizens of Panama are lucky to have someone as talented as Martinelli take an active interest in politics.

I have to learn how to negotiate these deals. I have that nasty "I could lose a lot of money figuring this out" feeling.

What bugged me most was that they would not stay out of the damned road. Stupid white kids walking in the middle of the road -- begging to become one with my 4WD's front grill.

Panama and Costa Rica both work hard to attract Americans. Costa Rica works hard to attract young trendy eco-tourists. Panama works hard to attract wealthy retired Americans.

Panama is like the Republican version of Costa Rica; Costa Rica is like the liberal version of Panama.

 

There having no credibility is definitely showing......and looking at their prospects for tomorrows primaries will continue their tradition.


The moderator obviously has their interests at heart.....do not speak out against their slander or be sentenced.

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The distant swallow portends doom. The signs will not be denied. Nature will continue drawing us back to the garden. The snake is interested in our return. Be wary the ides of July.

 

The best sources of information are free. Do your research by talking to people in the neighborhood where you want to buy. I guarantee they will speak English. All these ex-pat communities are small, and like all small towns they talk incessantly about everything, especially things they shouldn't be talking about. If there is some issue with the construction, or some government easement being filed against the development/developer, or some issue with crime, or whatever it is, you will have heard all about it by the second beer.

Resale values are a much more difficult thing to nail down. I was fortunate enough to be in direct contact with transactions so I knew what things were going for. Both countries do not record accurate documentation about transactions, so you will never know what things are selling for based on some computer generated data, ESPECIALLY if it is from the government (regardless of what an agent talking about a central American "MLS" might tell you). This is mostly facilitated by the number of transactions done in cash. If you want real pricing information, I would roll into a local real estate office presenting yourself as an owner in the neighborhood in which you want to buy, and ask how much you might be able to get for a home of the size you want to buy if you were to put it on the market right now. Both Costa Rica and Panamanian markets are much less liquid than American markets, so asking about sales volume is also important(especially in this economy).

Personally, I'm a big fan of the low-ball. The goal is to like it, but be able to live without it, and then drop a cash offer in at 35% of the ask. The worst they can do is get pissed off and say no, and you never know how leveraged out someone is, especially if they are American. I've seen more than a couple of those go through.

During my time there, eight people i knew very well on a personal level died in and from automobiles (mostly drunk driving). Mind you, these were very small communities. Another three died from socialized medicine.

For every ass there is a seat. I personally prefer Panama as well. Not surprisingly, many wont touch Panama for the exact same reasons I like it.

 

Nothing new from the minority party in todays primaries - and really not much of a showing in personnel to compel independents looking for solutions to chose any of them that proceed to November.....after kicking them out just a year ago.


The gulf calamity is unfortunately but a thread on a long rope the Garden has been suffering unabatedly by transgressors since expulsion and is the persuasion that persists to this day.
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For a moment, I actually thought I understood this - but I was wrong. It is unfortunately but a thread in a quilt that has been unraveling since expulsion from graduation that persists to this day.

 

Not much for a real crusade in the above as contemptuously mimicking the original.

The choices for Republicans to run from their economic disaster or their complicity in the Gulf or the ill-conceived war in Iraq etc. - no wonder they have so few credible candidates. Lots of luck in November.