Originally Posted by Crashklein

Hi There winnergirl68,
Is it possible for Americans to purchase land in the out Islands of the Bahamas? I fell in love with Norman Cay many years ago. There was a sunken airplane near by rumored to be once full of drugs.

Originally Posted by winnergirl68

Yes, Norman Cay is one of the island cocaine runners in the late 70s and early 80s used to traffic from Columbia through the Bahamas into the US. But, yes, Americans can buy land fairly easily in what the Bahamians refer to as the 'family islands'... or 'out islands.'

Originally Posted by GringoBob

Costa Rica is located in the southern portion of Central America and is bordered with Nicaragua on the north, Panama on the south - CR is an emerging democratic republic and has no military so is considered as a 'peaceful' neighbor by all other CentroAmerica states -

CR has the highest GNP of the region and is considered very stable in the economic community in spite of recurring double digit devaluation of their 'colones' currency - currently at 518 to a $ dollar -

Physically, Costa Rica is oft compared in size to West Virginia or Kentucky and has many many sub-climates within it's overall tropical climate - the utility infrastructure of Costa Rica is the privatized outgrowth of former state monopoly systems and the infrastructure is lagging behind development in the rapid expansion areas as of this date - we see a 5 to 7 year catch-up beginning to take shape but are not sure how rate increases will be dealt with to accommodate required expansion of services ?

property and property investment in Costa Rica can be categorized into 9 specific zones or geographic areas, each with it's own plus and minus score and level of popularity or activity - we will overview those 9 zones but can not adequately describe exact detail in this available space .....

zone 1 - southern pacific coast = this is the west or pacific coast area next to Panama which is most identified by Golfito and the bay of Dulce - probably the least expensive usable land in Costa Rica but also the area most lacking support and infrastructure at this moment in time - lots of talk and some activity with new harbor and promise of future International airport which would be third in CR

zone 2 - central pacific coast = Manuel Antonio and Quepos area up to Jaco and the beach areas - long standing tourist get-a-way area and lots of new construction activity in zone but infrastructure is lagging and water or electric problems are becoming more frequent

zone 3 - north pacific coast = coastal beaches and areas of the Nicoya Peninsula and north CR - booming area - especially the Coco, Tamarinda and Flamingo areas which are now in site development with major international projects - at this moment in time, this is the most expensive area for speculation and the most desirable area for long term investments

zone 4 - south central interior = hot - barren - underdeveloped and underserved - very large ranches or farms and very few services - ever been to Salina Kansas ? you could spend a week there one night in Buenos Aires CR

zone 5 - central valley = the historical retirement center of CR which includes the Capital City San Jose and the country's largest second cities of Alajuela, Heredia, Cartago, Grecia, Naranjo, Palmares, San Ramon and Atenas - this is where everyone bought for nothing 30 years ago and now want $70 per square meter to allow you in - seems as though there are more Canadians leaving the area than coming in and we don't quite understand that ? - climate for central valley is wonderful with warm days and cool nights and that is why it has been so popular as a retirement area - still a few spots to buy and build but be very cautious and curious

zone 6 - north central valley = the area north and a bit east of the central valley and on the Atlantic side or the divide - this is where we live, work and play - we have more rain than the central valley but we have a more even distribution of temperature so on an individual basis that was our trade-off for our retirement villa - in this region, we can still find property for less that $1.00 per square meter or $0.10 per square foot and take our time as the baby boomers figure it out - we do not have or need heaters or air conditioners in this little corner of paridise

zone 7 - Guanacaste = the northwest open plains of Costa Rica where it is hot and dry for half the year and hot and rainy for half the year - the later being the 'green season' as we refer to it and that always corresponds with tourist activity - this region is where there is currently a 'feeding frenzy' of speculative flipping of properties and probably more scams than we are aware of, or even want to be aware of - this is definitely the 'hot zone' of Costa Rica as I write this in April 2007.

zone 8 - south Caribbean Coast = very tranquil and laid back areas of the east coast areas of Costa Rica which are just above Panama - people still build houses with no windows over there and crime is not so prevalent but you know that will change as time moves on - services seem to be adequate for sustained growth and political mentality seems to encourage just that - sustained growth in small increments - few large scale overnight developments outside the port city of Limon

zone 9 - north Caribbean Coast = this is not accessible by car so you must boat or airplane in and find very large nature preserves with swamp protection perimeters - very popular eco areas where the giant sea turtles birth their young at the Nicaragua border area of Tortuguero National Park and Reserve Area

and so, with this horribly oversimplified zone view of Costa Rica, we invite you to come and see where we live in peace and harmony with our 'tico' neighbors on pensionado income and with taxes that are less than $100 per year - there is something for people like us here as well as people who wish to actively participate in investments strategy and flipping dealers ...

there are some maps and links on our webpages and I will be pleased to answer your questions to the best of my ability -

ciao.

Originally Posted by GringoBob

good morning Steve -

don't know of any reliable demographics for Guapiles but do know the activities there are about 70% gringo (front end of the boomers) and 30% tico weekend get-a-way places

Guapiles is a nice conservative area with decent weather and clean air - good place to relax

Originally Posted by GringoBob

we lived in La Herradura Spain (50km east of Malaga) for a few years before deciding to retire and build in Costa Rica - Spain was very cold seasonal and very expensive to the degree of exceeding US cost-of-living