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Did you buy property in the middle of nowhere and now you hate the place? Don’t hang yourself, walk away!
How can you stop yourself from buying a property in hell, though it looks like paradise? Buying Costa Rica property in the middle of nowhere is easy, selling it again is a whole other adventure.
The #1 reason you probably read my weekly articles is that you want to learn as much about Costa Rica property as you can before buying a property in paradise. I hope it is because that’s why I write them, especially this one.
I really hate dealing with desperate sellers. Sellers that are miserable every day in their life because they can’t sell that property they bought by mistake. I think it’s sad they bought a property in the middle of nowhere.
Well, they did that to themselves, just to save some real estate commission. Because there are no real estate agents in the middle of nowhere! Let me tell you about this couple, who had a great experience you want to hear about:
Benjamin and Sarah were visiting from Tennessee and went for a couple of days on a trip to Finca Catarana, which is a cabin in the middle of the Nicoya Peninsula, near Montaña Grande. That sounds like a big place, but it’s not. Montaña Grande, during the 2018 elections, had 364 voters, which in my book is the middle of nowhere!
Benjamin and Sarah love hiking and are not the wining and dining type people that come and stay in a Marriott hotel in Escazu.
The middle of nowhere
I hope you click on the Finca Catarana link, as it will give you a great idea of the location. Oh yes, it looks awesome on that map, check out the roads in the area.
Well, it is “close” to Playa Naranjo, where you can get by taking the ferry from Puntarenas, a 65-minute boat ride. That is NOT the ferry Puntarenas – Paquera that will take you to Tambor, Los Delfines, Tangomar and the incredible beaches of Montezuma, Santa Teresa and Mal Pais. This particular ferry goes to Playa Naranjo and from there – into nothingness.
If you like nothingness, wilderness, adventurousness, and craziness, you really have to try to visit Montaña Grande. Maybe even buy some property there? Benjamin and Sarah loved it there. But would they live there? I didn’t ask. Google did tell me Montaña Grande does have a police station… Buying Costa Rica property in the middle of nowhere, it’s so easy.
The reason I didn’t ask is that Benjamin skyped me to ask I could help a French property owner. They met the owner at the local pulpería to sell his 20-acre property in Montaña Grande. These French owners are really desperate to get out of there. I told him that our nearest affiliate is located in Tambor, a looong drive away.
Properties in Hell
I get requests from adventurous property owners to sell almost daily. Often, they are dreamers that thought they were buying a paradise. After the purchase, and live there for a while, paradise turned into hell.
In 2015, other sellers offered a $550K house on a 27-acre dry shrub farm close to the Miravalles volcano. They’re now, in 2021, down to only $330K. I’ve also had beautiful B&B offered at $460K in Las Horquetas de Sarapiqui. The sellers finally gave it away. I’ve had a farm with a large restaurant offered at $1.2M in Vara Blanca near La Paz Waterfalls. I think that seller disappeared, with his property, in a canyon during the Cinchona earthquake in 2009. Horrible isn’t it!
Rarely does one of them sell, or it takes a lifetime to do so.
I know my way around Costa Rica better than many Ticos. But some of the places that people write me about, I have never heard of. Even Google isn’t much of help sometimes, they’re soooo in the middle of nowhere. Who would ever think about buying Costa Rica property in the middle of nowhere? They did.
Realtors
Even if you plan to buy FSBO, first check if there are any realtors in that area. If you can’t any real estate offices or even a local agent who works from home, there is a reason. I promise!
When I get an email from those motivated property owners who are very motivated to sell, often they can’t even give me the name of the nearest city because there is no city nearby. I really wish I could help them all. We have 26 offices from coast to coast, but we don’t cover it all.
Where to buy?
Don’t we all fall in love with a place when we are on vacation? We all dream of owning a property in a tropical, amazingly beautiful country such as Costa Rica? Yes, we do! At least I did when I decided to stay when I arrived in Costa Rica in 1980. But you all know about Location – Location – Location don’t you?
How to stop yourself from buying Costa Rica property in the middle of nowhere:
- Where should you buy? In a place with a real estate office.
- Why is that? So you have someone who can assist in selling it again.
- Why not in the middle of nowhere? Because it will take you a lifetime to sell. Unless the price is right…
- Location – Location – Location – at the right price
Back to Montana Grande
When Benjamin asked me to help those poor Frenchmen sell their Costa Rica property in the middle of nowhere, my answer was “tell them to give it to the neighbors”.
I know, it’s not a nice answer, but it’s the right one unless they find another sucker.
Hundreds of sellers waste the rest of their life trying to sell a property in the middle of nowhere and recover some of their money. Take the right decision and use those 4 bullet points, before you purchase.
Are you already looking for that other sucker? Then it’s better for your health and those around you and to write the investment off. Only then you can go on with your life before you hang yourself. I mean this, seriously!
Please think about this story before buying Costa Rica property in the middle of nowhere, do yourself that favor. And me! For your own good, listen to me. I don’t care if you buy on your own but buy in a place that has at least one real estate office nearby.
