Deals or Traps-Sorting Truth from BS? and the Rio Celeste
ISSUE #811: May 10-16, 2020
2020-05-17
 Brian Timmons Dear friends, When I started Residencias Los Jardines, I started writing a weekly newsletter -determined to tell all the good, bad, and the ugly. I knew some readers would be interested in the construction process. I expected others might be interested in the lifestyle of two people who had decided to live outside the box. For others, the adventures of Lita, the parrot and the cat took on an entertainment saga all its own. Residencias Los Jardines is finished. We periodically have re-sales and rental availability. Some readers may be interested in this information. Brian Timmons |
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Featured
rentals & sales Paradisus Condos / Rohrmoser 
Each of the units consists of two bedrooms / two bathrooms, and a large living/dining/kitchen area. The floor plan of each of these units has eliminated the optional "den / office" divider. The result is a larger area offering more flexible furniture arrangements while still maintaining the option of including an office area. At 105m2 plus two parking spots each and storage locker, they offer a great opportunity for someone seeking views, security, central location, and first class, all round living... PRICE REDUCTION FOR RENT |
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Market activity
sales & rentals Sales: Los Jardines: Units #114, #116 and #124 Rentals: Paradisus: 12-2 at Paradisus $1,400 mo. (white living room furniture) Los Jardines: |
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Residencias Los Jardines
property management, rentals & re-sales FOR SALE FOR RENT  For sale
UNIT #114 Total Area (Sq Ft): 1290 This 2 bedroom/2bathroom,1,290 sf single floor end unit home includes a 150 sf front terrace plus parking for one car. This house is fully air conditioned and has recently been professionally decorated by international decorator Alcides Graffe and has undergone a complete renovation—new modern furniture, finishings, window coverings, and art work by Carlos Gambino. It is arguably the nicest furnished unit at Residencias Los Jardines and only steps from the pool UNIT #116 Total Area (Sq Ft): 1290 This 1,290 sf single floor home includes a 300 sf front terrace plus parking for one car and a separate, secure storage locker. It is and end unit and therefore attached on only one side by a 6 inch cement demising (common) wall, which prevents sound transfer. UNIT #124 Total Area (Sq Ft): 662 This 662 sf, + covered parking for one car, is a one bedroom home on the 2nd floor overlooking the large pool. It is ideal for a single person or couple. For rent
UNIT #106C Total Area (Sq Ft): 1250 This is a fully furnished 2-bedroom unit situated in a 2-story building, which has two units on the ground floor and two units on the 2nd. floor. Each unit is the same size (1,250sf) divided into 800 sf of interior space and 450 sf of covered front and back terraces. Units 106A and B are on the ground floor; Units 106 C and D are on the 2nd. Floor. The solid masonry demising wall (common wall) as well as the 5” concrete slab prevent sound transference. UNIT #112 Total Area (Sq Ft): 1290 This 1,290 sf single floor home includes a 300 sf front terrace plus parking for one car. It is attached on two sides by a 6 inch cement demising (common) wall, which prevents sound transfer. UNIT #125 Total Area (Sq Ft): 662 This 662 sf, (62M2)+ parking for one car and 33sf locker is a one bedroom home on the 2nd floor overlooking the large pool. It is ideal for a single person or couple—or investment property. |
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Our Lives
What Happened This WeekWeather: Enough rain to keep all happy... garden is beginning to look better and better... StoriesMarket Activity: Not much. Several casual inquiries which never amounted to anything... foreigners cannot enter the country so no new market there; many are hunkered down. Shareholder Agreement++: Almost translated... means still not finished but promises Accounting... progressing. Other projects... no progress. But the condo is now in better financial shape, physical shape, building rehab work continues, and we are in legal compliance (as far as we know) and we continue to feed the bank stupid information... (a never ending task). My issue with Scotiabank has not gone away, just delayed because the branch was closed down... woopie!! Loan Broker: He did write the letter -after a week, two paragraphs- I insisted on but it took a long time and lacked full disclosure. He clearly stated his commission but did not include the cost of writing the agreement to extend the loan nor the notary fee... i called him on this and insisted he do this... In the mean time, I have developed a second approach... however, despite my urging, prodding, and direct instructions of what and how to do it, it has been like pushing wet spaghetti up hill... this initiative does involve full disclosure... but the client, not the brightest star in the sky, can't figure it out... wow... we'll see -maybe I should not extend. Deals or Traps -sorting truth from BS? Along with a friend, we have viewed two deals... these give a bit of insight into Ticos and the basic economy at the grass roots level... Deal one: A guy wants to add two dump trucks to his fleet. He has a concession to mine river rock and contracts to sell the stone / aggregate to a large construction company. He is offering a piece of property in the middle of no where... we went to "nowhere". After a lot of discussion and negotiations, my friend is going to fund the deal... but the process of negotiating the deal was a bit difficult... but it is being written up. Deal two: A pineapple packer got wiped out when a shipment of pineapples were cancelled on their way to Europe... he lost his working capital and cannot buy cardboard cartons he needs to pack and ship pineapples... Lita, my friend and I drove 4 1/2 hrs to view this. He is offering 9 hectares of land and a three year old packing plant... The plant consists of a steel building, refrigeration units, and a mechanical conveyor system for cleaning, sorting, grading, and packing. From the packing plant, the pineapples are transported to Limon and shipped out -Europe and the USA. The business / land has been in the tico family for years; the current plant is about three years old. The area is NE of Arenal / La Fortuna... totally agricultural land in that area... I had never been there before... and probably never will again -hopefully. We have to understand the business to make sure his business model works and assure ourselves he is telling the full story... I called in my Chiquita banana logistics / business whiz to help us understand this... we have been given all the info we have requested... one would think they could go to the bank with whom they have a small mortgage after paying it down substantially over the past several years and ask the bank for help using the same collateral... it would take the bank for ever to do the deal... so this is where private financing comes in... I do not want to own or operate a pineapple packing plant but maybe we can help them. Note: these seem to be salt-of-the-earth ticos... who just got caught by world trade shutting down and they had a perishable product in transit. Pineapple video 1 (10 sec) Both of these are business loans / working capital secured by real property... in these, one is really counting on the business model and the integrity of the borrower for the security... you never want to own the security... that would represent a failure... you just want to make sure the borrower does not want to lose his his security... both of these, and others opportunities exist because the banking system is so awful. Rio Celeste: Wow!!!!! this is a river (I have known about it through fotos) which is 17 kl long with sky blue waters... The pineapple packing plant was very near it... We stayed the night... not wanting to drive back another 4 1/2 hrs... I had thought the pictures I had seen were foto-shopped... well there were not... the water really is sky blue, it is a small "river" where we were was in a jungle area and not part of any tourist setting... the river / water was absolutely incredible... a little investigation said the color is a result of two rivers meeting to form the Rio Celeste... one river has high acidity and the other river has a high alumina silicate (?) particulates. When the two meet, the acidic waters (Sour River) causes the particulates to coagulate and the sunlight reflects as blue light. So much for the technical details... the result is rather spectacular. Consequence: Some social friends are unhappy with our travels citing our potential exposure to Covid... they have elected to remain isolated from us... ok... their choice... each looking after themselves as they see best. Covid Restrictions: The government is opening up the country... slowly. Travel restrictions are still in place but fewer hours; some businesses are able to open... beaches are now open from 5AM - 8AM... foreigners are not allowed in the country until June 15... flights out are limited and non-citizens cannot return until restrictions are lifted. Many people are wearing masks (maybe 50%), limited access to banks, grocery stores, to allow for "social distancing". Lots of businesses still remain closed... I am sure some will never reopen. Last Saturday a friend did an errand... his car was restricted that day... his plates were confiscated -consequence being a two week delay and process to get them back -and a $200 fine... he simply forgot the car could not travel on Saturday... we had to break up the party early last night as friends / guests had to be off the road by 7pm... it was almost my bedtime anyway...         |
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News Items of the Week
Comments: None this week. |
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FOR RENTAL OR SALES INFORMATION Brian C. Timmons Costa Rica: Canada: Web: https://www.residenciaslosjardines.com |
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