|
| Yes. I view Nicaragua, Panama, Jamaica & Belize as abundant with opportunity; but with great caution.
Care must be used in selecting an attorney.
Panama has a good future in my opinion & the professionals operate in a more straight forward manner. There are some decent opportunities in Belize. I am acquainted with a Banker in Belize & he is preparing to develop an island which has been owned by the family for generations & is in the process of gathering partners which will take a year or so.
The land registry system in Jamaica is right out of the dark ages & requires a smart, trustworthy, bi-lingual attorney.
I do not like Costa Rica at this moment. The country is not repairing roads in the interior, as just one example & the northeast shore is a crime risk & their bureaucracy is not being paid very well so you can be led, assuming some “informal” financial arrangement, into some shortcuts & discover you've gotten yourself into a legal mess. A 12-14 year wait in their court system.
Right now, in Costa Rica, it requires about two years of hoop jumping to get a master plan approved, if prepared accurately. In Panama, projects are on a fast track as they want to do business with Americans, Europeans, & Chinese. In the Belize, Costa Rica & Nicaragua areas, the real string pullers seem cool towards Middle Eastern money.
In the Caribbean basin, there is titled land & rights of possession land (beach property). You cannot build on rights of possession land & if you were not grandfathered (in Costa Rica) on the rights of possession land you have a risk of squatters.
In the extreme, you could build a nice resort and every morning see folks you really don’t want on your resort, putting up a shack on the beach. And, they would have every right to do so. Again, in the extreme, you could be trying to entice well-heeled tourists as guests & have your beach guests hang out with a few folks with a couple of skinny, shaggy dogs and a few goats munching on old soup cans; the visit could then lose some luster.
If you search for a lawyer, I advise it be done by referral. The attorney we use was referred by an American who owns quite a bit of property in the area.
Also, it is essential to get familiar with the culture. I am of the school where we can lay our cards on the table, this is often difficult in that culture.
Due diligence on the land is essential before you even look at the land. Might save a trip on some bad roads. Sometimes, in Costa Rica & Jamaica, the documents are not immediately registered & goes for judgments as well.
A great deal of patience is required, as things are a little slow & is known as “Jamaican Time” & or “Costa Rican Time”. My friend in Palm Springs used to have a decent sized home in Bermuda & his wife is a bit high strung & “likes things to move along” and had been harassing him for days as the fellows doing the yard work spent most of their time sitting under a tree drinking beer. He promised her to extreme lengths one morning that by the time she returned from town, the fellows would finally have all their work completed. He was going to “take charge.” When she returned, he was sitting under the tree with the workers drinking beer. He said you just cannot fight that part of the culture as you get nowhere, so he joined them.
| |
|
Opinions Please - Marketing development - lots?
