| The popularity of condos in the booming | | | | the area are getting in on the action. Discovering |
| Guanacaste region in Costa Rica has spawned a | | | | that condominiums make fantastic and affordable |
| new industry for local residents and | | | | vacation homes while providing a viable source of |
| entrepreneurs. As the tiny villages along the coast | | | | income, people from all over the world are buying |
| trade in their wilderness for billion dollar | | | | up condos in the country. But managing a |
| investments, locals are trading old jobs for | | | | property when you are out of the country is |
| marketing kits and tool belts. In the wake of the | | | | next to impossible and leaving your vacation |
| boom, property management services have been | | | | home unoccupied for months is downright risky. |
| springing up to satisfy the needs of absentee | | | | Absentee owners can return to find they've been |
| property owners who want to rent their homes | | | | robbed or even worse - that their property is |
| to tourists as vacation properties. | | | | being inhabited by squatters. |
| Since development on the $400 million Peninsula | | | | Many condominium projects address this problem |
| Papagayo project began in 1997, construction and | | | | directly by providing property management |
| real estate sales in Costa Rica's Guanacaste region | | | | services as part of the deal at buy-in. Owners can |
| have been on a roll. According to Costa Rica's | | | | enter their property into the project's rental |
| Central Bank, big business foreign investment in | | | | program and have their interests taken care of. |
| real estate has nearly tripled in the past 12 | | | | Depending on what level of involvement you wish |
| months - most of it in Guanacaste. The majority | | | | to have, property management companies will |
| of these purchases represent investments in the | | | | take care of everything - from security to |
| tourism industry with large scale hotels, | | | | housekeeping. For a monthly fee, you can count |
| developments and existing tourism businesses | | | | on your manager to be your hotelier with a |
| being snapped up by savvy entrepreneurs. | | | | complete package that includes marketing, |
| But not all investment in the tourism industry | | | | booking, cleaning, and maintaining the property |
| represents big business. Individuals and families | | | | while on site security removes the risk of |
| attracted by the climate and natural beauty of | | | | unexpected or uninvited guests. |