December Trip to Costa Rica

You likely won't receive a new letter for the next two weeks.

Matt and I will board a plane to San Jose on Wednesday morning.

We have a full schedule and hope to walk away with new potential opportunities to pursue, as well as new knowledge and relationships.

Over the last 100 days, Kincaid has given me a daily email recap of his activities. We've been having a morning call to review that email and strategize for the following day.

During this period, he has met many remarkable people. We have gained extensive insights into the region we're focused on, learning how to best facilitate our future development.

Here are some highlights from our upcoming schedule:

Our first meeting will be with a development company that has executed multiple projects in our target market. 

They have expressed interest in exploring a potential Joint Venture. Our aim is to foster collaboration and, at the very least, gain valuable insights from this interaction.

We'll be meeting with a second development company based in San Jose. They have 30 years of industry experience and are currently overseeing hundreds of units under construction.

Our focus will be on leveraging Costa Rica lending opportunities and exploring potential cross-investment strategies. Partnering with seasoned professionals who can offer guidance during challenging times could significantly benefit us.

We have a meeting scheduled with the Senator responsible for implementing the free zone in Grecia.

Our objective is to gain deeper insights into their vision and identify potential ways our developments and their initiatives can benefit each other. Understanding how we could capitalize on the free zone's advantages is also an aspect of this meeting.

We will be meeting with a water expert.

He's renowned for handling water infrastructure for developments across Costa Rica. While we've had initial discussions, our goal is to strengthen our rapport and explore more effective ways to capitalize on water infrastructure opportunities.

We will meet with a semi-retired builder.

He's responsible for constructing numerous homes in our target area. Our objective is to gain deeper insights into the construction process and seek improved solutions for our building procedures.

We will meet with a U.S. developer.

She is engaged in developing a property tailored to foreigners within our target area. Our focus will be on gaining insights into her marketing strategies and understanding their pricing strategies for the property.

We will meet with a farming corporation that owns multiple coffee and sugar farms that are no longer profitable.

We plan to look at their properties and see if there is a deal we can pursue.

We will meet with a trust representative which owns multiple properties in CR. 

Our goal is to see if there is a potential deal on one of their properties.

We will be meeting with 10+ other one-off landowners & reviewing 30+ properties.

We will visit 10+ existing condominium projects where we will likely purchase 1 existing lot and get insights into our future developments.

Would I be disappointed if we don't discover our next development on this trip?

Absolutely not.

I hope to walk away with a light bulb on this trip. I want to see an opportunity in some shape or form. I'm confident our diligent efforts up to this point will give me one, if not multiple, opportunities.

I'm excited about many properties on this trip. Here is the deal I'm currently most excited about.

The lowest price the owner has indicated they're willing to accept is $2,750,000, with a provision for a 6-month due diligence period.

This price equates to approximately $25 per square meter, which is slightly higher than other comparable properties.

Why am I interested in this deal? 

1. The property is located near the heart of Atenas.

Atenas is experiencing the highest demand among foreigners in our current consideration set. However, creating new developments here has been challenging due to limited water resources.

2. It already has a registered well.

The well provides a substantial 2.5 liters per second. This water supply is adequate for over 100 residential homes, potentially saving us more than a year in the project approval process. 

3. I can potentially get a $100,000 premium on the final home.

This location could allow for a potential premium of $100,000 per home. Given the scarcity of water resources in the area, there's a pressing need for new homes in this specific location.

Hopefully, you'll hear from me soon about some exciting potential opportunities.