Cashing In On a Second Home in Central America: How to Buy, Rent and Profit in the World's Bargain Zone

Mitch Creekmore, Tom Kelly

Description

Central America is as different as the readers of this book. The region is an absolute paradox. It may be all that you imagine, but surprisingly, it is much more than one could ever embrace. It is more than the long and winding territory that connects North and South America. To the typical North American, the area conjures up vivid and varied images. On the geographical side, a mountainous area with volcanoes, colonial cities, jungles, and, of course, bananas and coffee. On the political front, turmoil, dictatorships and instability. On the economic front, rich versus poor, agriculture-based economies, and sweatshops where United States garments are manufactured and exported. It is a complex and fascinating place, home to 41 million people with a total gross domestic product of about $88 billion.

How do you begin to categorize such a dramatic and extraordinary For starters, this region geographically encompasses seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. These countries have many mysterious cities and fascinating destinations that you could only hope to place them on the map in your mind.

Sujets

• Maison
• Maison
• Real Estate
• Employabilité, métiers et formations
• Economics
• Business

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 09 août 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781456605148
• Langue: English

Extrait

Cashing In on a Second Home in Central America
How to Buy, Rent and Profit
in the World’s Bargain Zone
by Tom Kelly, Mitch Creekmore
and Jeff Hornberger
 
 

Crabman Publishing • Rolling Bay, WA
 



Cashing In on a Second Home in Central America
How to Buy, Rent and Profit in the World’s Bargain Zone
 

Produced by Crabman Publishing, Rolling Bay, Washington, U.S.A Copyright © 2011 Crabman Publishing
 
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
http://www.eBookIt.com
 
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0514-8
 
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
 
Although the authors and publisher have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in this book, we assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions or any inconsistency herein. Any slight of people, places or organizations is unintentional. Neither the publisher nor the authors shall be held liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to consequential, incidental, special or other damages. The advice and strategies contained in this book may not be suitable to some situations. If legal advice or other expert assistance is needed, the services of an experienced, competent attorney or other professional should be contacted.
 
Kelly, Tom, 1950 Oct. 8-
Cashing in on a second home in Central America : how to buy, rent and profit in the world’s bargain zone / Tom Kelly, Mitch Creekmore, Jeff Hornberger.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
 
LCCN 2007922459
ISBN-13: 978-0-9770920-1-7
 
1. Real estate investment—Central America. 2. Real property
—Central America—Foreign ownership.
I. Creekmore, Mitch. II. Hornberger, Jeff. III. Title.
 
HD333.K45 2007
332.63'24'0928
QBI07-600067
 
Cover and interior design © 2007 TLC Graphics, www.TLCGraphics.com
 
Cover photo: Hacienda Pinilla, Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. H.G. Pattillo, owner; Agroganadera Pinilla S.A., developer and builder. Photo courtesy of Stewart Title, Costa Rica.
 
Sales and distribution to the book trade facilitated by Biblio Distribution, Inc., a
National Book Network Company, 4501 Forbes Blvd., Lanham, MD 20706. (301)
459-3366; [phone] Fax
 




 
About the Authors
T om Kelly is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist and radio talk show host. He served The Seattle Times readers for 20 years—several as real estate editor—and his work now appears in the Los Angeles Times, The Houston Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Portland Oregonian, The Miami Herald, The Rocky Mountain News, The Des Moines Register, The Tacoma News Tribune, The Reno Gazette-Journal, The Louisville CourierJournal, plus more than two dozen other newspapers.
 
Tom’s award-winning radio show, “Real Estate Today,” recently began its 16th year on 710 KIRO-AM, the CBS affiliate in Seattle and the state’s largest station. The show is syndicated by Business Talk Radio to approximately 40 domestic markets and airs on 450 stations in 160 foreign countries via American Forces Radio.
 
He is the author of The New Reverse Mortgage Formula (John Wiley & Sons), Real Estate for Boomers and Beyond (Kaplan Publishing), and co-author of How a Second Home Can Be Your Best Investment (McGraw-Hill).
 
Tom was president of the Santa Clara University Class of 1972. He and his wife, Dr. Jodi Kelly, an associate dean and professor at Seattle University, have four children and live on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
 
M itch Creekmore is senior vice president and director of international business development for Stewart International, a world leader in title insurance and other real estate information services. He joined Stewart Title Guaranty Company in 1994 and has been responsible for the development of the company’s marketing strategy with implementation of the business plan for Stewart-Mexico. His primary effort has been to enlighten the international legal and real estate community about the availability and benefit of title insurance. He has been a licensed real estate broker for more than 20 years.
 
In 2003, he was appointed by Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as co-chairman of the Real Estate Task Force on Mexico in participation with the Arizona-Mexico Commission. He gained approval from the State Bar of Texas and the Texas Real Estate Commission, as well as the Arizona Department of Real Estate and the California Department of Real Estate, to provide a mandatory continuing education course for attorneys and real estate agents entitled “Acquiring Property South of the Border.” He has authored numerous articles on real estate conveyance, foreign ownership requirements (including land title matters) subdivision development procedures, escrow and tax considerations.
 
Mitch graduated from Louisiana State University in 1976. He has served as a captain on the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo’s International Committee, on the board of directors of the Houston Racquet Club and as an officer of Stewart Title Guaranty Company. He is a licensed private airplane pilot. Mitch has four children and lives in Houston.
 
J eff Hornberger is the National Association of Realtors’ International Market Development Manager, with a specific focus on Latin American and European markets.
 
Prior to joining NAR, Jeff worked for a United Kingdom-based global manufacturer where he was responsible for developing distribution channels throughout Latin America and creating/implementing individual country marketing plans. Jeff holds a M.S. in Business Management from United States International University in San Diego, and B.A.s in Economics, Latin America Area Studies and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin.
 
Jeff has lived in Argentina, Spain, and Mexico and is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish. Based at NAR’s Chicago headquarters, Jeff is responsible for managing NAR’s programming in Latin America and Europe. He directs new international market opportunities for members as well as other business development projects, including a focus on the international second homes market.
 
Jeff has visited Central America dozens of times and is quoted in numerous publications about Central America real estate issues, including The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and Business Week . He has invested in real estate in Central America (Panama) and resides in Chicago with his wife, Paulina, and two daughters, Julia and Megan.
 
Acknowledgements
T his book is dedicated to my six siblings — Mike, Bill, Pat, Kate, Maureen and John — for decades of insights, laughs and genuine support. I could not have asked for better young-life housemates and true friends. All of them have made the world a better place.
 
My genuine thanks to all the Realtors, developers, mortgage lenders and many individuals from tax and accounting, printing, editing and distributing who have aided me for years in my newspaper writing and radio work, and who also provided creative insights and useful information for this book. I have called upon them often and their patience, interest and kindness have been extraordinary. Leading this list are Linda Owens, CJ Yeoman, Heidi Henning, Tami Dever, Erin Stark, Monica Thomas, Laura Shelley, Dennis Dahlin, Joanne Elizabeth Kelly, Rob Keasal, John Tuccillo, Omar Ayales and Kevin Hawkins. I also am grateful to the numerous second home buyers and renters for sharing their stories.
 
— Tom Kelly
 
I would like to thank my associates at Stewart Title Latin America for their kind contributions to this book: Lic. Carlos Gonzalez, Lic. Orlando Lopez and Christopher Hill. Thanks also to Mike Skalka, chairman and chief executive of Stewart International; and Rebecca Rice, counsel, and Julie Kleine, vice president, and Mandy Johnson, copy writer, for their continued support and assistance in our efforts.
 
A special thanks to Margo Taylor, our kids Megan and Ashton; and the rest of my children, Courtney, April and Tanner. I also wish to thank my wonderful mother, Leslie, and my siblings, Gary, Denise and Kevin, and family members, Candy and Ric. They’re great fun and provide tremendous encouragement. I’m thankful to have them all.
 
— Mitch Creekmore
 
T hanks to all the volunteer leaders of the National Association of Realtors in Central America, including Jorge Cantero, Deborah Valledor and Carlos Fuentes for bringing things to the next level in the region. Also, special thanks to Lucia Sacasa for the help in Nicaragua; Patrick Crowley for the input on Honduras; Sara Siegel for the assistance with Guatemala; Linda Gray and Mercedes Castro for Costa Rica, and Luis Dominguez for El Salvador. I also wish to thank leaders of the Panama Real Estate Association, Prima Panama, and especially Jose Boyd for showing me Panama. A special thanks to Gail Geerling, Jocelyn Carnegie, Grupo del Sol and Frontier Property Group for their efforts in bringing knowledge of the emerging Nicaragua real estate market to this book.
Finally, thanks to my family, Paulina, Julia and Megan, for their support in my endeavors and their patience while I was away on so many trips.
 
— Jeff Hornberger
 
I N T R O D U C T I O N

Why Central America?
Boomers seek adventure … and a place in the sun

I an Richardson, a southern California mortgage broker, was burned out. It was time for more than a vacation – it was time for a full-scale review of how, and where, he spent his time.
 
“I stood on a piece of property in Malibu that was absolutely gorgeous,’’ said Richardson, 52, a husband and father of two teenage girls. “I thought that maybe