Cacao in Naturewalk

A new crop will be planted out in Naturewalk in the upcoming rainy season. Cacao grows wild in Naturewalk and it has been decided to trial Cacao on a commercial scale in Naturewalk.

The plants in the pictures below were grown in the National Seed Bank in Costa Rica, Catie.

These plants are now en route to the Naturewalk Nurseries.

Naturewalk is a fully masterplanned community in the Central Pacific Region of Costa Rica. Owners in Naturewalk can have a home on a beautiful lot and further benefit from the earnings from high value fully managed crops growing on their land. There are a range of crops available - teak, vanilla, tiquisque, Asian vegetables, ginger, papaya, coffee, cacao, pineapple and more.

To find out more about Naturewalk, visit the website here or give us a call on USA +1-202-697-9284 or Europe +353-1-272-4184

Zika virus in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is currently Zika free and you can see more on the Center for Disease Control Website here:

However, the first case of Zika has just been confirmed in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica has excellent health care and public health control measures, which include mosquito control measures country wide.

However, being surrounded by countries which have Zika it is going to be very difficult to keep the virus at bay. Health experts predict that Zika may spread as far North as Canada, but the mosquitoes will be killed off and limited by cold Winter weather.

Zika is spread by mosquitoes and usually causes symptoms which are less severe than those from similar mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue or chikungunya. But it has recently sparked alarm over the risks of birth defects for infected pregnant women and their babies.

Costa Rica Health Ministry officials on Wednesday announced new steps to boost surveillance at all entry points into the country. These measures include appointing health officials to monitor around the clock all entry points by land, air and sea in order to detect travellers who might have symptoms of the mosquito-borne virus.

You can read more about this in the coverage in the Tico Times here 

Ajuste Perfecto to launch in 2016

Ajuste Perfecto, Costa Rica's first full service MLS (Multiple Listing Service for Real Estate) will launch in the first quarter of 2016.

You can read more and register for priority updates here

Foreclosure Opportunity

FORECLOSURE OPPORTUNITY

An opportunity has arisen for an astute qualified investor to earn a 15% return in 6 months or alternately to gain ownership of a Coffee Farm with three homes for just $500,000. The farm was valued 5 years ago at $1.5 million.

General details of the Farm:

• 30 acres
• 3 new, custom-built homes
• 3 Building lots 
• over 900 meters of public road frontage
• secluded setting
• private river
• panoramic views
• coffee plants
• fruit orchard
• Hardwood trees
• Wild Orchids

This opportunity is only suited to qualified investors with cash available now and there are many ways the deal can be structured.

To find out more e mail info@costaricainvest.ie or call USA +1-202-697-9284 or Europe +353-1-272-4184

Electrical Substation at Naturewalk

The electrical substation close to Naturewalk has made great progress in the past 3 months and it is now almost finished. Pictures below are from September 2015 and some recent pictures from December 2015.

September 2015

September 2015

September 2015

December 2015

December 2015

December 2015

Overdue taxes? - if you're a US Citizen you could lose your Passport!

The US Government has continued it's policy of making it more difficult for its citizens to transfer assets and live abroad with the most recent introduction of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (H.R. 22).

One provision in the FAST act will let the federal government revoke, deny or limit a U.S. citizen's passport if the person owes more than $50,000 in "seriously delinquent tax debt," including penalties and interest. 

The IRS will use a threshold of $50,000 of unpaid federal taxes. But this $50,000 figure includes penalties and interest. And as everyone knows, interest and penalties can add up fast and this $50,000 level could be reached quite quickly.

What has the FAST Act got to do with passports when its focus is the funding of transportation infrastructure. The answer is nothing, except that the measure is estimated to raise nearly $400 million over a decade.

Also it follows the US Governments policy of "hiding" legislation limiting its citizens abilities to live overseas within unconnected legislation. FACTA (The Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act) was hidden within the unrelated HIRE act (Read more about FACTA here, here and here).

It is better for the US Economy if US Citizens keep their assets within the US Economy rather than investing elsewhere around the world. The US Government has implemented a strategy of disincentivizing and frightening citizens from investing, living and owning property outside of the US.

The implementation of the FAST act, which comes into action in January 2016, is another step of this policy.

The likelihood is that the US Government will continue to implement more disincentives, over the coming months and years.

Our advice to US Citizens remains the same - if you are seriously considering a property purchase in  Costa Rica or elsewhere the time to act is now. The longer you wait the more likely it is to be very difficult if not impossible for you to invest in or own property abroad.

Read more about the FAST Act in Forbes here and on CNN here.

Papaya and teak inter-cropped in Naturewalk 3

Below are some pictures of the delicious papaya intercropped with teak in Naturewalk 3, Turrubares, Costa Rica.

Naturewalk is a fully masterplanned development in Turrrubares, in the Central Pacific Region of Costa Rica. Owners can have a beautiful home and can also benefit from crops farmed on their land giving them an income.

To find out more e mail info@costaricainvest.ie or call USA +1-202-697-9284