The most appropriate way to begin down this road for my personal blogging adventures is to 1) share Who I Am and 2) summarize the highlights of what we saw in 2013. Lets not waste space or time…..
Who is John Wieland, a.k.a. “Jdub”?
My corporate past was fun and fulfilling in both Chicago and Southern California, but I left that back in 2002 to pursue international adventures. Having done well in apartments as a hobby, investment provided me with a solid backdrop to what lay ahead for me in Costa Rica. After arriving here in 2003, becoming partner in Coldwell Banker Vesta Group in 2004, partner in Coldwell Banker Costa Rica Master Franchise in 2005 and President of Coldwell Banker Costa Rica in 2010… I have front row center seats in Costa Rica and speak from an advantaged and well-informed perspective.
As for Jdub, I am a happy husband and have been married to my amazingly beautiful, fabulously talented and caring wife for eleven years. We enjoyed the birth of our daughter in 2006 and now we entertain ourselves with: Surf, SUP, Martial Arts, Guitar, Violin, horses, golf, more golf and epicurean delights. Oh, and we cannot forget the wine!
Now you know me. I look forward to getting to know you...
What about the Real Estate Market here in 2013?
Bam! It is back! But this time the story is clearly different from yester-year…What was once a land-grab has turned into a residential oasis. There is ample room to build homes with a wide variety of characteristics and sizes, ocean or non-ocean views, river frontage and more. So 2013 was the year of construction.
55% of our sales were residential, 30% were general land/lots, 10% were hotels, and 5% were large fincas/farms. And yes, we do have data from which we pull accurate statistics so that our customers can get a handle on the market and become well-educated.
In years after the global financial crisis we saw a surge in buyers from Canada and at one point in 2010, Canadians made up 65% of our customers. As the US economy has since stabilized, more and more (young) Americans from the are returning to buy, evidenced by the US buyers representing 60%, Canadians now are 30% and 10% is the “other” category. One of the interesting stats belonging to the other 10%, is that much of that is made of local Costa Ricans from the city finally discovering the Dominical area and finding its value. We expect these figures to remain in tact as we head into 2014. I will always seek to provide you the best data and never seek to baffle you with BS. That is just not my style.
I have been told to keep my Blogs to 400 words – fine! Now and then I will embark on a topic that is much more educational or perhaps “taboo” within our industry that will go much longer. Regardless, it will be my intention to educate, inform and entertain you along the way
I am glad that you met me, Jdub. The relationship we will build over time will be fun, productive and surely life-lasting...