Verdant green tropical forest sweeps down to golden-sand beaches washed by the rich blue Pacific. It’s some of the most outstanding coast I’ve ever seen. This stretch of northwest Costa Rica—Peninsula Papagayo—is a chic, up-market destination where the jet-set goes to stay in world-famous resorts and multi-million-dollar houses. It wasn’t always so. Forty years ago, this was a hard-to-reach farming region.

But Peninsula Papagayo was in the path of progress. Costa Rica’s government had a vision: To make this little country a major force in resort and residential tourism. It planned a new international airport in Liberia and road infrastructure to make the coast accessible.

Further road improvements and more local flights saw tourist numbers rise steadily. Then something big happened…

The developers of Peninsula Papagayo clubbed together with two other residential developers in the area and put up a $3 million fund to persuade Delta to start a regular service from the U.S. to Liberia Airport in 2002. They figured that without direct flights, they wouldn’t get the number and caliber of guests to justify luxury resort hotels, luxury residences and luxury price tags. Direct flights came. The rest is history.

Today, it’s more Four Seasons than backpacker and with a price tag to match. A one twelfth share of a three-bed villa in Peninsula Papagayo will set you back $225,000. Half-acre upocean-view lots can fetch $600,000.

The lesson is clear. Anything that improves the accessibility of a piece of real estate increases its value. Infrastructure like roads, bridges, airports, air and rail routes. And anything that improves amenities in an area will have the same affect, too. This is the path of progress. Get ahead of it and you stand to make a lot of money.

To profit from the path of progress you need:

Vision: You need to be able to detach yourself from what the area currently looks like and visualize what it could be with the delivery of new infrastructure and amenities. Picture what a swampy spit of land could look like if the plan to improve it comes off.

Credible research: To profit from the path of progress, you need to make sure the funds are in place to pay for the new infrastructure and that the country or region has the capacity to deliver it. And you need to be able to stay the trade.

By that I mean you need to be willing to sit on your investment for the medium term. Infrastructure projects take time…particularly if you are looking at a less-developed country. Take a conservative time line for exit…double it…and if you’re not happy, walk away.

You’ve heard of Cancún, Mexico? Once it was a small, swampy piece of land in an isolated part of the Mexican Caribbean. Folks thought it was good for nothing. But that was before the path of progress turned Cancún into one of the world’s largest resorts. Today Cancún Airport welcomes hundreds of international flights each week. Visitors and workers need somewhere to stay and eat.

That demand has sent real estate values soaring. Cancún became maxed out. But the development plan extended down the coast to Playa del Carmen. The government built new roads in that direction. Developers planned major projects. Today a modern highway brings you right to Playa. Back before the road was in, $10,000 bought you a building plot in the unpaved village center. Today, a 1,000-squarefoot oceanfront condo in Playa del Carmen can set you back $600,000.

Mexico’s Caribbean coast had the basics going for it, including the intrinsic value of being a Caribbean coastline with a huge potential market on its doorstep in the U.S.—only two hours away.

The government’s tourism-development agency, FONATUR, had the capacity to make good on its promises to deliver infrastructure and accessibility. And it offered effective tax incentives to attract major international hotel groups. Bottom line: These guys had not just vision, but also the ability to actually make that vision a reality. In other words, their promises were credible for investors.

Today, we see development moving even farther down the coast to Tulúm. The best beaches in Mexico are here and the “machine” of Mexico’s tourism development has targeted this little town as its next success story. Tulúm is slated to get a new international airport and development here will be even more upmarket than in Cancún or Playa.

There is a good chance that history will repeat itself here. One way to get ahead of this path of progress is to consider the five-star Gran Bahia Príncipe Resort close to Tulúm. Condos start at $154,000 today. To find out more, e-mail: donna@mexicoalive.com.

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Where Progress is Coming to Ecuador
The stretch of Ecuador’s north Pacific coast between Canoa and the area just south of Pedernales is that country’s finest. But getting here to enjoy the lush jungle-covered hills and empty beaches hasn’t been easy. In the past, you had two options: a seven-hour drive from Quito…or a short domestic flight from Quito to the city of Manta, followed by a drive up the coast. But you could never tell how long the drive from Manta would take. You had to get across the bay between Bahía de Caraquez and San Vicente by ferry as there was no bridge. But the bridge across the bay has been officially opened.

It cuts out the need for car ferries…meaning you won’t face any delays driving up the coast from Manta. Work is also progressing on the highway upgrades between San Vicente and Pedernales. Only short stretches remain incomplete.

These upgrades are part of a government plan to make the entire Ecuadorian coast drivable. This modern highway has already made a huge difference in driving times and comfort along the coast.

The new coastal road from Quito to Pedernales is complete. This new infrastructure cuts the drive time from Quito to Pedernales in half, to three-and-a-half hours. It means that more of Quito’s residents—and foreign tourists—can come here for vacations.

Four miles from Jama along a new road you’llfind the fishing and beach village of El Matal.

Other than friends and colleagues, I have never seen a foreigner or tourist on the beach. Here you will find the gated community of Coco Beach Village. Instead of a big boardwalk separating the homes from the beach, you can step out your front door and wiggle your toes in the sand. Yet even in a high-end project like this you can buy a beach house for just over $110,000. To find out more, e-mail: cocobeachlarry@yahoo.com.

Costa Rica: This “Trigger Event” Could Bump Prices Up Soon

Costa Rica’s Southern Zone is the Pacific-coast area that runs south of Quepos to the border with Panama. Landscapes in the Southern Zone are dramatic—panoramic ocean views… lush tropical rainforest…and sheer jungle clad slopes, rising sharply away from pristine stretches of sandy beach. Real estate prices stayed low here because this area was difficult to get to. In some cases, you’ll pay a sixth—or less—of what you could pay up north.

However, the Costanera (coastal) Highway officially opened in 2010—more than 30 years after the project was first proposed. Costa Rica’s Southern Zone is now accessible.

Pacific Lots is the finest project in the area— firmly in the path of progress—yet today $40,000 still buys you a quarter-acre home site. Compare this with comparable land in Northern Costa Rica, where you’ll find that a half-acre ocean-view lot could set you back up to $600,000. To find out more, e-mail: pathfinder@pacificlots.com.

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Stay Ahead of the Path of Progress

Ronan McMahon is the Executive Director of Pathfinder (International Living’s preferred real estate advertiser), which focuses on opportunity for gains in strategic pockets around the world—before most folks have even heard of them. To find out more, see: Intliving.com/RETA.

Editor’s Note: This article was taken from a past issue of International Living’s monthly magazine. To get full access to all past and future articles and to receive the magazine in the mail or online each month, you can subscribe here.

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