Property Auctions Go Internet

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Banco Nacional in conjunction with the National Real Estate Chamber, is auctioning off 70 repossessed properties on the Web. For now only the bank is participating in this sale but in the future it will be open for individuals, says Chamber president Aleyda Bonilla.

Prospective buyers here and abroad can send an offer by accessing www.subasta-cccbr.com The auction includes houses, lots, condos, apartments, farms and developments.

Bonilla says that once a buyer places a winning bid, he is notified and must fork over a down payment of from 10% to 50% of the bid. He then has 72 hours to come up with the remainder.

Bidding deadline is Sept. 22 between 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The majority of the properties are luxury homes in Guanacaste and Puntarenas province and condos in the Central Valley.

Local real estate was hit hard by the popping of the U.S. housing bubble. Many retirees dreamed of selling their homes in the United State and buying homes on the beach here. Then, their own U.S. homes crashed in value in 2008 and, even if they could have found a buyers, would not have offset the purchase here.

Others, mostly local people, built luxury homes, not for themselves, but for sale to foreign buyers. Many of those homes, financed by local public and private banks, are now either incomplete or foreclosed. The Pacific coastal land rush is over but smart buyers can find real bargains.