Why You’ll Never Find an Investment Like This in the United States

Did you know that Emerging Terrains specializes in one of the most exclusive real estate investments in the world—investments that are actually impossible to do in America?

It’s true. Let me explain by telling you a little story.

A Short Guide to America’s First (and Perhaps Most Dangerous) Expedition

When Thomas Jefferson dispatched Lewis and Clark in 1803 to find a water route across America and explore the uncharted West, he expected they’d encounter woolly mammoths, erupting volcanoes and a mountain of pure salt.

We know from history that’s not what they found. But their journey was no less dangerous.
In fact the small expedition party sailing up the Missouri River in a 55-foot keel boat and 2 smaller piraguas…

• Tangled with the ferocious Teton Sioux Indians…
• Waited out winter in the bitter cold of North Dakota…
• Shot a grizzly that almost ran down and killed Lewis…
• Portaged all their gear 13 miles UP the beautiful but brutal Great Montana Falls…
• Nearly starved to death as they crossed the snow-covered Rocky Mountains (the only thing that saved them was eating three of their horses)…

And finally descended the Rockies where they found the Clearwater River, hollowed out 5 dugouts and pushed into the river, a strong current finally at their back.

At near-breakneck speed the men coursed down Clearwater into the Snake River and finally the Columbia. In the middle of November 1805 the party reached the Pacific Coast and in his journal Clark wrote, “Ocean in view! O! the joy.”

Why I’m Telling You This

The reason I share this story with you is that the Lewis and Clark expedition parallels what we do in many ways.

See, we explore raw and remote territory. We comb the shores of a remote island or climb over steep hills dense with palm trees…

Looking for that virgin property. Just like Lewis and Clark did.

As you can probably guess, we don’t do this in the United States. We do it somewhere else.

And about three years ago we did it and came across a ridiculously valuable piece of property that made our investors lots of money.

And we’re about to do it again. But there’s a hitch.

This is not a first come first serve opportunity. We’re pretty particular when it comes to choosing investors.

So consider this an invitation to learn more about us. Hopefully we can learn more about you. And then maybe we can decide if we should partner.

So why don’t I tell you my story now.

My Love Affair Outside of America

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved real estate. I loved buying and selling it. But there was always something that irritated me about doing it in America.

Maybe it was my love affair with Costa Rica.

See, as an 18-year-old young man I started flying down to Costa Rica to surf, travel and explore. I loved it so much I eventually bought a farm, and for the next ten years I flew down to do what I loved: surf, explore and travel.

When I wasn’t in Costa Rica I bought and sold real estate in California, Phoenix and finally Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was pretty successful. But something wasn’t right.

I was restless.

I eventually met a real estate investor who invited me to partner with his company. At the time, the opportunity sounded good and I was ready for a change, so I joined.

This is where I met Park, my partner.

Cramming a Lifetime of Real Estate Experience into 3 Years

Park came from an entrepreneurial family, so no surprise he owned a business before and during college. He graduated as engineer and worked for a short while before he knew he could not do the cubicle thing.
Like me, Park turned to real estate.

He worked hard, turning over every stone he could to find that satisfying gig—renting, leasing, rehabbing and building. In just a few short years, he closed over 200 transactions, cramming in more experience than most investors get in a lifetime.

But he never found that ideal gig. However, his experience taught him some tremendous lessons. Lessons that would prove crucial in the future.

For example, he learned that depreciating assets—like single-family houses, apartments and commercial buildings—and the management they involved were absolute headaches.

On the other hand raw land doesn’t deteriorate.

In fact, as time passes and the forest matures, land becomes more beautiful, which increases its value and decreases the risk of owning it, unlike a vacation house that needs a new hot water heater or interior paint job.

Another good lesson he learned was that meticulous due diligence—evaluating all the risks and mitigating those risks—would pay off.

And the best way to mitigate loss? Find undervalued property at rock-bottom prices. Yet, it was near impossible to find that kind of property in the U.S.

Not only was the market glutted with properties, but they were all over priced.

But the upside to working in this cut-throat environment during one of the most competitive and efficient markets in the history of U.S. real estate is that it forced him to refine his skills at finding and closing great deals.

He developed a killer instinct to be successful and he was itching to unleash those instinct and skills in an inefficient, slow market—one where information flows like molasses in January.

He was ready to move on and seek that unfair advantage. So was I.

Starting to Build the Dream Life

I realized only a year into my partnership with the investor that I hated what I was doing. For one thing, I was upset and disillusioned with the company and how things were being run.

But I’m actually surprised I lasted so long. Somehow I had tricked myself into believing that’s what you had to do to be a success. Ever felt that way before?

Frankly, what I wanted to do was surf every morning. AND I wanted to experience the exhilaration of climbing over a hill and discovering a forgotten property during the day.

You can’t really do that in the United States.

But you can do that in Costa Rica. And since I had a farm in Costa Rica I knew that I could have that life. I just needed to build it.

Park and I began to commiserate on the problems with the company—the enormous waste of effort, time and money it took to run the company—and even found ourselves lining up in agreement on particular grievances we aired during board meetings.

We got really close.

We even both realized that our method to buying and selling real estate—a value investor mindset—could work in Central American markets like Costa Rica or Panama.

After hundreds of hours of talking, Park and I knew what we wanted and what we didn’t want.

We didn’t want debt, management or to have to build anything. No material supply chain or unskilled labor headaches.

We just wanted to spend our days looking for property at rock-bottom prices with great value and tremendous return.

It was the beginning of a great partnership. And one of the most successful real estate investments we’ve ever done.

Crawling Through Nicaragua

I eventually convinced my partner and Park to visit Costa Rica to find under-valued property in Latin America. Just like Lewis and Clark, we were about to go on our own expedition.

Starting at the top of Nicaragua, we drove down the Pacific Coast, combing our way through every nook and cranny.

Unfortunately, we didn’t find the best deals we were looking for. We searched through Costa Rica but realized quickly that the same was true there, too.

Our partner headed back to the States. Park and I remained, in love with what we were doing. We even moved our families down to Costa Rica.

About this time I ran into a friend who invited us to see some property in Panama…and that’s when the light bulb went off for us…

Panama was ripe with property at rock-bottom prices. And what we got in exchange was unbelievable.

Snapping Up Paradise at Rock-Bottom Prices

What made Panama so incredibly valuable was that it wasn’t a tourist destination like other Central America countries…

But it was making a heavy push to become one.

What that meant was if we could get our hands on raw land at the best price in a remote area that the government planned on developing in the future—we could make a good amount of money.

For the next month Park and I rented a room at Hotel Alcala for $33 a night in David, Panama…

And all we did for that entire month was talk to lawyers, real estate brokers and developers—anybody in the real estate business who actually had skin in the game.

Then we would visit properties. Some days we’d just visit one property. Other days we would visit fifteen.

We uncovered hundreds of opportunities—but disqualified all of them. You’re probably thinking, “That’s a lot of properties to turn down. Are these guys impossible to please?”

There’s something you should probably know about us.

How We Reduce Investment Risk

Here’s the deal: Park and I get more satisfaction out of finding property at a great price that has tremendous upside. The lower the risk, the happier we are.

On the other hand, we find it excruciatingly painful NOT to get the best value for our money.
That’s the reason we scouted out 15 hotels in David before landing at Alcala. It represented the best value in the city.

That best-value mentality even runs through our lives. If you look at the houses we live in, the cars we drive and the groceries we buy—everything is chosen because they represent the best value.

Bottom line: we refuse to take the first offer. And we will look until we are satisfied.

Because we were patient and looked at over hundreds of places, we eventually found it: that raw, beautiful beachfront property in a remote area where the government planned on building a road.

Why These Investments Are Not for Everyone

Our partner returned for a second trip to scout out this new property with us. We picked him up at the airport and drove him to the hotel.

We then visited some properties around the hotel to give him a feel for what was happening in the country.

Next we boarded a boat to ride out to a property. During that ride our partner said to Josh, “I know you say development is happening, that things are starting to move, but where are the new Targets and Starbucks?”

It was at that moment we knew we could never work with him. He did not have the same mindset we had.

We eventually snapped up that property and waited for the road to come. When it did, the lots sold out at a break-neck speed.

That project was Playa Burica.

The Unfortunate, Bad News

And it’s exactly that kind of discovery and experience that I was so desperately missing in the United States. It gave me the feeling of being alive…probably just like the newness of the unexplored West energized Lewis and Clark.

And that’s the kind of investment and lifestyle that awaits you.

Here’s the deal: it’s been nearly 4 years since Playa Burica. During that time we’ve been meticulously scouting for our next project, looking at over 1,000 properties in the last four years. We turned them all down.

That’s how rigid our due diligence is.

But we finally came across one that we believe is a dead ringer for a screaming good value. And so now we are looking for investors.

Those investors, however, will have to go through the same rigid due diligence we put property through. Why? We want to ensure that this investment is sound and successful for all parties involved.

As the Starbucks story above demonstrated, not everyone is a match for these types of investments.

But if you think you might be a fit and want to learn more, give me a call at 888-436-7198. We can talk about this opportunity and discuss next steps.

If not, feel free to wait for the next email.

In that email I’ll tell you about something that makes investing with us in raw land in Central America the smartest investment you’ll ever make.

Until then, I’m heading out to look at properties,

Josh Linnes
Co-Founder
Emerging Terrains
888-436-7198

P.S. By the way, check out our bios if you want to learn more about us: Josh Linnes and Park Wilson.

P.P.S. At almost every turn, Lewis and Clark faced death during their expedition. Fortunately, we never even came close when we were looking for Playa Burica. Unless you want to count the time that we nearly drank ourselves to death when a native invited us for whiskey, wine and red snapper. But that’s another story for another time.