As many of us in the luxury real estate industry watch with horror and sadness as the oil spill in the gulf continues to grow in terms of its scope and impact, I began to reflect on the ramifications this has and will continue to have on some of the most prominent coastal properties in the USA.

The beauty of the beaches, boating and fishing opportunities that have become synonymous with the lifestyle for many Gulf Coast States are certainly going to be enduring one of the most traumatic natural disasters in the history of the region.  Unlike the hurricanes and seasonal storms which the area is somewhat accustomed to enduring and rebuilding from, this oil spill will more than likely leave a long lasting scar on many of the core elements and draws of this spectacular region.  The impact of this can't be underestimated as one of the most popular vacation and retirement regions in the USA works to measure the short and long term ramifications of this tremendous tragedy.

After a wonderful weekend at the Spring Retreat in South Beach, I took some time to think about all of the amazing networking, topics of conversation and the feedback from all of you, my colleagues. 

Clearly, an underlying theme in this weekend's conference and the market in general, is the effect that technology has in today's real estate marketplace. We all heard over and over again "print is dead," "we are done with magazines," you need to integrate social media, "are you active in your blog, how often are you on facebook, are you on Twitter, and of course, the importance of integrating the new gadgets like the IPAD to make ourselves more efficient.

2Costa Rica Real Estate will be opening our third office in Costa Rica, in Jaco Beach on May 15th.

This expands our presence to a total of 3 offices:

San Jose, Costa Rica covering both commercial and residential real estate in the Central Valley

Manuel Antonio, Central Pacific Coast

After what was certainly a less than stellar year on the coast in Costa Rica, sales volume and demand is starting to heat back up once again on the coast of Costa Rica. The inauguration of a a 30 yr old promise which would shorten the drive time to the central pacific coast is finally a reality.

Approximately 2 months ago, thousands watched in awe as the 30 yr promise had become the internal joke of all brokers, businessman and tourists alike. Now that this is a reality, the world class Los Suenos Resort is just 50 minutes away; the quintessential Costa Rican getaway, Manuel Antonio, with its National park and jaw dropping rain forest back drop is now under 2 hours from the international airport.

We are currently evaluating which lead management system to integrate, as we are truly lacking in this area. Our site is driven by a database management system, Point2Agent, but the tools for client management are too stringent for our needs. Anyone have any recommendations?