AS Propiedades, San Jose, Costa Rica
How did you get involved in real estate?
I started because I wanted to be a professional, but I also wanted to be a mother. When I had my first child, I was working at A.C. Nielsen in market research. When I left my job there, I wanted to be sure I could have enough time for my kids. Someone suggested that I do real estate. At the beginning, I thought I had too much knowledge and experience to do only real estate, but I took a course from the Costa Rican Real Estate Association. Awhile later, my mother needed to sell her house, so I put my very first sign there, and that was the first house I sold. Then, I started getting calls from school friends who wanted me to work with them. That’s how I started in the business 14 years ago.
How did you become a CRS?
In Costa Rica, we don’t have real estate law and you don’t have to be licensed. But I always try to be very professional. For that reason, I have been active in our real estate association here. I’ve been on the association board of directors as well as president. I also joined NAR, where I met Fernando García Erviti at an annual convention. About five years ago, when I learned that he was conducting REAP courses (Real Estate Advanced Practices) in Spanish, I decided to take the course, which is required for the CRS Designation. So I went to Miami to take the course and applied for the designation. I also took the Train the Trainers course to become a CRS instructor. Since 2021, I have been an instructor for Central America and the Dominican Republic.
How are you active with RRC?
After offering that course in Miami, it started a big movement in Latin America. We had a lot of people interested in the training because it helps agents. We are the first to become better and improve our businesses. Erviti started to come to Latin America, and due to demand, he has started CRS LatAm. In Latin America, we have different directors in charge of each country. I am from Costa Rica, which is a small country of only 5 million people, so I don’t have just a country, I have a region.
What is the Costa Rican real estate market like?
I was invited to a REALTORS® convention in Miami, and my presentation was built on the idea that Costa Rica is more than beaches. We have commercial real estate, second homes and residential. I work in residential in the central valley in the capital. Our reputation is great for businesses, including many international companies. The economy is good, and we have a stable government with democratic elections and no army. People are looking for that kind of security when they come to Costa Rica to invest.
What do you do to have fun?
I’m an empty nester now. My son, André, is a pilot and lives in Oklahoma, and my daughter, Louisianne, is studying in Netherlands. She always says, “Oh, Mom, you are so boring,” because I love real estate. I love to read real estate books and watch real estate reality shows on TV. Now that I have some free time, I’m putting a lot of energy into RRC because I trust in the CRS training and I believe that we can make a positive impact in the lives of REALTORS® and their businesses. Beyond that, I love to dance to Latin American music. I swim and do Zumba twice a week. And I also love to hike. We have some nice places for hiking, so I try to hike twice a month in the country.
Ana-Seydi Lopez, CRS, achieved the CRS Designation in 2018. She can be reached at as@aspropiedades.com, or +506 8888-6611.
Photo: Carlos Alfonso Quesada Sibaja
