Coldwell Banker Beach Properties of Costa Rica

With over ten years of experience in the area, Coldwell Banker Beach Properties (CBBP) of Costa Rica has a lot to offer anyone looking for homes and land in Costa Rica. However, before Hat Trick's involvement, the multi-national real estate agency had no internet presence to speak of, and needed an attractive, informative site to help expand their business opportunities.

Challenge

Terry and Pamela Wright, the brokers of record for CBBP, are experts in the area of Costa Rican real estate, both in terms of knowledge of the landscape and knowledge of the legal processes. They are the perfect match for the growing number of Americans looking to buy land in Costa Rica, as they have the experience to help their customers find the best deals in an unknown environment.  The Wrights needed, though, a way to connect with new buyers and to present information about Costa Rica to those unfamiliar with the area. Their buyers wanted an accurate means to imagine and comprehend the far-away locations and properties that CBBP offers, and the Wrights wanted an easy way of keeping their property listings both up-to-date and detailed. Furthermore, since CBBP's clients are in the difficult position of making a large purchase in a distant location, it was imperative that the site reflect the professionalism and integrity of CBBP.

Solution

Hat Trick designed the CBBP site from the sandy ground up, using the beautiful landscapes of Costa Rica as the basis in styling and templates.  In this way, Hat Trick ensures that the site reflects the desires and offerings of the client, and serves as an appropriate frame for the content that the client creates.  CBBP supplies and manages all the facts, descriptions, and pictures that customers need with the easy-to-use content management system, so they can be sure the information is current and accurate. With everything from maps to surf conditions to legal documents available on the site, potential buyers can benefit from the experience and know-how of CBBP.

The real trick of BeachPropertiesCostaRica.com, though, is in the property listings. The Wrights needed to present their listings to users in a consistent, attrctive, and searchable way, but the system needed to be simple enough that they could add and remove listings on their own to guard against outdated or uninformative listings. Hat Trick built an interactive property listing module that allowed CBBP to specify everything from acres to amenities with a clear and simple editing interface. Interested buyers can filter by region, price, and property type, and can view multiple images alongside descriptions and specifications.  Furthermore, users can dowload a KML file that integrates with Google Earth to locate and provide details and pictures about all the CBBP properties.

Results

BeachPropertiesCostaRica.com has hit the ground running.  Even early into the release of the site, the Wrights saw the immense benefit of having an internet presence that is both informational and well-designed.  Old clients and new clients alike are impressed by the ease with which they can search for and view properties.  The structural clarity and design integrity of the site, along with the unique hook of the Google Earth integration, makes BeachPropertiesCostaRica.com stand out in the highly competitve field of real estate marketing.