Trujillo, who owns Trujillo Paint Services, bought a lot and a half. So did one of his brothers living in Maryland. To buy the land, both borrowed money from Riverside's owner, Constructora Universal, at a 12.5 percent interest rate.
They agreed to pay about $1,000 for the down payment and minimum monthly payments of about $400. Most of the buyers have incomes of more than $3,000 a month, Tusell said. Trujillo said he paid off his first lot early by using a portion of his savings. He plans to begin building his home here in a couple of years.
Parque Residencial Riverside in San Miguel, El Salvador, features American-style amenities such as barbecue grills.
(Lissette Monterrosa For The Washington Post)
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Metro Business: Coverage of Washington area businesses and the local economy.
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A Fledgling Market
At the end of the civil war in El Salvador in 1992, property was almost worthless, said Jorge Hurtado, a director in the Miami office of international real estate company CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.
Prices began to rise as the fighting stopped and, over the past 10 years, land values have more than tripled, real estate agents said. But home prices here are still much lower than they are in the United States. Prices vary widely. A two-bedroom home outside of the capital city can cost $20,000 or less. But a home with five bedrooms in downtown San Salvador can cost about $200,000. Interest rates can be high because American banks don't lend money for such mortgages and interest rates in El Salvador are typically a few points higher than those in the United States.
Medina, who travels to El Salvador a few times a year, met Tusell at a fundraiser for earthquake victims here. But for those who don't have agents they know, buying can be risky. Real estate agents are not licensed in El Salvador, and few laws protect buyers.
Since the late 1990s, some unscrupulous real estate agents from El Salvador have come to U.S. cities selling nonexistent projects, according to Marida B. de Alfaro, head of the Salvadoran Realtors Association in San Salvador. Other brokers have sold land with liens or taken a buyer's down payment without handing over the deed, she said.
Alfaro said victims often have little recourse because the foreign real estate agents are not licensed in the United States and they can easily disappear in El Salvador.
The four-year-old Salvadoran Realtors Association is working on a plan to regulate the industry by creating an official Realtor's license and curriculum. The group is currently meeting with other real estate organizations in Central America to create a uniform plan. Alfaro suggests buyers contact her association for help finding a reputable agent or visit the property themselves.
Under Construction
Tusell has personally shown off Riverside to many buyers, something she loves doing. One Saturday this summer, Tusell zipped through the development in her silver BMW, passing the handful of homes already built and the lots owned by Medina and Trujillo.
She pointed out the community amenities to a visitor.
"Tan linda, ves!" (It's so lovely, you see!)
She stopped by a house under construction to look in on the property. Inside sat wooden furniture still wrapped in plastic and new appliances that had been shipped from the United States. Fans and an air conditioning unit had been installed to cope with the year-round tropical climate.
Outside, a contractor was cutting a brown Mexican-style tile that he planned to lay inside the four-bedroom brick house.
"Going to work in the United States makes it possible to live in a house like this," said the contractor, Miguel Angel Joya, as he stooped over the tile.
The owners of the house, he said, live in Maryland.
