About Allen

Allen has resided in Costa Rica since 2004. He became a dual US/Costa Rica citizen in 2022.

Costa Rica Experience:

Owner/Broker of an Independent real estate service based in Flamingo, Costa Rica, and providing international marketing for selected Costa Rica properties.

2020-2021, Managing Broker, Flamingo, Costa Rica offering real estate services between Tamarindo and Playas del Coco.

Costa Rica Global Association of REALTORS 2011-2021, President of this NAR-Affiliated association of real estate professionals for 10 years, that will soon offer a true, US-modelled Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in Costa Rica and has sponsored a CIPS Institute (NAR Designation of Certified International Property Specialist) in Costa Rica for 10 of the past 12 years.

2018-2021, Director of Marketing, responsible for the market integration and growth of a mortgage program, based on US lending standards, which is available to US citizen borrowers invested or investing in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica Real Estate Alliance 2017-2021, One of 2 professional association Chief Executives in Costa Rica, organizing to unite all national realtors for common training, regulation, and other benefits. Example benefit for all Costa Rica realtors is the ability to work with Lending to promote their sales activity, which also qualifies for the Redwood Loan Program in the country.

CILA Confederacion Inmobiliaria Latin America 2017-2021, CRGAR Delegate to this association of Latin American realtor associations representing over 400,000 realtors.

AREAA Asian Real Estate Association of America Ongoing - Sole Costa Rica Member of this association of 19,000 professionals in Pacific Rim countries.

LGBTQ+ REA 2022-Present First Member Outside North America of this 2700+member advocacy group pushing for fair housing practices, the elimination of all discriminatory practices in the real estate industry, and actively promoting networking opportunities among LGBTQ+ real estate professionals.

Flamingo Association (ADI) Ongoing, Board Fiscal (Controller) of community organization promoting beautification, security, environmental awareness, and beach amenity to encourage tourism. Also, working to support the successful development of the new Flamingo Marina, underdevelopment in the ocean near the community.

Pacific Heights Association 2020-2021 Board President of community organization promoting and managing development of one of the premier, ocean view, mountain developments in the Flamingo area. .

2014-2020 - Founder and former Operating Principal of the Master Franchise team growing the a Franchise Network across Costa Rica.

KW Costa Rica Beach Properties 2014-2020 Partner and Agent on the team of real estate professionals offering services in the franchise territory from Playa Negra and Tamarindo to Flamingo and Las Catalinas.

Past US Experience:

Los Angeles County Facilities Department !974-1977 Section Head, Facility Evaluation and Inventory

Bobrow, Thomas and Associates (Los Angeles), Executive Vice President, Healthcare service and Facility Master Planning and Architecture 1977-1983

American Health Capital (New York), Partner, Bond Insurance Program for hospital capital projects 1984

Special Interests and Appearances:

Allen also works to promote the responsible growth of Costa Rica by serving on various other association boards for management of water resources and mountain development.

Since 2015, Allen has been a panel member representing Costa Rica in webinars focusing on international development, financing for foreign investors, and real estate trends, for the public and members of the Orange County (CA) Association of REALTORS, San Diego (CA) Association of REALTORS, a single event for various realtor associations in Los Angeles County (CA), and for followers of the REALTORS Without Borders group.

In recent years, Allen has been a featured presenter at International Real Estate Congresses in Miami and San Diego, at the Global Theatre in the NAR National Convention, at the Global Forum of the Annual Convention of the Florida Realtors Association, and for educational sessions sponsored by Arcadia Association of Realtors and South Bay Realtors - both near Los Angeles, California, the Lewisville, Texas, Realtor Association, the Pinellas Realtor Organization for the area including St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Florida, and the Global Business program in Chicago, presented by the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA). He presented Costa Rica Real Estate, Realtors, and Referrals and Costa Rica Global Investment Oasis to encourage investment interest and networking with its real estate professionals.

Allen began building his expertise from his education in architecture (Bachelor of Architecture at Carnegie-Mellon, and Master of Architecture at UCLA - specializing in computer-aided design and health facility design), which was followed by business (Master of Business Administration at UCLA, Anderson School - specializing in computers and information systems).

Allen also had a career sequence which included: 1) Creating and managing 54-person team within Los Angeles County government that was responsible for bringing coordinated management to an inventory of 4000 county facilities encompassing 32 million square feet of space, 2) Managing the rapid growth of a small design firm into a 120-person master planning and architectural firm, and its real estate development subsidiary; both specializing in regional health services, 3) Being a partner in a bond insurance firm specializing in large capital projects for healthcare institutions, and 4) Leading his own interior design/construction consulting company in New York City and Chicago.