I arrived in Costa Rica at the ripe old midlife age of 40 (now pushing 66).Looking back now, after more than two decades here, I thought I’d share a few reflections for those of you considering a similar transition later in life.Looking for Love? Be Careful.First… if you’re a middle-aged man coming to Costa Rica looking for love, be careful.I say that without judgment and from...
If you spend enough time researching Costa Rica real estate or relocation, you’ll eventually start hearing a confusing stream of acronyms and government entities thrown around in conversations:INVUSINACMINAESETENACFIAHaciendaRegistro NacionalCatastro NacionalSNITMuniFor many buyers and expats, it can start to feel like alphabet soup.The good news?You do not need to become an ex...
One thing I hear all the time from buyers in Costa Rica is this:“We’ll never sell this place.”And every time I hear it, I think the same thing:Never say never.Because after living here for many years and working with countless buyers in the Costa Rica Southern Zone, I can tell you something with certainty:A surprising number of people who swore they’d never sell eventually call...
One of the questions I get asked constantly by foreign buyers considering a move to Costa Rica is:“How high are the property taxes?”The answer usually comes as a pleasant surprise.Compared to the United States, Canada, and many parts of Europe, property taxes in Costa Rica are generally very low. In fact, many buyers are shocked by how inexpensive annual carrying costs can be —...
For years, many buyers coming to Costa Rica assumed that purchasing land and building a custom home was automatically the smarter financial decision.And in some cases, it still is.But today’s market is different than it was five or ten years ago.Construction costs have risen substantially in recent years due to increases in labor, materials, transportation, and permitting expen...
For decades, most long-term expats in Costa Rica got used to thinking about the exchange rate in one direction only: the colón slowly losing value against the U.S. dollar.That was simply the reality for many years. If you earned dollars and lived in Costa Rica, things generally got cheaper over time from your perspective.But over the past few years, something unusual has happen...
If you spend any amount of time researching Costa Rica, eventually you’ll run into endless articles about residency.Most of them dive deep into legal procedures, document requirements, and bureaucratic details.But before you get lost in all of that, there are really just a handful of practical questions most people actually care about.Questions like:Do I need residency to buy p...
Most people come to Costa Rica the same way.They take a vacation.They fall in love.And then they start thinking…“Could I actually live here?”That’s where things start to go sideways.The Biggest Mistake People MakeThey treat a vacation like research.They stay in one area. Maybe two.They get a feel for the place… and assume that’s what Costa Rica is.It’s not.Costa Rica is a count...
Most foreign buyers don’t randomly land on Costa Rica. They visit first. They fall in love. Then they start looking at property — and almost always in the same coastal areas where they spent their vacation.That’s where the demand concentrates. And that’s exactly why prices have moved the way they have.What $500K Used to BuyTen years ago, a half-million dollars could get you an...
One of the most common reactions I see when a property hits the market in Costa Rica is immediate judgment on price. “Overpriced!” “Too expensive!” “No way it’s worth that!” The reality is, most of these reactions are based on gut feeling—not actual analysis. If you’re serious about buying property here, there are three practical ways to evaluate whether an asking price is j...
This is a companion piece to earlier thoughts on expat life here in Costa Rica, and one topic that always comes up—learning Spanish. I’ve been here over 26 years. I’m still learning. That alone should tell you something. Now, I do have one unfair advantage—I’m married to a non-English speaker. That definitely accelerates things. I’m not...
Have you ever asked yourself, what actually causes the dry and wet seasons in Costa Rica? I know I have...This post is a companion piece to my earlier post on Costa Rica weather myths (I’ll link that here), where I break down some of the common misconceptions about climate in this country. If you’ve spent any time in Costa Rica—especially here in the Southern...
If you spend any time researching Costa Rica—or talking to agents, expats, or folks online—you’ll start hearing a lot of “common knowledge” about the climate. The problem is, a good chunk of it just isn’t true. Let’s clear up a few of the biggest myths, especially if you’re thinking about buying property here. Myth #1: &ldquo...
I had one of those “only in Costa Rica” moments the other day—and it turned into a perfect real-world reminder of something I talk about all the time with buyers. The difference between living in the mountains and living at the beach. It started on a rough dirt road. The kind we all drive regularly up here in the Pérez Zeledón mountains—r...
Luxury real estate auctions are still relatively new to Costa Rica, and because of that, they’re often misunderstood. When most buyers hear “auction,” they think distressed sale or bargain-bin property. That’s not what’s happening here. Companies like Concierge Auctions are bringing a structured, time-defined sales process to high-end properties &...
