Guys In The Zone: Costa Rica Real Estate

In this episode, we start with a Q&A session and share a few tips for those retiring to the southern Pacific zone of Costa Rica. We also share specific ideas about property features that may not be on a buyer’s radar. Whether you are ready to relocate and retire or, like many of our Canadian clients, simply want a warm and sunny place to escape to when the weather turns cold, this Talk Show provides basic information and (hopefully) stimulates your desire to visit. Pura vida.

The inspiration for this post came from a recent article fed from LinkedIn.  The title was “38% of Homes Purchased in 2011 Bought with Cash.”  I thought to myself, 38%?!  That number seemed high, so I did I little more research.  According to another article in USA Today, that number was as low as 12% just three years ago thus confirming a significant jump in cash purchases. According to the article, investors in the U.S. are keenly tuned into yield or ROI.  That return on investment is realized through improving and flipping properties or some variation of a rental/income strategy.  The latter has become increasingly popular for those foreign retirees and families who are looking to relocate here.

Got Financing?

All of that got me thinking about our Costa Rica real estate market.  Land purchases financed through a Costa Rican bank (at least in The Zone) was virtually unheard of when I started back in 2006. For a variety of reasons, most buyers had cash before the downturn.  Four+ years later, the picture is very clear.  Property values around the world decreased (dramatically in some areas), and buyers couldn’t use the equity in their homes, not to mention the banks tight grip in their purse strings.

Recently (think- the past two years), we’ve seen an increase in the number of buyers who only have a portion of the purchase price.  These new buyers, typically foreign investors, need the seller to carry paper.  For those new to real estate investing, carry paper means the seller is willing to finance part of the purchase price and receive payment (often with interest) over time.  This legal arrangement is completed by a lawyer in the form of a trust or a mortgage here in Costa Rica. If the buyer defaults on the terms of deal (e.g., misses payments), a legal process can be initiated by the seller… just like a bank in a foreclosure process, although quicker. For more information on this topic, check out our article on Seller Financing Opens The Door To Home Buyers.

I don’t have a number, but I’d bet the number of non-Tico bank-financed purchases in the area is less than 1%.  Interest rates on Costa Rican bank loans, when you can get them, are more than double what you currently find in the States.  There are various reasons for it, but I’ll leave that for another article.

The good news is… buyers need financing and some sellers need to sell, so seller financing continues to increase in The Zone.  Some deals don’t even include interest, simple an extended term to complete the sale.  When there is interest and an extended term involved, the number of years almost always tops out at 5 years.  There are real estate transactions taking place in The Zone primarily because (1) land values are now around half of peak values and (2) both parties are getting creative, as described above.

There are a select few (and I mean few) who are flipping houses here in The Zone, however, many investors are looking for income generating properties, both hotels and vacation rentals.  The yield varies greatly, but there is opportunity to make a nice living in the hospitality here in The Zone.

But, What Does All Cash Mean For Buyers?

It means you need to think of Costa Rica, at least for the time being, as a place to land bank or move your cash. There are economies and currency (think- Europe and the Euro) with a cloudy future.  The current wave of concern is so real, we have recently seen an uptick in European investors and relocators contact our office.  Without getting metaphysical, I also wonder how much 2012 is playing into people’s decisions. We call this group “End Of The World Buyers.”  Good and abundant water sources, good environments for growing crops, and pleasant temperatures throughout the year draw these type of buyers to Costa Rica and our area in particular.

Whether this trend continues or declines remains to be seen.  Simple put, Costa Rica, especially the Costa Ballena, is a wonderful place to relocate for both economic and lifestyle reasons.  There are many, happy foreigners living either full time or part time in Costa Rica.  If you are interested in why so many expats are buying and relocating to The Zone, this article Why Buy Property In The Zone offers a few of the top reasons.

Comments and Criticisms of a Wall Street Journal Article

There is a rather interesting article over there on that good ole U. S. icon, The Wall Street Journal. From where I sit, living as an expat in Costa Rica since 1999, I found the article, written by Vicki Berrong, a good read, and the comments at the end quite enjoyable as well. However, as with all things human, the article presents lots of opportunity for criticism and opinion, which I more than happily engage in here.

Perfect Profile of a Costa Rica Real Estate Prospect

How I came to live on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica is a story about early retirement, tight budgets and lots of planning.

Because of being a long time expat, living in Uvita, and working in real estate, I talk almost on a daily basis with such people who want to know how to chart their course so that they can avoid as many rocks below the surface as possible.

I’ve copied some parts of the article here, and I’ll make comments on these points, but I encourage you give it a read in its entirety by clicking here. Even the title I find to be right on the mark: “Best Place to Retire Early” typifies so many folk that we talk with these days.  However, early retirement brings along with it the need to generate a bit of income in your new land of residence, which is a common aspect of our Costa Rica real estate consultations.

My best friend, Carol, and I began thinking seriously about retirement roughly 12 years ago. We knew we wanted to retire early, but we recognized that our small nest eggs (and the fact that Medicare doesn’t kick in until age 65) could make that difficult. Eventually, we concluded that living outside the U.S. would allow us to stretch our dollars and retire on (our) schedule. Thus was born a 10-year plan: five years to pay down as much debt as possible, and five years to find a home overseas.

What Vicki describes here is a perfect profile of visitors to our Uvita real estate office – I’d say realistically we talk with 3 – 5 of such individuals and couples a week. Please keep in mind that we are just now emerging out of rainy season here in Costa Rica which is typically a slower time of year as regards the number of visitors, so this number could easily go up now that we are in a busier time of year.

Besides enjoying reading Vicki’s experience in the article, I really enjoyed the comments that can be seen at the bottom of the article. I’ll address those at the bottom of this article.

How Big is Costa Rica Really?

After a total of seven trips to this small country (about the size of New Hampshire and Vermont combined, with a population of about 4.6 million), we found “home”

OK, so I’ve got a bit of egg on my face. As an authority on the matter of moving to Costa Rica, I have quoted this point VERY differently, and done so numerous times over the years, no doubt to many of the readers of this blog. I haven’t searched it, but I suspect that even in this blog there are examples of my erroneous comparisons of Costa Rica being the same size as Rhode Island or that you can fit six Costa Rica’s into Colorado.

I did some research based on Vicki’s declaration and here’s what I came up with, establishing that Vicki was spot on with her analogy and I was WAY off with my Rhode Island comparison, but somewhat vindicated with the nearness of my Colorado comparison.

• Size of Costa Rica: 19,730 sq. miles
• Size of Vermont: 9,622.8 sq. miles
• Size of New Hampshire: 9,350 sq. miles
• Size of Colorado: 104,185 sq. miles
• Size of Rhode Island: 1,213.9 sq. miles

Costa Rica Prices & Costa Rica Coffee

a cost of living at least 50% lower than in the U.S.—and good coffee

I’m not so sure about this cost of living comment. Maybe when all is said and done, it tallies up to this percentage of difference… maybe.

Us Guys talk all day long with folks who are wanting to relocate to our area. We have a certain amount of obligation to make sure that the old image of Costa Rica, which was certainly accurate at that time, needs to be re-adjusted in the current time that we are living in. Costa Rica is no longer an inexpensive place to live.

I got a kick out of Vicki’s $16.00 per gallon of gas statement – obviously a goof (unless that’s what gas costs in Playa Naranjo.  Frankly, I wouldn’t know). We are running at a little over $5.00, but some of the other costs are much higher here, namely vital staples like peanut butter and cheddar cheese – well any cheese for that matter.

About Costa Rican coffee – AWESOME! It is the best, and it’s cheap. You can pay buckets of cash for some of the marketed Jamaican Blue Mountain or Kona Gold, or whatever, or you can upgrade to a finer taste and gentler effect to the body by buying whatever, rot-gut, off-the-shelf, grocery store brand of Costa Rican coffee you like. When I visit the States, I bring coffee with me for the visit, or look for the Costa Rican blends in the health food stores there, where they charge a premium for the stuff.

I do tend to run on about things. So I guess what had started as an article commenting on a Wall Street Journal article abut buying land and living in Costa Rica is turning into a series.

In the next article I will comment on a few more points in Vicki’s article, but I’m REALLY looking forward to getting into the submitted comments on the article.

Stay tuned.

Regional to International, the Osa Airport Dilemma

A week ago, I was reading the Tico Times and the headline “Liberia Airport Renovation Nearly Finished” jumped out at me. It’s only been nine years since that airport opened, and now it’s getting $41 million dollars worth of renovations?? I had to figure out why, if only because it might offer a flash forward to what we can expect when (emphasis on “when”) the International Airport opens up in the The Zone, also known as, the southern Pacific zone of Costa Rica.

Long Lines

Whether it’s checking into a restaurant, hotel, or airport… people do not like to wait, especially when the line stretches out the door. Long lines and airports are synonymous, but the leaders at Liberia International (and the Guanacaste business owners) have figured out that a bad traveling experience doesn’t inspire repeat customers. The Liberia airport is scheduled to re-open any day now, and just in time for the tourist season.

The Profitable Impact

Did you know that 225,224 passengers arrived at Liberia’s airport last year*? That’s an average of 18,768 people per month and just over 625 per day. In January, foreign visitors in Guanacaste, increased by more than 28% over January of 2010. With the upgraded facilities (think mini-Juan Santamaria), services, and new carriers (JetBlue, Air Berlin), they are clearly anticipating an increase in arrivals in the near future.

The Liberia airport has done wonders for the development (read- boom) of Guanacaste. Not only does the airport employ hundreds of people from the community, it also stimulated new business opportunities in the immediate area, including— hotels, car rental companies, and commercial centers.

Conversely, there can be, and usually is, a relative downside to rapid development. Have you been to Tamarindo lately? I went two years ago, and the sleepy beach town I visited in 2002 was almost unrecognizable. The main strip looked like it had a SoCal facelift, the renown beach break was packed with surfers, and I found myself longing to be back in quiet and verdant Zone.

How It Relates To The Zone

The second most popular question we get is “When is the International Airport in Palmar going to open?” My answer: “I have no idea.” It’s not that I don’t read up on the subject, it’s just difficult to believe the words of Alberto Cole or the Minister of Tourism.

As I mentioned in an article a year ago, the construction of this airport goes hand in hand with the construction of new hotels. (At this point the area doesn’t have enough beds to accommodate an extra 400+ people/day in The Zone… especially in the high season.) Adding small to mid-sized boutique hotels isn’t an effective and complimentary plan. For the airport to be viable, large 100+ room resorts will need to be built and one need look no further than Guanacaste and its growing pains to be concerned.

To date, Ben and I have not heard anything concrete regarding new resorts in the area. Taking that one step further, there are only a handful of residents who want this airport to be built. Simply put, the majority of people who most desire this new International Airport… are people who don’t live here.

Tiger Heron in the Osa Peninsula

The Ecological Impact

Some of our reader saw the recent article in the Environment section of the The New York Times. The article outlines the potential ecological impact on the Osa Peninsula, an area that boasts 3% of the World’s known biodiversity. The author writes, “Construction is planned in two phases from 2012 to 2016… (initially) designed for 50 passenger planes.” IF (notice the big IF) that timeline is accurate, there will be a global blast of articles and special features, then… an influx of investors. Real estate and development markets will surely be stimulated, and these investors and relocators will have a large raw land inventory to choose from when they do arrive.

As real estate experts, Ben and I are standing in the path of progress and we are experienced “tour guides” in Costa Rica real estate. However, like the majority of people who move to The Zone, we also love our small town community and the postcard paradise that surrounds us.

* Costa Rican Tourism Institute

Uvita Costa Rica is a Diamond

The popular movie series of the – what was it – the nineties, eighties? Well, whatever it was, Back to the Future illustrated well the point that knowing what is going to happen in the future is key to making a lot of money. The problem with this tidbit of obvious investment data is that none of us have the ability to know what is going to happen in the future. So we deal with our inadequacy by analyzing data, conditions, information, trends and rational thinking to come up with a picture of what we feel is going to happen.

Now, if I haven’t lost you by my utilizing a sensational title and then reneging, let’s move on.

Ben’s Data, Conditions, Trends and Rational Thinking as it Relates to Real Estate in Costa Rica’s Southern Pacific Zone

There is an interesting change happening here on planet earth. Old rock-solid institutions and unmovable, immortal entities have gone the way of the dodo, they’ve died, and we inhabitants find ourselves looking around – hmmm, how to say? a bit disoriented would be a gentle way to put it.

I had a guy come into my Uvita office the other day to explain to me in great detail why buying gold is important, and that the major banks in the U. S. are going to be going under shortly: Bank of America, Wells Fargo and others.

This wasn’t some lunatic. This was a credible man in his sixties that has found his way in life that any of us would characterize as “successful”. The point, however, isn’t to debate the vitality of these North American institutions, but instead to illustrate the time of change that we are living in, and how this relates to real estate in the Dominical, Uvita and Ojochal zone of Costa Rica.

Quality of Life Yearnings -

Dominical is, for many, symbolic of an agreeable life change, a step back in time and a step towards a simpler way of things. Its perpetually non-improved dirt “main street” and lack of growth facilitates the little town to be likened to something worn and comfortable – an old shoe perhaps?

Talk with some of the vacation rental owners in the area and you’ll hear of the regulars that come every year and stay for a month. Talk with the folks that come and stay for the month and you’ll hear how they love the laid back, rustic, simple feel of the towns. Talk with all the above and many will confess to the desire to move here.

More on this data point later.

Geographical Data -

"Pizza Town" Dominical Costa Rica

Dominical is situated on land that is configured like a slice of pizza, with the wide part of the slice being where most of the buildings are. The slice is defined by the Baru River at the wide end, the pacific ocean along one of the sides, and the coastal mountain range on the other side. The sides both converge to make a point right at about where the restaurant and hotel Roca Verde is situated.

Uvita is like a diamond shape – well loosely like a diamond shape. It has a lot more flat space around the town. Our guessings of some years back was that Uvita would eventually become the social/economic center of The Zone, and indeed it has. However, back at that time, Dominical was the place to be and was the only place known in countries other than Costa Rica, so one might have thought this prognostication to be a bit adventurous at that time.

For the first six years that my family and I lived in San Isidro (inland from Dominical about 30 minutes), we did homeschool and I worked on Internet technologies from home (when I had a connection to the Internet). Part of our weekly schedule was a beach day. We had it down. We had a box with cooler, towels, hammocks, adjustable straps for the hammocks, and receptacles for seed and shell gathering. We almost never went down to the beaches of Uvita, even though they are arguably nicer than Dominical. The reason? The road was sometimes impassable. It wasn’t paved and the trip could take 45 minutes.

Dominical Costa Rica as a Slice of Pizza

This would be a bit difficult to accept if all you have known about the Dominical / Uvita link is the current highway, but I am not describing an ancient era. This era in fact ended a mere 7 years ago with the paving of the highway.

In my next installation here, I will look at some more trends and data points, as well as my read on what all this indicates about how to get rich in Costa Rica real estate.

More on how to Get Rich in Costa Rica Real Estate Coming Soon!

Even though we call it Talk Show 15, this is indeed the 16th Episode of the Guys In The Zone Talk Show. This episode delves into the topic of construction in Costa Rica. Ben, the founder of Guys In The Zone, interviews Matt Callero of Mango Construction (mangoconstruction.com). Matt offers some answers to the popular questions– Is it difficult to build? How much is construction per square foot? And, what trends he foresees unfolding in the southern Pacific zone. Enjoy!

I just received some questions from a connection that I made in the Social Media site LinkedIn. I am reprinting these here due to the increase in these types of questions lately. I’m sure that these questions, and their answers, will be of help to a number of our readers.

One of many developments above Dominical.

Location In The Zone:

1. We don’t want to feel like we’re living in the middle of nowhere, but we’re not looking to live in a large city like Seattle!  What is The Zone like?

As a starting point, you picked a good one. The Zone, as we like to call it down here in the southern pacific zone of Costa Rica, is definitely a bit removed from things.  The developments are typically more spread out than North American developments, so in most cases your neighbor will not be right on top of you.  Access to The Zone is possible via two regional airports (both approx.40 minutes from Uvita) and the Costanera Highway.  Thanks to the new San Jose-Caldera Highway, the trip to San Jose is now 3 hours.  That said, it is difficult to say if this area would appeal to you with this point, and I would recommend a visit before making that determination.

You can buy or build your dream home.

Buy or Build:

2. We are also trying to decide between building a home or buying existing… Do you have any suggestions?

This is one of the more common questions that we deal with. Here is an interesting data point: the majority of people that walk into our office want to buy an existing house. Yet, the majority of people that buy from us buy raw land & build.  Why is that?  Here in The Zone, we have been outside the main flow of tourism.  This was due to the bumpy, dirt road between Dominical and Quepos.  It is now paved, and we are more in the flow.  Historically, those visitors and relocators who found their way down here were a bit… well, let’s call it eccentric… might be the way to put it. These are truly individualistic individuals who built their house as an expression of that individuality. These houses are not easy to sell. Now, I should clarify that this building approach is ancient history.  There are very nice homes available in The Zone; however, there just aren’t that many of them.  The inventory continues to evolve, and home sales are up.  That said, I suspect that it’ll be a while before we hit the 50/50 mark of house/lots sales.  Our recommendation is to take your time and look at everything.  After you go through this process, you can compare those houses with what it would cost to buy & build on a similar piece of land, keeping in mind raw land is plentiful.  You might find that $450,000 house can be built for $350,000, and you’ll have it the way you want it.  Conversely, you might find a great house for less than what it would cost to buy and build.  In today’s market place, and with the economic crisis, you never know what you might find.  Building in Costa Rica can be a daunting and frustrating task.  For this reason alone, some people simply refuse to go through the process.  This question really is best served in a face to face consultation.

The ARCR is one of many sites with good info.

Groups and Associations:

3. I have heard to be very wary of some places being over priced for foreigners who don’t know any better. Any good groups or services to retain?

Hmmmm, well I am inclined to think that you’ve found all you need right here with me.  A not so self-serving answer would be, “yes.”  There are actually PLENTY of options for information, so many in fact that I wonder at how one can really know what the straight story is.  Residency, taxes, zoning, business and so on, in a foreign land, requires that one be on his toes. I like the Costa Rica Living news group at Yahoo groups. Also, the Association of Residents of Costa Rica (ARCR) have been a helpful residency and insurance resource for some of my clients.  Ultimately, I think that what you are doing is a good idea.  Talk with individuals who have done what you want to do.  When I get new clients in the Dominical and Uvita area, I set up lunches with my previous clients who have moved here, built, learned Spanish etc.  It seems that everyone is more than happy to share their experience, and from these tidbits you’ll get a very good idea of what to do and, often more importantly, not do.

Starting A Company:

4. Did you find it difficult to start a company there? I will be looking to work, but understand I will need to start my own business to get paid. At least until we were able to become residents.

Starting a business, or buying an income generating property, or both, used to be oh-so-easy in Costa Rica.  Business owners would only complete the necessary steps to get a business license if someone from the Municipality came and bugged them about it.  And, income generated by businesses or rental properties was reported even less.  In today’s Costa Rica it has become a bit more difficult, or maybe I should say involved, to operate without them.  For better or worse, Costa Rica is growing up and finding ways to enforce laws that they have had on the books for years, in some cases, decades.  The simple fact is, to do any kind of work in Costa Rica, you need to be a resident.  Otherwise, you run the risk of being deported.  We know people who can help with residency and setting up a business, among other services.

I hope these thoughts help to answer your questions, although it is my experience that they usually bring up new questions.  Safe to say, The Guys here to help.

I was excited to find the Poll functionality on LinkedIn a couple of weeks ago. The question I came up with “What is the top reason to buy land in Costa Rica’s southern Pacific zone?” seemed like a good jumping off point for this regular feature on the blog. Although the sample size was small, the responses were revealing.

Low Property Tax
Costa Rica’s property tax rate is .25% on registered value. That means if you buy a $400,000 house in Uvita, you will pay $1,000 in property tax, plus another $1,000 (or .25%) for the new Luxury Tax passed in 2010. Your total annual property tax bill will be $2,000 which is a third of what you will pay in Houston, Texas.

Investment Value
If we can agree that people want safe, beautiful, and affordable environments to live in, then the southern Pacific zone of Costa Rica has to make that list. Clearly, “affordable” is a relative term. Some clients have $50,000 for a house, some have $1.5 million; however, this market has dipped according to the simple dynamics of Supply and Demand. An ocean view property (only 8 minutes from Uvita) listed for $30,000 was unheard of five years ago, yet now we have it (Sunny Josecito). In fact, we have access to just about every type of investment in every property category.

Growth Potential
I can’t tell you how many times per week people ask me when the International Airport will be completed in Palmar. Given the fact that construction has not started, it is a difficult question to answer. Eventually, it will be constructed (for better or for worse), and the area and property values will grow as a result. I state this with a fair degree of conviction because I’ve seen what paving the Costanera (Coastal Highway) and re-paving the road between San Isidro and Dominical has done for the area. I believe if it weren’t for those two improvements, the downturn would have hit our area much harder.

Walking the dog on your favorite beach.

Weather and Beaches
Today (Sept. 29th, 2011) marks the middle of the rainy season, yet we had sun with its accompanying ocean breeze all day long. The evenings are typically cool, especially if your house is strategically located facing the Pacific Ocean and its beaches. Speaking of beaches, The Zone has something for every sun lover. You want to surf or watch surfing, go to Dominical. You want a good dog-walking beach, go to Playa Hermosa. You want to do some cave exploring, go to Playa Ventanas. I’ve spent more time on the ocean the past 4 years than in my entire life in California, because the water is warm, dare I say perfect, year round.

Relaxing Lifestyle
According to our voters, this is the top reason to buy land in Costa Rica. You don’t realize how stressful life is in the progressive Western world, until you move here. Both Ben and I came from Santa Cruz and Aspen, gorgeous towns in California and Colorado, respectively. We lived the typical cycle of working hard and playing hard, and then right back to working hard again. We were surrounded by friends, family and neighbors who were stressed by this same cycle and material pressures. It all added up to a simple yet consistent desire for change. Without question, Costa Rica presents an opportunity to slooooow down and simplify. Sometimes I surf in the morning, sometimes I walk a big farm. There’s no rushing to Starbucks on the way to pick up the dry cleaning. Here, we sit down and enjoy our coffee. We wear shorts and flip flops. If anything, life in The Zone is indeed relaxing.

So, yes there are many reasons to buy land in Costa Rica. Whether as an investment, as a relocation destination, or simply as a place to visit and unplug for a couple of weeks in the winter… The Zone will not disappoint.

“Houses that produce rental income” has become an increasingly popular Costa Rica real estate strategy in The Zone. In this video, The Guys explain WHY this investment strategy is smart and how it can be achieved in a fertile rental market.  We moved out of the office and shot the video “on location” at such a property above Dominical, Costa Rica.