Investment
The worst investment decisions I have seen in Costa Rica were not bad properties. They were good properties bought by people who tried to optimize for cash flow, appreciation, and personal use simultaneously.
Investment
The best beachfront investment might be the lot at 15 meters elevation with an unobstructed view, not the one at 3 meters on the sand.
Investment
The market is not uniformly hot. Some segments are overpriced. Some are undervalued. The data tells you which is which.
Investment
A national average house price in a country where costs vary by 300 percent between regions is a number that describes nowhere. What matters is the price in the specific market you are considering.
Investment
The difference between a rental that earns $55,000 a year and one that earns $35,000 is rarely the location. It is the layout, the spec, and a dozen decisions locked in before the first block was laid.
Investment
The average Airbnb listing in Costa Rica grosses about $1,700 a month. That number shows up in market reports, gets repeated in listing pitches, and sounds like a reasonable return on a $250,000 property. It is also the wrong number to make a decision with. That $1,700
Investment
Most foreign buyers underestimate their closing costs by about half. They budget 2%, maybe 2.5%, because that is what they are used to back home. Then the notary hands them a number closer to 5% of the purchase price and the conversation gets uncomfortable. That gap — between what people
Investment
Every broker in Costa Rica will tell you their market is the best place to invest. I have talked to dozens of them. What I have rarely heard is an honest answer to the question that actually matters: what is the net return, after all expenses, on a deal that
Investment
The build-or-buy decision in Costa Rica is not mostly about price. It is about what you can verify in a finished home, and what the climate does to whatever got cut on the way up.