A 90-square-meter house with a beautiful terrace, good ceiling height, and quality finishes will make you happier than a 130-square-meter house where every room was shrunk to fit the program.
A good property manager makes your investment work. A bad one lets your property deteriorate while collecting a fee.
The difference between a 9-month project and a 16-month project is rarely the construction itself. It is what happened before construction started.
Tamarindo is the most divided-in-opinion beach town among Costa Rica expats. Some people love it. Some think it lost its soul. Both perspectives have merit.
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.
I researched both countries before we moved. I chose Costa Rica. I have no lived experience in Panama. This is my research, not my testimony.
Every decision made in the design phase costs nothing beyond the design fee. Every decision deferred to construction costs the decision itself plus the disruption and rework.
In the US, seeing a specialist means a referral, pre-authorization, a 3-week wait, and a $250 copay. In Costa Rica, I call directly and get an appointment within a week.
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.
The market is not uniformly hot. Some segments are overpriced. Some are undervalued. The data tells you which is which.
The permit process in Costa Rica is not difficult. It is slow. Understanding the sequence saves you months.
I am not anti-container. I am anti-container when the motivation is saving money, because the savings are smaller than expected and the compromises are significant.
Living
I arrived feeling like I had done my homework. Within two weeks I realized the homework had prepared me for about 40 percent of the actual experience.
Construction
The plans can be identical. The finish level can be identical. The square meters can be identical. And the all-in cost can differ by 20 to 40 percent depending on which town you build in.
Construction
The difference between a project that loses $500 in materials and one that loses $15,000 is not luck. It is systems.
Living
The version of Costa Rica crime that American media presents is dramatically different from the version we actually live.
Design
The roof is the most important element of a house in Costa Rica and the one most people spend the least time thinking about.
Construction
Every client asks about materials. The conversation is always the same: yes, you can get almost anything in Costa Rica. But whether you should is a different question.
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.
Construction
Steel frame and concrete block are not better or worse than each other. They are different tools for different situations.
Living
The retirees who do well here are not the ones who came for the price. They are the ones who came for the life.
Living
Every American who finds out I live in Costa Rica asks the same question: Where should I move? My answer is always the same: it depends on who you are.
Design
Good tropical design is not a style. It is a set of decisions about orientation, ventilation, shading, and materials that determine whether your house works with the climate or fights it every day.
Construction
You can find an architect in Costa Rica who will do your plans for $5,000. You can also find one who will charge $150,000. The difference in what those drawings produce is enormous.