Often times you’ll hear or read generalizations made about the Costa Rica real estate market as a whole that might just not hold true in all cases. In fact, I even wrote a post about the fact that in Costa Rica, the exceptions are the general rules. One reason that these generalizations might not hold true is because they fail to take into account certain distinctions between market types… Such as the difference between a predominantly income market and one that is more of the retirement, or expat living, variety. What exactly do I mean by that? Well, let me give you a few examples… Take a m ..read more

I feel a bit trepidatious to broach the topic of the dreaded “G” word… After all, if you mention “gentrification” in one of the myriad of Facebook groups where wannabe expats go for advice and humiliation, you’ll be met with sneers, snickers and anecdotes about how this or that person knows a tico who’s benefiting from it. Of course, there are ticos in a position to benefit from it. But just because you happen to know a tico builder of homes, or a tico who owns a pool service business who’s raking it in due to the rampant development and soaring costs along Costa Rica’s hot tourist and expat ..read more

Let’s face it fellow realtors, U.S. presidential election years are not generally friendly to real estate markets anywhere, be it Costa Rica or worldwide! And this is an “election year” like no other in history. Now I’m not going to get political by disclosing who I’m pulling for. I believe many of my readers already have a good idea about that… However, I will make a few predictions and if you read on you will see why I think they will have an affect on the Costa Rica real estate market in the near future… So, here goes… First, I believe Donald Trump will have the republican nomination wrap ..read more

I’ve always said that in Costa Rica Murphy’s Law works overtime. You know, the one that postulates that whatever might go wrong, probably will. That “general rule” of life in Costa Rica is especially true when it comes to trying to move from Point A to Point B, in a car – and the tighter the time schedule the more certain that the law is bound to kick in, seemingly for the sole purpose of delaying your arrival. Which is also why we say in Costa Rica that if you’re on time to an appointment, you’re early – and only if you’re 30 minutes “late” are you effectively “on time.” I’m sure there are ..read more

We all had the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave… So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark–that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back. Hunter S. Thompson, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas As 2023 comes to an end, I feel an apt way to describe this past year would be somewhat akin to how Hunter Thompson described the end of the summer of love… For sure we’d been riding high on the crest of a mighty Costa Rica real estate wave ..read more

The Coldwell Banker Perez Zeledon team and office is officially open for business and ready to serve buyers and sellers in the mountain (and beach) markets of the southern zone. Here are profiles of team members… Scott Bowers Associate Broker Scott is a naturalized citizen of Costa Rica, who first arrived (from the U.S.) in 2001 to broker a deal that sold one of the country’s premier private universities to a U.S. publicly-held education company. From 2004 to 2015 he arranged eco-intensive Costa Rica vacation tours to locations throughout the country, as well as Nicaragua, Panama and Colomb ..read more

Expats aren’t flocking to Costa Rica just for more of the same. Obviously, it’s the lure of something different and more exciting that attracts them… And I’m not talking about the typical differences that come to mind, like weather, cost of living, food, language and general pace of life. All those differences, while appealing, are a bit routine and sort of, well, meh… So, what is at the heart of this quest for the quixotic? What really makes Costa Rica different? I’ll kick off the search for an answer with a personal anecdote… You know, in my 22 years of living in Costa Rica, I’ve never loo ..read more

The Costa Rica real estate market has witnessed significant changes over the years, driven by foreign investments and evolving market dynamics. In this post, we will explore the historical background, current state, and future prospects of the Costa Rica real estate market. The Past One word I would use to describe the Costa Rica real estate market of the past is “inefficient.” Inefficiency in any market is a double-edged sword, giving rise to both risks, as well as opportunities. While the current Costa Rica real estate market can hardly be described as wholly efficient, in terms of readily ..read more

Generally you’ll find a fairly ordered deal process in areas of the country where there is vibrant activity in the expat real estate market. However, it still ain’t Kansas! There are marked differences in the way things operate down here versus the States. Over my years of orchestrating real estate deals in Costa Rica, I have observed a few commonly repeated mistakes. If you want your Costa Rica deal to go smoothly, you’d do well to follow the advice below… Don’t Get Lawyers Involved at the Offer Stage Offers, called letters of intent (LOIs) in Costa Rica, are informal documents. Your agent s ..read more

Earlier this year I wrote a post that attempted to forecast the Costa Rica real estate market for 2022 and beyond. In large part what I wrote has been consistent with experience. Nevertheless, this very fluid situation continues to evolve. There have been changes in the financial and political landscapes that could indeed spell trouble (or, perhaps, opportunity) in the year(s) to come… The Financial Landscape While I correctly predicted the possibility of inflation rearing its ugly head in 2022, I had no idea it would do so to the extent that it has. At the moment inflation in the U.S. is the ..read more