Buying Property In Costa Rica

LIVE IN COSTA RICA FOR A FEW MONTHS (AT LEAST!) BEFORE BUYING REAL ESTATE THERE!

Okay, so you've lived there for at least a few months, you know the trials and tribulations of dealing with getting things done there, the bureaucracy, the unreliability of people you hire to install cable, internet, fix your roof, etc., and you still want to live there because of the great abundance of Nature, the super nice friendly people, the more relaxed lifestyle, cheaper medical care, nice beaches, and so on. Great!

So how do you choose a property?

Do you want to buy a property with a home already built or do you want to build your own home?

LET'S LOOK AT BUYING A PROPERTY WITH A HOME ALREADY BUILT ON IT, FIRST:

ADVANTAGES:

* Buying a pre-built existing home is easier - you won't have to supervise the building which is pretty much a full time job

* You will be able to move right in, and not rent for however long it takes to build your own home

* The owners in Costa Rica often leave the furniture and stuff as part of the deal because they are moving to another country

DISADVANTAGES:

* The house may not be built to the standards you expect, especially if it was built by Ticos, but even Americans often hire less than great construction supervisors so the house may have been built incorrectly or with inadequate materials and techniques. You may not know this until after you buy the home.

* Buying a property with a home is usually more expensive then buying a property and building your own home, especially if you do your research and go into the building of your own home with some knowledge as to how to do it properly but with cheaper materials

* As with any pre-built home it may not have the exact features you would have built into it (larger closets, bigger porch, bigger kitchen, better counter tops and cabinets, a utility room, bigger shower, etc)

NOW LET'S LOOK AT BUYING A PROPERTY WITH NO BUILDING ON IT:

ADVANTAGES:

* Buying the land and then building your own home is often much cheaper than buying the land+home as a package

* You can choose the exact location and how the house will be situated on the property if you build it yourself

* You can build the house exactly as you want it - size of closets, size of kitchen, size of bathroom, size of porch, and so many other options when you build it yourself

* You can choose the materials of the home and you can make sure the materials are high quality and that the construction is high quality if you supervise it yourself

There are of course many more advantages and disadvantages but hopefully the above will get you to thinking about it so you can decide what appeals to YOU.

WHERE TO BUILD:

The only way to know where you want to build is to spend some time in different parts of Costa Rica! By spending time I mean at least a month in each location, and living in a house, not a hotel! You need to really see what it's like to LIVE THERE and you will not be able to do this by staying in a hotel. So remember RULE #1 above.

After you have narrowed it down to the area or town you like and you are looking for real estate there, you need to know this:

THE CLIMATE YOU EXPERIENCE WILL DEPEND LARGELY ON THE ALTITUDE OF WHERE YOU BUILD.

So my advice is to buy an altimeter and use it when you are looking at properties so you know the altitude of each property, because the altitude plays a huge part in the temperature you experience in Costa Rica!

Here's what I mean:

If you live at sea level it is going to be very very hot all year long. If heat is your thing then sea level is for you. Personally I would not live at sea level in Costa Rica unless it was at the beach. Living at the beach has many other problems (humidity, tourists, title problems, etc) but if that is your thing and you can afford it, go for it! In any case just know that living at sea level, whether at the beach or inland, is going to be HOT.

If you live at 1,000 feet up, it's going to be cooler.

2,000 feet will be cooler still. 3,000 feet cooler, still etc...

By the time you get up to 4,000-5,000 feet it can actually be COLD after the sun goes down (and remember that the sun goes down at 6pm everywhere in Costa Rica, all year long because you're near the equator.)

So personally when I looked for properties, I was looking only at properties in the 2,000-3,000 feet altitude range because I knew that would afford cooler weather day and night; in fact at night it will give a nice sleeping temperature. But everyone is different so what kind of weather do you like? Pick your weather by choosing your altitude.

Speaking of weather, another major factor is climate patterns. Costa Rica has many "micro-climates" so it might be much windier, rainier, and foggier in one area than in another area just 5 minutes away. This is absolutely true. So you have to ask people what the micro-climate is there and visit the property several times to get an idea.

When you are looking at properties you will also want to consider:

WHO AND WHERE ARE YOUR CLOSEST NEIGHBORS?

You need to know that most Ticos have kids and dogs so if you want peace and quiet you may not want your neighbors to be too close. They may also have roosters, mopeds, and so on and sometimes they love to blast their music to the point of distortion as if they are the only people around for miles. This is just a fact so don't call me a racist. I love the Ticos, but let's face it they are in general pretty noisy people who like to have dogs, kids, roosters and so on.

So when you look for property consider that even though the nearest house might be 300 feet away, if they have dogs, kids and mopeds or motorcycles, a wood shop or etc. you are going to hear them. This is why I personally chose to buy a large property with no close by Tico neighbors. (And don't forget: American or other neighbors can be just as noisy! So choose wisely. If neighbor noise doesn't bother you, great - it will make your property hunt a lot easier.)

You may also want to consider how close you are to town, to a hospital, to doctors, to a mall, to a movie theater, restaurants, the beach, hot springs - whatever you are most interested in.

Okay, that's it for this article. Next time I'll talk about some of the pitfalls in actually buying real estate - what to watch out for, and how to protect yourself from being ripped off.