Intro- Five learnings from buying a beach property in Costa Rica

When we decided to document our journey as we buy land, design our house and start our journey of having a rental property at the beach, in Costa Rica, we did it not just to promote the place we will eventually have, but also beacuse we found a lack of reosurces and information on the process.  We are frequent travelers, (for work and pleasure) outside and inside our home country of Costa Rica, and we met so many people that had questions about how to make our country their vacation place, and thought our learnings and mistakes could be a good source of info for many others going in the same journey; we hope our blog will also help you get ideas on what it is to build a house in Costa Rica and maybe get your advice and ideas on your own experiences.

At the same time, this whole blog is a way of staying committed to the project; a way to set our vision on the bigger goals and get motivation when facing challenges, because we are aware of the many challenges that we'll face along the way.

So, the journey started a long time ago. I guess the first thing was that we already built our main residency in Costa Rica's central valley and while designing it, building and living there we learned that we liked this. The whole experience was great, and seeing a concept become brick and mortar reality gave us a huge sense of satisfaction.

And on the other hand we really love spending time at the beach. So, every time we went for vacation we were dreaming of having our own place near or at the beach; a place we wouldn't have to check-out at 11 am on a Sunday to then go work remotely from home.

And thus, it began... we went to a hotel, and one day we took the car to explore the area, see what we liked, ask a local realtor. Two months passed, we went to a different beach community and tried to see if the rental we had was available to purchase, or maybe others in the same condominium or vacation complex would be.

And the main thing we learned was that buying real estate at the beach in Costa Rica is not as easy as one would think. We have gone to more than 50 Airbnbs and visited every beach we could along the two ocean coasts that Costa Rica has to offer; and within that we tried to summarize the top 5 things (original list can be of 100 things) we have learned so far:

• 1- Location matters, and supply in CR is short:  The most obvious real estate lesson everyone knows about, but when looking for vacation homes at the beach, it is really clear that every half mile closer to the sand makes a huge difference. And its not just a price difference, but in inventory type and availability. Costa Rica is very unique because private beache areas don’t exist in Costa Rica (land in front of the beach is considered public) and the first 200 meters from the low-tide line are not allowed to be developed (only a few government permits are emmited and almost all of them have been given already). So, beach front propertys are either already developed, too expensive for us, very small condos, or simply not in the market.

• 2- Prices go-up...fast: It is clear that our little country became one of the most popular destinations (see https://www.timeout.com/news/why-everyone-is-travelling-to-costa-rica-right-now-061022); and the trend that started about 20 years ago has had an impact in prices that doesn't seem to slow down. For a young couple like us, this meant that every condo, every lot and every house we once saw and considered during the last years, kept going up in price faster than we could catch up. Then in the post-pandemic months the prices skyrocketed and the inventory dried up... so prices went exponential. So, for most visitors, that may still think that buying in Costa Rica is cheap, well it is not as cheap as it was. Is it cheaper than west coast US or selling a big home in europe? Yes, still a lot cheaper... but don't think you will find bargains easily in this market.... maybe in the future if prices adjust along the US- real estate market. but the trend is clear: prices go up and to the right.

• 3- Development projects take time and not always get finished.  With points #1 and #2 clear, we shifted many times to the idea of buying a condo in one of the few big beach condo towers in development. On the positive side, investing in pre-construction condos can provide buyers with the opportunity to secure a property at a lower price than what it might be worth once construction is completed. But hold on, don't grab your surfboard just yet. There's a flip side to this beachy coin. Construction delays are like those unexpected rain showers on your beach day – annoying. You might end up waiting longer than expected to kick off your Costa Rican adventure, which can mess with your plans, especially if you were counting on rental income. Also, there's a chance the developer might not deliver exactly what they promised in terms of quality or features... and in the worst case, we have sen a few projects not move beyond the blueprint and the renders... ever. After 2010, when the local market crashed significantly, many projects went upside down and many people saw their dreams crushed. So, be careful and do not believe everything the developer or realtor has to say or show. To ride these waves safely, make sure to do your homework, check the developer's track record, know the local market, and have a savvy legal buddy by your side to help you navigate the condo-buying rollercoaster in Costa Rica.

• 4- Having nearby services is worth it :  not only the basics, like electricity, water, sewage, etc.  But also, nearby transportation, airports, supermarkets or grocery stores, etc. We see it too often that people buy a property in a secluded and remote beach area, only to find out they won't use it or get too bored when using it because there is nothing going on nearby. So even if you may want a "real jungle experience", think of what it really will take to get there after a long drive or a flight. Think about getting grocieries, or simply about how easy it is to find a good restaurant, good tour operators or fun ammenities. This happens to Costa Ricans all the time: they invest in a small vacation home out in the woods or at a remote beach, only to sell it a few years after when they realize they didn't enjoy it as much. So having easy access is a must. But also, what we have quickly realized is that many remote places won't have the basics to build a house at all: what if the electricity is not available? If its available, is it really up to the last mile to your property? What if there is no water or water shortages ? There was once a period where the entire north coast went through a drought period of 5 years and no development was possible. Is the neighborhood and the place safe where you won't have the awful surprise of finding a burglar ripped off your home? And if you do, do you have security nearby? So we have learned that having the right mix of services is really worth it!

So, in short, for us a place had to have a few things to make it really what we wanted: accesible, with some ammenities, close to good night-life and good restaurants...and of course, as close as possible to sandy beaches! The whole package meant also we were looking for a gem in the making or a crazy opportunity that wasn't gonna show up at our doorstep soon. Hence, it took us a long time to find the place we wanted.

And this brings us to our 5th and main lesson learned from all of this journey:

• 5- There is always a compromise: beach proximity vs price,  amenities & security vs privacy and HOAs, lot size vs ocean view (smaller lots near the beach), custom design vs cookie-cutter houses , budget home vs luxury , service availability vs ready-to-build, crowded vs pristine,  etc. We have learned that the key to our eventual success is going to be to understand that the trade-offs we have to make will give us the best possible option within our means and expectations. We won't get it all, and its not just about the money it takes to do it, beacuse even if that wasn't an issue, all other environmental factors we can't change, and we would need to accept.

So, those are our top 5 recommendations , ideas, lessons from our journey so far.

We are taking our own advice right now and figuring out what we can do to find the perfect unfinished gem, the unique lot, or the perfect condo to make our beach home dreams a reality; and we will contiunue to document our learnings in this blog.

Please continue to follow us, subscribe to the blog and lets go through this together. We will continue to write about our experience, other tips and ideas... and one day we may record this too!