What Isn't Said About Living and Owning Real Estate in Costa Rica

 I have been appraising in Costa Rica since 2009, and have usually found myself appraising failed residential subdivisions meant for affluent immigrants from North America.  Then there were teak farm scams, too. 

There is a huge industry aimed at selling Costa Rican real estate to North Americans, exemplified by such publications as International Living and Real Estate Trend Alert [Ronan McMahon]. It is important to remember that these are sales organizations which present only the positives of living in Costa Rica, a land of natural beauty sometimes described as "the land of rainbows and unicorns". And it is not true, despite what Ronan says, that Costa Rica is running out of land.

Yet many Americans return disappointed from Costa Rica.  There are no official numbers.  Unofficially, I have heard estimates that between one-third and one half of American immigrants return home from Costa Rica. There are an estimated 120,000 Americans living there now.

Yesterday I watched a podcast on MSN.com by Kristin Wilson, an international realtor who lived in Costa Rica for 8 years and only recently came back home, and she compiled a list of 8 reasons why Americans return, and some of these reasons I have also observed, but I haven't actually lived there so I encourage you to watch the podcast. You can find her full report at: 

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=kristin+costa+riica&mid=9D793F3EED243527C1269D793F3EED243527C126&FORM=VIRE

Here are some added comments of my own on the reasons Americans leave:

1. Cost of living. First of all, living in tropical lowlands requires year-round air conditioning if one wants to live in American-style comfort, costing several hundred dollars per month. Most goods also have to be imported and Costa Rican tariffs are high. It will cost more to own a car in Costa Rica than in the U.S. If wants to live the US standard of living, there may be no cost savings and perhaps even some cost surprises.

Costa Ricans often live a lot more cheaply by living in small homes at higher elevations.  Below, for instance, is a realtor ad for a "Tico Home" in the uplands of Guanacaste, perhaps the physically hottest area of Costa Rica (temperatures near 100 degrees F when I visited in February).  These are simpler homes that are built from local materials and don't typically have air conditioning or heating, but at higher elevations, such utilities might not be necessary. But it might be a long walk to the beach, and where will you find a Wal-Mart?

2. Crime. Official crime statistics suggest that Costa Rica is a nation with a low crime rate, but one forgets that being a rich gringo can make one a target. Reading expat forums, I sometimes read alarming things like "I got robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight on the National Highway!", police shakedowns of tourists, and there have been many reports of how gringos are followed by robbers after renting their car at the airport, particularly after dark. Kristin also chronicles her many car break-ins and one or more home burglaries, and carries around a decoy wallet.

3. Health issues.  This seems surprising when one sees the number of hospitals near the Liberia and San Jose airports, hospitals built for North Americans wanting to save money on medical or even dental procedures, and I have been assured that most of the doctors are English-speaking and U.S.-trained. One notices, though, that these hospitals often focus on elective surgeries, those not covered by insurance, such as cosmetic surgery.

Considering that many of the expats are retirees, though, one has to plan for increasing health problems in the future.  U.S. Medicare is not available down there, and end-of-life health issues can force Americans to return home for seriously expensive situations such as cancer, heart surgery, etc.  I went through cancer last year and was glad for my Medicare here in the U.S.. 

4. Unstable infrastructure.  This may include power outages, cable outages, water outages, and impassable roads during rainy months.

5.  Property scams.  The first time I heard about this, it was a friend of mine who sold his business and arranged to purchase a cliffside home and restaurant through a local lawyer. The lawyer was corrupt and was working a scam with someone who didn't even own the property. In another instance, I had an American absentee landowner find his properties occupied by squatters, and he spent several years fighting to get his property back in the Costa Rica courts, which often honor squatter's rights over the rights of foreigners who are not even using the land. The squatters' lawyer was allegedly building and renting billboards on the land.

Get a title insurance policy if you possibly can, too. My friend lost over $100,000 and had to go back to work in the U.S.

6. The climate speaks for itself. These are the tropics and there can be plenty of heat, humidity and rain which some Americans don't care for. Costa Rica is outside the hurricane region, however.

7. Finally, some expats just feel the isolation from family and loved ones living so far from the U.S. and reprioritize what they find more important in life -- family or beaches?