Cross posted: Your experience with Costa Rica.

I hope it is okay to make this inquirey with respect to acquiring land in Costa Rica.


"It sounds fantastic.

It looks fantastic, from the perspective of anyone wishing to get away from cities and just settle down in a calm place.

But over the past few weeks I'm seeing negative press about Costa Rica.

In your opinion, is this a good place to buy land, settle down, buy homes?"

nicaragua otoh was a little bit sketchy.

costa rica is beautiful, with good food, great surf, and interesting vibrant culture.

works for me.

whose parents own a resort there. I can't remember the name of it. He spent 7 years there getting the resort going. He loved it. It is on the west coast. He did say that prices were really going up.

Anyone know for sure?

who purchased several lots in Costa Rica. He plans to develop condos. So, sounds like it IS ok for US citizens to own land there - but a simple google search may provide better info.

I know two families who own condos, but they aren't anywhere near a resort. My husband and two older kids have been down there for missions trips (to help build a kitchen). They're in Alajuelita and are trying to help feed hungry kids. We have tons of pics and the place looks so beautiful!

i have spoken to many an owner in costa rica who is from california or canada, many many many!

there are many more from mexico but my spanish is poor and i can't speak as freely to them

finally there are also a number of french canadian ex pats, many who also own land/B&Bs/resorts etc. -- most of them also speak english and will converse with you

definitely you can buy, in fact, you will see many businesses, homes, and parcels for land, for sale, in the tourist areas, just as you would in panama or for that matter in the cotswolds (england) or any other tourism area in the wide world

mexico is unusual in banning many areas such as beachfront property to foreigners

a lot of the bullshit negative press you see against costa rica is pure and simple sour grapes, because it is not exactly the cheapest destination in the americas -- people are bitter that they didn't buy it when it was cheap

you get a lot, but you pay a lot too -- it's cheap for californians, say, but expensive for southerners

hence a good many of the ex-pats there seem to be canadians and californians

i am not a believer in buying raw land, anywhere, UNLESS YOU ARE GOING TO LIVE ON THE LAND but if you are actually going to buy a property and live there, then it's very beautiful even tho now is an economically challenging time

be aware that the world wide recession, which has severely impacted the tourist industry, has impacted costa rica as well, and i heard many concerns this winter from folks that it was going to be tough for them to pay the bills -- much of costa rica's hard income comes from tourism

wonderful public and private health care options

great birding

but do not move to costa rica expecting to "get rich quick," go there planning to live and slowly develop your business

some of the roads/infrastructure compared to panama are pretty shitty but finally they arrested/drove out of office the guy who stole all the money to fix the roads...i was shocked to see that you could actually drive a little more safely there now...don't get me wrong, roads still suck, at the end of the day, if good roads are a priority, i would pick panama (canal zone area other than colon) any day of the week, also there are many other reasons to choose panama

i did not prefer costa rica the first time i visited, but as i have seen more, i have seen that it is certainly a great place to visit/live and is equally worthy of consideration with panama

but it is a bit sketchy from talking with other relatives who have gone to visit him over the years. All of them reported they were concerned about their safety at one point or another, and he lives in a nicely developed ex-pat area. Also, when he got ill last year, he had to be flown to the states because the medical facilities couldn't provide him with adequate care. He is quite happy, despite these issues.

I know a couple of ex-pats who "retired" there and love it. As has been said it's not cheap any more. If I hadn't fallen in love with a beautiful little place in Belize, Costa Rica would be my second choice. I'm a Caribbean guy so I'd be looking on the east side. :)

I just vacationed there for the first time this last winter. It is beautiful and recommend it.

I happened to look at a 1 acre lot on a mountain stream for $100k. It was very nice but I don't think the price reflects the reality of a world recession. It will hit there to. I would live there renting until I was more sure where I wanted to live. I stayed mostly around Jaco on the west coast. I noticed right away that there weren't many tourists, empty resturants and hotels were for sale.

The food is fantastic. Simple but very fresh and organic, I could taste the chemicals as soon as I got back home.