Starting in 2002 a whole new wave of people started to move here.

I just coined the phrase “Post 2002ers” to describe a new breed of American who has moved here since 2002. For years Costa Rica attracted nothing but eccentric foreigners, retirees, dropouts from the U.S., those looking for a post hippie paradise, people on the lamb for one reason or another, (alimony debts, etc.) some strange characters and a few brave entrepreneurs.

Starting in 2002 a whole new wave of people started to move here. This was probably due to Costa Rica’s growing international reputation, a boom in tourism, people looking for opportunities, the coming of age of the Baby Boomers but most of all the ability to use the Internet from abroad to promote businesses here. Whatever happened, a new group of people started to move here and set up shop. Many of them heard about the real estate boom and started real estate offices. Others built spec homes. While other people started to work in tourism. We even had one woman who was into witchcraft and black magic who tried to start a business. Anyway a whole cast of characters from every walk of life came here including criminals and con men. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of great people were part of this new wave and have contributed immensely to Costa Rica.

The funny part is that many of these newbies that went into business here weren’t even legal residents but tourists. Unfortunately government control is lax in this area.  On top of that, since you don’t need a license to sell real estate in Costa Rica, not only were these people in the country illegally but they were selling property without a license because of the lack of regulation here. I have  a realtor friend who calls them carpet baggers.  Other people from this group started tour companies without a license from the tourism board (ICT), again due to a lack of enforcement by the government. Many started online business from here to lure naïve  Americans into their clutches. Most of these new wave entrepreneurs were not dishonest but lacked the legal credentials and experience to provide first-rate services. The Internet played a huge role in giving them credibility. Fortunately, many have fallen to the wayside but some have managed to survive. Sadly, people seem to think that just by moving here the are qualified to provide certain services.

Once again,  NOT everyone who moved here was incompetent, unscrupulous or illegally working under the table.  But we did and still do have our fair share of these characters from the post-2002 group.

I only write these type of articles to protect the people who take my retirement tours or anyone else gathering information to move here. My object is not to offend anyone. I feel it is my duty to help people NOT leave their “brain on the plane.”