A recent edition of the publication “Travel and Leisure” considers Costa Rica a good place for those traveling alone. In the article the magazine considered the fifteen best places for single travelers. The most important factor taken into consideration was safety. According to the Global Peace Index Costa Rica ranks 27 out of 149 countries in terms of safety. Another important factor is the fact that Costa Rica was the #1 country in the category of happiness. All tourists feel welcome here.

Besides single travelers single retirees also feel welcome. On my monthly retirement and relocation tours I have many singles who eventually move here. Furthermore, over the years I have met scores of single male and female retirees who lead very happy and productive lives here. There are hundreds of activities in which they can participate to keep busy and avoid loneliness. Many singles even get involved romantically and end up getting married here. I personally know many people who have married here and are very happy.

Costa Rica isn’t for every single person but those who make the effort to socialize lead good lives here.

The boom on Costa Rica real estate, and the good life help to make the country like one of the best places for retirees

During the first decade of this century many opportunistic realtors appeared on the scene in Costa Rica. In part this was due to the country’s burgeoning real estate market which was driven by the county’s unblemished reputation as a retirement haven for Baby Boomers and tourism mecca. Because real estate brokers are not regulated here some bad apples found their way to Costa Rica. Unfortunately, due to a few realtors without scruples and others who were outright incompetent some foreigners were taken advantage of. A lot of good real estate people have paid the price for this. Now there are a few self-righteous retirement gurus who recently appeared on the scene who are making a habit of bashing almost all realtors and the idea of buying a home here. Basically these guys don’t have the resources or guts to buy a nice home so they are playing god and trying to dissuade others from purchasing the home or property of their dreams. These people are neophytes and do not know what they are talking about. What they really want is attention and a forum to lure people to their websites.

About a year ago I published a 550-page guidebook (“Christopher Howard’s Guide to Real Estate in Costa Rica”) about the real estate scene in Costa Rica. Four years of research including hundreds of interviews went into writing this book. Virtually everything is covered including how to find a broker. I am not selling anything but just giving advice. Really buying property here is as safe as purchasing in the States provided you take the time to do your homework, do your due diligence, have your lawyer check the title in the registry and use a broker who is a “buyers agent.” All of these measures will ensure the odds of you making a seamless purchase.

Granted not everyone is a buyer. Renters abound here. By no means am I trying to talk people into becoming property owners. However, consider this: a property purchased in a good area and in the path of progress will appreciate in coming years because of Costa Rica’s popularity, unblemished international reputation and fame as a warm-weather destination like Hawaii. The Baby Boomer influx will also continue to drive the real estate market in the future.

Today was the first day of the monthly ARCR seminar for potential retirees. I always make it a point to chat with other lecturers about current trends in Costa Rica and the rest of Central America. I was talking to Charles Zeller who is an expert on moving household goods from the U.S. to Costa Rica for those who choose to retire here. Somehow we started to talk about Panama since Charles has also had a lot of experience moving people there.

The people and companies who promote Panama always make a point of talking about the incentives the country offers retirees. According to the law retirees are entitled to many discounts on a variety of services and products including some tax exonerations on certain items. However, Charles told me that “all that glitters is not gold.”

In Costa Rica a retiree’s household good and imported automobiles are taxed according to established rules and percentages. Charles point out that this process is arbitrary in Panama and a lot of retirees end up paying much more in taxes than they would have paid in Costa Rica despite all of the incentives the Panamanian offers. This came as a complete surprise to me.

After the U.S.military officially pulled out of Panama ten years ago the government began to promote tourism and retirement in order to make up for the sudden loss of revenue. So, they began to offer attractive incentives to draw Baby Boomers to the country. As you can see from the above they are not as attractive as they appear to be.

If you read the on-line chat groups and forums, blogs and English newspapers here you will see countless stories about local crime. The media loves to play up the crime we do have because it attracts viewers and sells newspapers. Let’s face it no country is crime free and crime is increasing all over the world due to the troubled times in which we live. Nobody in their right mind would retire in a country that was riddled with violence.

There is more crime in Costa Rica than in the past. However, if I though my life was in danger I wouldn’t be living here. Fortunately 99% of the violent crime here involves drug disputes and misunderstandings due to alcohol between Costa Ricans. Petty theft does affect both Costa Rican and foreigners. If you take the right precautions you really reduce your chances of having your property stolen. I know many Americans and Canadians who have lived here for years and have never been the victims of a robbery. On the other hand, I know foreigners who have been robbed several times. One has to wonder why some people are always “sitting ducks.”

If you look at the big picture Costa Rica really has a lot less crime than any large American city. Furthermore, when compared to most countries in Latin America Costa Rica really has little crime.

Let’s look at some statistics. Costa Rica has about 10 murders per 100,000 people. El Salvador and Guatemala have over 60. Mexico used to be a retirement haven but fewer and fewer Americans are going there now because crime is out of control. In fact, the northern city of Ciudad Juarez is the second most violent place on earth. That’s worse than Iraq. However, when it comes to violent crime in Latin America Venezuela takes the prize. The murder rate is about 225 per hundred thousand in the city of Caracas alone. Caracas is now considered the most violent city in the world.

I make it a point of keeping up on crime statistics so I can provide the clients on my monthly relocation/retirement tours the most accurate information possible. If you move to Costa Rica and take some simple precautions and use your head, you will minimize the chance of being a crime victim.

I know some people aren’t thrilled to hear this news because it seems that there is a Starbucks on every corner in the United States and in many other countries in the world.

The company that has the franchise rights to Central America will open its first cafés in El Salvador. It is expected that they will be expanding to the neighboring countries within a year or two. Personally, I like some of the products Starbucks offers but find them too expensive. In Costa Rica we already have cafés that are similar like Port Java and the Mac Cafés found inside many of the local MacDonald’s restaurants. The latter actually make a better frappachino coffee than Starbucks. You’d have to try one to understand what I am talking about. I have had many people on my monthly retirement tours try a frappachino at the local Mac Café and agree with me 100%.