Every day more and more people chose Costa Rica as a place to live or retire.
The process goes like this. Usually people come here as tourists and then fall in love with the country and its lifestyle. While others read about Costa Rica or see nature programs on TV which extol the country’s beauty and all it has to offer.
After doing their research on line and reading all of the guidebooks people then decide to make the move. They usually contact a relocation expert or take a retirement tour prior to making the definitive move. Smart individuals also attend the monthly seminar given by the Association of Residents of Costa Rica or ARCR. I include this informative seminar on my monthly relocation/retirement tours. With the information and contacts from the seminar and my tours, people now feel comfortable and have the confidence level to make the big move.
After finally moving here and getting settled in their new home or apartment, the question always arises, “What do I do now?” I am in a new country with a lot of free time and have to find out how to use it. This shouldn’t be a problem since there are hundreds of activities here to stay busy and happy. There is usually a period of adjustment where you have to get use to the way things work in your new country. This is usually the point at which the honeymoon starts to end and you begin to confront a variety of daily situations. Having network of friends and getting involved in some hobby or activity can make all the difference in world in adapting to life in a new country. Your friends will be your support and your activities will keep you occupied.
I would be lying through my teeth if I said Costa Rica was for everyone. But if you make an effort to understand the culture, go with the flow, make friends and most of all have a good sense of humor, you should be able to adjust after the initial honeymoon ends and take advantage of Costa Rica’s incredible “ Pura Vida” lifestyle.
Real Estate is an important part of retiring or moving to Costa Rica. Everyone has to have a place to live whether you rent or buy property. When I originally started my relocation/retirement tours in the 1990s I took my clients to traditional tourist destinations like the volcanoes, Tortuga Island and the Britt Coffee Tour. However, more and more of my clients asked me to show them homes to get an idea of what housing was like here. At their request I decided to include a sampling of properties in the best areas to live.
The most recent book from Christopher Howard, an complete guide to real estate in Costa Rica
Although I have been very successful with my own real estate investments in Costa Rica and recently authored a book on the subject (Christopher Howard’s Guide to Real Estate in Costa Rica) I don’t sell property. Consequently, to avoid a conflict of interest I found a real estate company to select homes we view on the property portion of my tours. I also wanted to connect my clients with a reputable company that would look out 100% for their interests and not pressure them into purchasing property until and if they were ready.
This process was not easy since the real estate scene here is akin to the wild west. My primary interest has always to been to protect my clients at all costs before they fall into the hands of an incompetent or dishonest agent or lose money through a bad investment. I would not be doing my job correctly if I did not provide this service for my clients. If they are successful, I am too. Eventually I found Costa Rica Retirement Vacation Properties who have done a fantastic job for my clients and helped scores of people find their dream homes in paradise.
Don’t get me wrong! The emphasis on my retirement tours is on lifestyle and providing my clients with the best possible unbiased information and contacts and information so that they will be successful if they decide to move here. By the end of my tours people will know whether they want to move here or not.
Many are asking this question especially with other countries in Latin American coming into the picture, the rising cost of living in Costa Rica and an increase in crime. Let me address these issues below and then talk about why Costa Rica is still the best choice.
First none of the other countries has as much to offer as Costa Rica. It is still proven product. I traveled all over Latin America before I moved here in search of a better place and couldn’t find it. Every country had something nice but as a whole Costa Rica was by far the best. As far as the increased cost of living here, you really get what you pay for: better health care, great weather, a better quality of life, a user friendly country for Americans, the only country south of the border with a resident’s association to help foreigners, a proven track record as a place to retire with more American residents per capita than any other country outside of the U.S., first-world medical care at a reduced price and so many more intangibles. Furthermore, costs are synonymous with development. The country has experienced a real come of age over the last 20 years and is also the most popular travel destination in Latin America. As for crime, sure it has increased as in most other places in the world. When compared with Mexico, the other countries in Latin America Costa Rica’s crime is much lower. There is NO crime-free society in the world. Costa Rica is a peaceful country with NO army. How many times do you here negative about Costa Rica in the U.S. News? Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba and other countries seem to be making the news in a negative way, but not Costa Rica.
What still makes Costa popular and Latin America’s top relocation haven? The year-round spring-like weather, the country’s unparalleled beauty and above all lifestyle. The country has been the subject of countless documentaries on the Discovery Channel, National Geographic channel and entertainment programs. However, lifestyle is the main draw. The following catchy phrases reflect the way of life here: The national motto Pura vida (Pure Life), solo bueno (only good things happen here) and Aquí se cura todo (Costa Rica cures everything). Once you have bitten by the lifestyle bug found here, you will become enamored with the country. As one person who took my retirement/relocation tour and eventually moved here stated , ”My days are so rewarding and filled with interesting activities that each day seems like a whole lifetime. You couldn’t drag me back to the States for all of the tea in China. What a country!”
The term Gringo is a noun which is usually synonymous with a person from the United or any foreigner. We have invented a verb from the word gringo which is “gringoed. “What does it mean?
A lot of foreigners complain about the Costa Ricans taking advantage of them in some cases. A lot of these complaints are based on a lack of understanding of the culture and above all not knowing the language. By not learning Spanish you will always be an outsider and never be able to get the most of out living in a foreign country. You will lead sort of a half-ass existence.”
Unfortunately most Americans and Canadians who come don’t speak Spanish and logically gravitate to fellow English speakers because they are the easiest to met. This is good because people can make a lot of new friends this way. This problem is that many of their fellow English speakers are in business here and some of them are dishonest. Just because he or she speaks good English does not make the individual a good person. Over the years, many unscrupulous individuals have set up shop here. We have heard of naive foreigners losing their hard-earned savings to ingenious schemes. Con men prey on newcomers. One crook bilked countless people out of their money by selling a series of non-existent gold mines here and abroad. The guy is still walking the streets today and dreaming up new ways to make money.
One “dangerous breed of animal” you may encounter are a few foreigners between 30 and 60 years of age who are in business but do not have pensions. Most of these people are struggling to survive and have to really hustle to make a living in Costa Rica. Some of them are desperate and will go to almost any means to make money. They may even have a legitimate business but most certainly try to take advantage of you to make a few extra dollars. The majority of complaints we hear concerning people being “ripped off” or pressured into buying real estate are about individuals who fit this description.
So if you decide to retire or invest here be careful of some of the English-speaking expatriates or you may end being “Gringoed.”
Most citizens of the United States and Canada feel comfortable living where they have always resided. Some are lucky enough to have invested in property and have good retirement programs, affordable health insurance, stocks, bonds or IRAs to ensure a good quality of life during their retirement years.
Others may not have been as fortunate. They realize that they may have not planned well and may be a little short on money to maintain their present lifestyle. A simple solution is to try to lower their standard of living and be more frugal in their own country to compensate for poor financial planning and/or bad investments. They can downsize to a smaller home, move to a more affordable but less suitable area, give up their yearly vacations, fire the gardener and cut back on other areas of their life to just scrape by. But what if they could move to another country with the same amount of income and improve their lifestyle dramatically instead of reducing it?
In 2008 three out of five (60%) middle class retirees would outlive their financial assets if they didn’t cut back on spending significantly. Please stop and think about this for a second. Can you imagine a life in retirement where every day you worry that you will live longer than your money lasts? What would you do? How would you allocate your precious resources? Would you cut back on, food or medicine? Both perhaps? The thoughts of a life like this are just plain frightening.
The math gets ugly when it comes to gaining back a loss. (Note: a 50% drop requires a 100% gain to break even) Today the S&P sits at 996, p 30% from the March low but with 70% more to climb to reach the 2007 high. It’s going to take a lot of earnings to justify that kind of rally.
The other major source of funding that people planned on for retirement was the equity built up in their homes. Retirees expected to sell their appreciated home asset and use those funds for a new acquisition in a warmer climate and then bank the rest for additional income in the golden years. We all know what has happened to the values of most homes in North America. Retirees planning to free up cash for a retirement purchase will likely recover much of their investment.
The bottom line is that we don’t have to leave our future in the hands of the uncertain and volatile real estate and stock markets. There are concrete things that we can do to take control and assure a higher quality of life in retirement (or anytime) for less cost.
Living in the right country outside the United States can make all the difference in the world between just subsisting and maintaining the lifestyle to which you are accustomed. Costa Rica may offer a viable alternative.
