I recently had an enlightening conversation with one of our clients and I asked him: “How did you decide on Costa Rica?” and his response was very analytical and logical, and eye-opening for somebody that lives full-time in Costa Rica.
As a background and to contextualize his response, keep in mind that he is from Central Europe. His response below:
“I started thinking first about Italy, there are several beautiful places in Italy and areas that are very beautiful but only during certain times of the year. A home there would become usable only part of the year, since the rest of the year the climate and conditions would be almost the same as where I am from, therefore it would not become a full-year vacation home. I wanted somewhere that I know I could come and enjoy at ANY time of the year. Therefore, I decided to get an old-style earth globe, and draw an imaginary stripe of 10 degrees north and south of the Equator, to find a place that would have warm climates year-round…
The north and central africa and the middle east are out of the question for obvious reasons. I found myself looking at gorgeous places like Bali, but they are too far away, travel is not the best around to those places, and there would be significant language barriers also. Hawaii was an obvious choice, but it is too expensive, too american and too developed, I wanted somewhere more natural. Then it’s ocean all around, and then you hit central and south america. Colombia and Venezuela are also out for political reasons and travel is also quite long, the north of Brazil has almost no available locations to think about, their developed areas are more to the center of the country.
Then that leaves you with Central America. Easy plane rides to any location from different travel hubs in the USA, so getting there is a positive.
Peninsula Papagayo, Costa Rica
Guatemala has security problems, and their beach locations are not that famous. Honduras also not known for their beach locations and they are too close to Guatemala. El Salvador has gang problems, and also too close to Guatemala. Then you come to Nicaragua, there are places that are supposed to be beautiful, but you have Ortega, the Sandinistas and a whole array of problems there. Not the place where I want to own a home.
Then this leaves you with Panama and Costa Rica. Both have certain pros and cons, but evidently the pros steered me towards Costa Rica. Political stability, long-term democracy, clear laws for owning land by foreigners, beautiful places to visit, and an array of options to choose from when selecting a piece of land, from independent locations, to developed resorts. The people are friendly, communication is easier since a lot of them speak at least some english, and there are gorgeous places to own a home. This was definitely the choice”
This was overall a very interesting and thorough explanation, and heart-warming for a native Costa Rican to hear.
To learn more about how to build your dream home in Costa Rica, click here!
