Live in Costa Rica Blog
  • An expat finds happiness and success in Costa Rica
    Rory is from a small town outside of Chicago. He was banking on retiring and cashing in on his real estate investments that he had made years earlier in Florida. He had about $800,000 dollars on paper plus a pension and thought that would give him a good nest egg to retire comfortably. Well you [...]

  • New Airport Terminal will make life easier for Guanacaste Retirees
    The best secondary airport in Central America was inaugurated this January in Liberia, Costa Rica. It now serves tourists going to destinations in Guanacaste, Monteverde, La Fortuna and other locations in the area. The new terminal will also be used by the many retirees and other foreigners living in the Costa Rica’s Pacific Northwest. The [...]

  • Glossary of bureaucratic agencies for retirees and others who want to obtain permits to build in Costa Rica
    It helps to be familiar with the alphabet soup of regulatory agencies you will be dealing with during the permitting process. Following, a brief list: MINAET (www.minaet.go.cr): The Ministerio del Ambiente, Energía, y Telecomunicaciones, or Minstery of Environment, Energy, and Telecommunications. This is the big cheese when it comes to environmental regulation in Costa Rica. [...]

  • Retirees who want to build a home should be familiar with the permitting process
    There is no one, single way to do the permitting process, and there is no single entry point. How you do permitting will depend a lot on who you hire and how much you’re willing to spend. Many of the procedures can be carried out in parallel, either legally or extra-legally. Permitting any sizable construction [...]

  • Advice for Retirees and foreign developers who intend to build in Costa Rica
    From 2006 to 2009 there was an incredible explosion in construction in Costa Rica. Don’t let that fool you: Costa Rica is still one of the most difficult countries in the world to build in. In addition to being expensive in terms of fees and materials, the main hang-up that developers and home-builders face is [...]

  • Retirees can obtain title insurance when purchasing a home in Costa Rica
    Title insurance is a relatively new concept for Costa Rica. Until only recently, it was rather difficult to get title insurance in Costa Rica. It is not required to have title insurance when purchasing a property since the properties are usually purchase by foreigners in cash Now, there are some very good options for obtaining [...]

  • Some Retirees will be please to know that Carl’s Jr. now has restaurants in Costa Rica
    Carl’s Jr., has opened three outlets in Costa Rica and plans to keep growing locally. Currently they have a very strong presence in Mexico with more than 130 stores. The chain intends to keep expanding its operations into Latin America. Currently they have overseas outlets outlets in Panama, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Russia, Turkey, [...]