patrick.net

Too late, prices spiked because of the rich gringos... who spiked it.. other rich gringos who bought up land and are charging US prices. Yes there was time many did what your thinking..

My surfing buddies go down to Costa Rica every year.. even rentals for rich surfer dudes is expensive compared to pre-bubble years..

Why not move down there for at least a year and rent first?

The grass is not always greener........

I moved to Brazil with my Brazillian wife 3 years ago. Prior to that I was looking at Panama as I did not expect to ever be able to retire in the states. The people and experience here in Brazil has been great, but we are moving back. The cost of living here, for the gringo lifestyle, is too expensive. Brazil has a 100%+ VAT tax that makes all consumer goods cost double what they are in the states. If you want to live like the locals you can live cheaply. But if you want to continue with the same lifestyle why not some place in Florida. There are some beautiful, tropical places there you can buy now and rent until you are ready to retire.

I was in Arenal for about 9 months in 2006. I've kept up with some of the local windsurfing guys I used to sail with since I left. I hosted one of my buddies here in NZ a couple years and we talked a lot about Costa Rica since I still have the Costa Rica under consideration for my own retirement. So here is my 2 cents.

Do you speak Spanish? Learn first, really learn. I am lucky that my wife is totally fluent. My almost totally forgotten kitchen french sure wouldn't have been much use. You just won't know what is going on in a latin country as an English speaker only. Don't even consider less than a couple months initial exploration of the country. It's a small country but surprisingly diverse. The high mountains make for many microclimates and there are many distinct regions with totally different feels. After you spend enough time on the ground that you know where you want to live, RENT, RENT, RENT. At least a year, preferably 2. Something like 70% of people who move to Costa Rica leave within a year. They were totally unprepared for life in a third world country. I watched plenty of the aging silicon chested bleach blond big hairs who have never lived more than 10 minutes from Macy's and a beauty parlor taking the real estate tours when I lived there. What a joke. They wouldn't last 2 weeks.

Don't buy into the high crime, they hate Americans, things have changed thing. There is always crime in third world countries. There was always crime in Costa Rica, anyone saying otherwise is lying. Be sensible you won't get into trouble. If you want to hang out at a major drug dealing location at 3 in the morning like the teen age girls that got kidnapped a few years ago then so be it. There is always a level of resentment towards foreign people who are more well off in any poor country. I found there was more resentment towards the Germans than Americans if it's any consolation. Being loud, obnoxious, living in gated enclaves, and treating the locals like dirt doesn't do much to make people popular. Americans are some of the worst tourists and retirees. They really are.

Costa Rica is the most expensive country in central America. It won't be dirt cheap. It won't be expensive, but not dirt cheap either. Even so there are still very good deals on housing. The big trick is being on the ground first and finding your way around. Like any place the out of towners are going to get fleeced.

The biggest problem you will face is keeping your house occupied. Houses that are left unoccupied will be robbed. Simple as that. If you plan on being away on a regular basis then you either need live in help or be in a gated community. The gated community option will be much more expensive.

This guy is hustling for himself a little bit but it's a pretty comprehensive web site about Costa Rica. http://www.therealcostarica.com/

Why are you limiting to Mexico or Costa Rica? If close proximity isn't a problem then there are still plenty of places where you can retire pretty cheap further afield.

There are a lot of other concerns besides real estate to plan for and look at if you retire overseas. Getting out of your California residency before you retire would be a big one. Move overseas without establishing residency in someplace like Texas or Montana first and you will pay CA taxes for the rest of your life. Banking is another big one. Especially how easy it is for the US to look into your affairs or have another government freeze your funds overseas. This is a strike against Costa Rica and Panama for me. They are far too cozy with the US banking system. It's probably a bigger concern to me than you since I have multiple citizenships and assets in more than one country. But it should be considered. These guys are pretty paranoid but have some good info on the subject. http://www.panamalaw.org/index.html Another big website with tons of information is International Living. They are doing lots of hustling of products and some of the information is wrong or out of date, but there's lots to look at. Association of Americans Residing abroad is limited but more up to date http://www.aaro.org/ . They are of interest because they offer international health insurance.

Hope any of this was useful.

Thanks folks,

You guys rock! I do speak fluent Spanish and have been to Mexico, Chile, Peru and Uruguay. I am also looking at places in Uruguay and Argentina since they are cheaper than Costa Rica and have richer night life and more of a European culture and feel. I think one reason why Costa Rica got so expensive is the proximity to the USA. Argentina is a 12 hour flight from the USA and even from Miami is like a 10 hour flight while Costa Rica is only a 2-3 hour flight from Texas and Florida so the rich gringos are buying up Costa Rica thus inflating prices.

I did not realize Costa Rica was dangerous- I thought that it was the safest country in Central America based on travel reports say compared to Colombia or Brazil where you do need to be super careful.

Funny this thread got brought up. My wife and I have been considering moving to Costa Rica as well.

We have a trip booked next May for a week. If we really enjoy it, we're going to go down for 3 months as a sample run / explore what the country has to offer. After which, we'll plan a year trip or permanent move.

Rentals are VERY affordable if you don't live in the touristy areas. You can even buy small farms for cheap. My co-worker said not to look online - as those prices are extremely inflated, and that when you get down there and talk to the locals, you'll find killer deals on nice places. Hostels run $10/night.

So I'd imagine you could live comfortably down there for very little - but like the others have said, if you live in a gated community in a big house, it's not going to be very different than the states.

You could go to Belize..they speak English :-D supposed it feels like an island but it isn't.

Scott Burns writes about retirement in Mexico...I started reading some of his stuff 10 years ago but that was before the whole bubble and the drug war
http://www.chron.com/business/article/Scott-Burns-A-housing-trend-with-sad-origins-1699716.php

Mexico can be good. Don't even think of going into Juarez. Monterrey I hear is very modern and nice but if the cartels turn it into another Juarez it will be a tragedy. From what I understand the vast majority of homes in Mexico are either self built or paid in cash (or combination). Mortgages are pretty rare. I think there might be a law that foreigners cannot own coastal property within a given amount of miles but I'm sure that it should be able to be rented.

bob2356 says

The biggest problem you will face is keeping your house occupied. Houses that are left unoccupied will be robbed. Simple as that. If you plan on being away on a regular basis then you either need live in help or be in a gated community. The gated community option will be much more expensive.

This is definitely true. A friend owns a place near Nosara. It was not "cheap" at all. Living in the nicer/safer areas down there is not cheap. They also ended up having to build a small house on the property and have a live-in family there to keep the place from being robbed. Every house also has a locked room with a steal door where you keep valuables when you are gone.

It was nice down there, but no way I could live there. I traveled all over the country, far too third world for me - lots of rich white people and poor brown people.

My husband's uncle left the Philippines during the Marcos fallout with loads of money and bought a hotel down there, he hid down there for the rest of his life. Shady place.

If you want value, go to Panama. I recently purchased 2 acres with ocean view about 1/4 mile from coast for 35k.
I bought at Azuero Penninsula area which is still cheap compared to other parts of Panama.

Guess a question I'd ask is what are your reasons for wanting to do this? Is it because you want a cheap house and live affordably? Or is it because you want to live somwhere warm/hot year-round? If the answer is that you just want to live somewhere cheap then I would agree with others that there are MANY parts of the US that are very cheap compared to the overpriced coasts. I know because I grew up in NC and competitively speaking, North Carolina might as well be a different country because the cost of living there is on order of a factor of 4 and 5 times cheaper than Cali.

As an example, I have a relative from Memphis. When she came she brought along a Memphis newspaper for kicks. In the back were real estate listings. If you were willing to live in shady areas there were houses- and I'm talking BIG 1920's houses that would set you back a million dollars in the Bay Area for $10,000. Even in the nicer areas nice houses could be had for 100k or less. That's just the thing. If you're willing to NOT live in Cali, NY, MA, or any of the other bubbly US states and areas you can buy a decent house in a nice area for well under 150k AND be living somewhere that's also cheaper in many other ways.

My Wife and I have spent the past 4-5 years scouting out other cities and states ranging from TX, NM, NC, TN, and GA. All of the areas we looked at had houses under 150k. All of the places we looked were in medium sized cities and most were near universities.

So again- if all you're looking for is a cheap house then the US has got that covered. You just have to "cut the cord" and get away from the coasts.

There can always be some form of bias in reporting. If it bleeds it reads. Any time someone says an area isn't exactly safe that might be the exception. Not all of one country is the same. It's funny because people think that way all of the place. I met some in China that nearly thought that all of CA catches fire each year !

I'm not dismissing going overseas but if you are JUST looking for cheaper home prices by all means look domestically.

All I can say is, driving around Costa Rica for a week of our 2 week vacation, we were stopped 3 times by the police and bribed for money!

I have lived in Mexico and Costa Rica has always been the envy of many Latin Americans for its qualities.
I have a classmate who has a small hotel near a national park there and it looks great.
My American friends who have lived in Mexico also said that generally speaking Costa Rica has all the positives of Mexico and none of the negatives.
Let's face it, the Phillipines are a very long plane ride away from here.
Panama is a pretty nice place I have heard. So, that would be one more to investigate.
Among the Mexican states, only Baja California Sur is where I would consider safe enough to relocate to. The summers are hot, but so are some states in the USA.
Although I visit often I like renting or staying in inexpensive hotels, and even prefer it to staying for free with my friends because I have more flexibility. I would not spend a lot of money to buy a place there if I knew where I could rent one.
One thing that seems fairly common is the old folks who retire to these locales pass away and the places come up for sale.
In general, I would choose Costa Rican people over Mexicans, because Mexicans were brainwashed that their poverty was caused by us. Costa Ricans don't think this way.
However, in the Latin culture, it's a common thread that getting something from the guy by subterfuge is not only OK, it's almost considered a sport. So, watch your wallet, in every sense of the word. Be extremely cautious with buyiing land and etc. Others have commented on the danger of leaving the place so it will be cleaned out or worse, squatters will claim it.

@bob2356

Very good advice. I have to agree.

@Zlxr

Bohol Island is nice too (but quiet)!

Here is some land I found in Costa Rica and the developer has an interesting travel blog on Costa Rica:

http://www.pacificlots.com/

He wants 40k-90k for land in southern Pacific coastal area of Costa Rica near the newly built highway and future airport.

In his blog:

http://www.pacificlots.com/Costa-Rica-Blog/

He discusses Costa Rica versus other expat places like Panama and Ecuador. Very interesting. For me, I want to expat when I retire to a warm sunny coastal place that does not cost 20 million USD for ocean view/front property and that has a friendly safe expat community. I do speak fluent Spanish so thats not an issue and I travel frequently to Latin America.

I think that I will rent first before I buy when I consider expat to find out whether or not I like a place. Good advice. For me, I really like Peru, Chile and Uruguay when I spent time visiting- interesting things to do and great food. Peru is the most third world and cheapest so this would not be my first choice. Uruguay is quite modern and safe.

In any case, moving to a tax safe US state like Florida or Texas would be a wise bet as recommended before expat overseas.

corntrollio says

bob2356 says

Driving in Costa Rica is slow, frustrating, and dangerous to some degree. Roads are poor, very potholed, many unpaved, and more than a few impassable without a land rover. Liberia is something like 150 miles from San Jose. Most travel guides say 3 hours, I've never made it under 4, usually 5. Heavy rain and all bets are off. Average 30 miles an hour on the Pan Am highway is about right.

I found the Pan American highway to be of better quality than many roads in California.

The road to Monteverde where lots of expat Americans live, sure, it's not paved. It takes a while, even though it's not that far.

I agree the surface of the Pan Am is in pretty decent shape. Excellent shape by central america road standards. The problem is lots of towns, mucho traffic, trucks in very dubious mechanical condition, buses, agriculture equipment, accidents, constant road work, and the inevitable police stops. I've never managed to average over 50 mph usually closer to 30-40. The road to Monteverde from the Pan Am isn't bad at all, but coming from Tilaran it's almost impassable even with 4wd. That's in the dry season.

corntrollio says

es, I'd agree with this. This is true for almost any country, of course. Think about it from the other perspective and imagine foreigners being suckered into buying in the nasty parts of Detroit or a ghetto part of some city here.

That's actually funny, because just last week I was talking to someone here in NZ who was trying very hard to sell me on buying houses in Memphis for 30k that rent for 800+ per month. I declined that amazing opportunity, pointing out that I would continue my rather dull and unimaginative financial plan of buying houses in very nice neighborhoods in the Rio Grande valley for 120k that rent for 1300-1400. I was informed that I obviously didn't understand the opportunity being offered to me. Yep.

bob2356 says

That's actually funny, because just last week I was talking to someone here in NZ who was trying very hard to sell me on buying houses in Memphis for 30k that rent for 800+ per month. I declined that amazing opportunity, pointing out that I would continue my rather dull and unimaginative financial plan of buying houses in very nice neighborhoods in the Rio Grande valley for 120k that rent for 1300-1400. I was informed that I obviously didn't understand the opportunity being offered to me. Yep.

Parts of Memphis are shitholes. I'm guessing the idea was to slumlord them? Section 8? I'm skeptical as to whether they actually rent for that amount otherwise.

Section 8 can be lucrative in some cases, but you have to know what you're doing. It's probably more than an inexperienced landlord can handle, but there is an art to it. The tenants can't be *that* bad since they will get thrown out of the program for certain types of misconduct.

However, being a landlord from far away can be difficult generally. Hard to know if your property manager is on the take, for one thing.

Your plan is not bad.

It’s so sad; that some participants in this discussion are living in “Wild West” on 20 miles radius and world is known for them only from movies and negative statistics, stories. Everything outside seems to be just zombie territory. Get your ass and travel, travel, travel… we can talk later.

Ever consider Chile or Argentina? I hear Argentina has the best steak in the world :-D