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There is a secret in Costa Rica Real Estate where the seeds of a great worldwide community are planted.  Artists, visionaries, and creative people of all types have visited, fell in love with this small corner of the world, and stayed.  Among this community of just a couple thousand people are musicians, DJs, fire dancers, circus performers, architects, Hollywood celebrities and rock stars, film producers, actors, singers, massage therapists, yoga teachers, acupuncturists, fashion designers, supermodels, painters, sculptors, and conservationists, all here with the same dream of creating their own vision of paradise.

Montezuma Cove - Costa Rica For more information on Montezuma visit:  http://www.montezumabeach.com/

Living in a dream…

Within a 30 minute drive of the center of the area, you can find a full-sized flying trapeze with occasional shows and classes, at least two recording studios, an organic food market, some of the best scuba diving on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, unbelievable sport fishing, three dance studios, two acupuncturists, a chiropractor, five or six yoga studios, four wildlife conservation projects, and some of the world’s best surfing in year-round eighty degree water.  The food is a variety of world cuisine including five or six real Italian pizzerias, fresh bakeries, a few sushi places, Indian and Middle Eastern food, several vegetarian restaurants, plus dozens of local seafood restaurants.

What you will not find here are McDonalds or any other famous brand restaurants and stores, casinos or brothels, traffic, shopping malls, or towering condominium complexes and mega-hotels.  The air and water are incredibly clean because there is no industry within two or three hours drive.  Jaguars and five other types of wild cats still live in the area, as well as several types of parrots and toucans, dolphins and whales, two types of monkeys, anteaters, and many other mammals, and birds.  The sky is often so clear that on a cloudless night, one can see the Milky Way as if from a boat in the middle of the ocean.
 

Face Painting - Cost Rica Style

Destined to become a center of art and culture…  The area is in a tropical transition zone between the too-dry-and-over-developed north, and the too-humid-and-buggy south.  How did such a perfect place escape over-development?  Because it’s more remote than the coastal areas farther north in Costa Rica, the area has lagged in development and pricing, and the community that lives here likes it that way.  Now, however, the area has been discovered and the prices have been rapidly escalating, nearly doubling every year for the last five years running.  Compared to land in California or Hawaii, it still seems like a bargain, but the quality of life is better because it’s so cheap to live here.  However, these property prices won’t last forever.  The general consensus is that the area is going to become sort of a luxury artist eco-community, eventually so expensive that average people won’t be able to move here, although that time is still 5-10 years off.  Until then, everyone considers it to be like Maui 20 years ago.  Many people have the vision to realize that areas around the world that have a lot of art and culture eventually become extremely expensive (think Soho, Williamsburg, Laguna Beach, Venice, Santa Barbara, etc.)  To serve such an inspiring community, a new type of Real Estate company has formed.

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Social Entrepreneurism in Real Estate…

Tropisphere Real Estate is an established Real Estate company that aims to attract to this part of Costa Rica more people who share this creative, holistic vision of life and community inspired by the idea of “Social Entrepreneurism”.  According to Ashoka, a leading organization funding and supporting Social Entrepreneurism projects worldwide: "Social entrepreneurs are people whose creativity and drive open up major new possibilities in education, health, the environment, and other areas of human need, just as business entrepreneurs lead innovation in commerce, social entrepreneurs drive social change."

Tropisphere is taking the lead in the Southern Nicoya Peninsula to show that business leaders will be more successful as well as more fulfilled personally when their efforts are geared not just towards making money, but to improving their community and environment.  Believing that Costa Rica is one of the greatest countries in the world, and the country has opened its arms to foreigners moving and living here, so we should express our gratitude by giving back to Costa Rica.  Thus the company donates 10% of all its sales commissions to a variety of local conservation and school improvement projects.  This is a huge commitment. 

As successful entrepreneurs, the partners know that the reality is that money is needed to fund such projects, which include an educational program working with local conservation groups such as Rainsong Wildlife Sanctuary in local schools to teach kids about the animals that live there, a recycling plan, and a long-range program to reintroduce animals and birds that have become extinct in this part of Costa Rica, such as tapirs, spider monkeys, and scarlet macaws. 
 

Creating your own Rainforest Paradise… Worldwide, many environmentalists and conservationists have come to the conclusion that the best way to protect the rainforest is just to buy it and protect it, one person at a time.  So the focus is on finding buyers who want to immigrate to Costa Rica and protect or possibly even plant and re-grow their own rainforest, which is a very rewarding experience.  Imagine starting with a barren cow pasture and seeing towering trees filled with birds and rare animals living there only a few years later.  In the tropics, this takes less than ten years to do.  Not only is it cheap, fun and good for the planet, but it adds massive value to the land, so it’s a great investment. There is a way to balance the desire to be successful at business and support a family while also working to improve the local community and the earth in general.  All of us at Tropisphere have found that we’re as inspired by the community projects we’re working with as with pursuing our successful business.

But how much does Paradise cost…?

So many people want to move to Costa Rica right now that there are several good books written about the subject, and countless websites with the details, so we don’t need to list all the specifics again here.  Suffice to say that both the Costa Rican government and the people are generally very friendly towards foreigners moving here.  The hospitals are as good as in the U.S.  The dentistry is great (our local village dentist even does laser teeth whitening!)  We have four private schools, which cost around $150/mo per student.  The stores have imported food from all over the world such as whole-wheat Italian noodles, sun-dried tomatoes, marinated Greek olives, French and Chilean wine, and Belgian beer.  It’s gourmet all the way here in this part of the rainforest, so buying property here doesn’t mean you have to live like Tarzan (although some do.)

The property pricing is all over the place, mostly depending on how close to the beach a property is, or how spectacular the ocean view.  Prices range from $300 and up per square meter, to less than $1 per square meter for larger fincas and farms 15-20 minutes inland.  Many people move to Costa Rica wanting to be on the beach, but then find it’s more comfortable and peaceful a a bit inland, where it’s cooler and less humid.  Unless you plan to surf or swim every single day, the extra comfort and tranquility are worth the short drive to the waves.

As an example of various properties currently available, there are 1000 m2 title lots within a 3-minute walk of a surfing beach available for $130,000.  There are spectacular 1-2 Ha (2.5 acre) ocean view jungle lots near Montezuma for $200,000-$250,000.  There is a 30 Ha (74 acres) jungle farm with an all wood two bedroom house for $425,000.  There is a $1 million 85 Hectare (212 acre) private nature reserve with stunning ocean views next to the Cabo Blanco National Park, but the owner will only sell to a conservationist who isn’t going to chop the land up into tiny lots.  This would be ideal for an eco-retreat.  There are many smaller jungle lots for $35,000-$100,000, but on the flip side, there is a beachfront mansion on 9000 m2 of land that rents for $1000 per day (to such recent guests as Gwenyth Paltrow), selling for $3.2 million.  For someone who would like a ready-made business, there’s an ocean view boutique hotel with a restaurant, six cabinas, and owner’s quarters for $550K.  This is a one minute walk to the beach.

One very special offering is in a growing beachside holistic community near Montezuma.  The owner is selling lots for less than half of market value, but only to people who she thinks will fit into her community vision.  She’s looking for vegetarian restauranteurs, someone who wants to set up a meditation retreat, a yoga center, organic gardeners, etc.  She’s asking as little as $25/m2 for lots that are a thirty second walk to the cutest little white sand beach in Montezuma, which also has some of the best snorkeling in the area..

How to pay the bills while living here…

While it’s possible for a family to live in Costa Rica like Adam and Eve, living on your own fruit and fishing in your own personal Garden of Eden (and some do), more likely you’re going to want to have a car, some travel expenses, etc…  It’s reasonable to think that a family of four can live well here for around $1200-$2500 per month.
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Getting a work permit in Costa Rica isn’t so easy, but you can own your own business here and keep the profit.  There are several sure-fire strategies for earning enough to live here:

Eco-cabina rental business.  Costa Rica has recently replaced Hawaii as the world’s top eco/adventure tourism destination, and as a result, the country is desperately short of hotel rooms and rental houses.  You can build rental cabinas for $5,000 - $10,000 each that rent for $30-100/night.  Tropisphere’s subsidiary Ricobau will import hand-crafted cabinas for you from Bali, made of recycled Teak wood, that can be assembled in a few days.  Or, imagine creating a “treehouse retreat” of houses on stilts nestled within the rainforest canopy.  To do this successfully, you must have a good web site, and there are several great web designers in the area to help you. Home Rental Business.  One great strategy is to build two houses, one large and one small.  Rent them both and move back and forth into whichever one isn’t rented.  While living expenses are low in Costa Rica, rental prices are high, so it’s easy to make enough to live on while also keeping the place to yourself much of the year and thus having plenty of time off to enjoy living in paradise. Build and Sell an eco-friendly house.  If you buy a piece of land that’s large enough to subdivide, then you can build a house and sell it with the land its on for a good profit.  Because of the rapidly increasing land values, many people have built a house and sold it for more than they paid for their entire property.  By developing in an eco-friendly manner by planting animal-attracting trees, you can improve the land and make a profit at the same time.  Tropisphere builds houses and can help you with this even if you have no building experience. Internet Business.  For those people who have internet skills, consider running a business back in your own country, but through the internet.  We have ISDN service now, and they’re promising DSL with a month or two.  Virtual warehouse companies can store and ship for you.  Consultants can work from almost anywhere.  There is even an artist here who produces his paintings in Cabuya and ships them to his customers in the U.S.

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Why paradise isn’t for everyone…

Many people move to Costa Rica thinking that it’s going to be like being on vacation all the time, and if you have enough money, then that’s certainly possible. 
But day-to-day life here takes more effort for several reasons: 

• The bureaucracy here makes dealing with government processes slow and inefficient, although some of that has been put on the internet recently, such as bill paying and doing property title searches.
• The climate is brutal on high tech equipment and even clothing.  Forget about keeping a garage full of old stuff.  Bugs mold, and mildew will destroy it in a season or two unless you run a dehumidifier.
• Pretty thievery is common in all the beach areas of Costa Rica.  Unless you’re in the business of selling drugs, petty theft is just about the only crime here.  The area is so safe that single young women and even little kids frequently are seen hitchhiking.  But if you hang your Billabong surf trunks on a clothesline near the beach, there’s a good chance they’ll be gone by morning.  To combat this, some houses have decorative iron bars on their windows, an ADT security system, a big dog or two, or a caretaker living on the property to keep watch.
• Substance Abuse is fairly common among the ex-pat community that moves here.  The bars have a party atmosphere that is contagious and everyone is always in a good mood, which somehow leads to over consumption of just about everything.  People who cannot control their addictive habits shouldn’t move here.
• Creepy Crawlies such as scorpions, spiders, and snakes are fairly common here.  Costa Rica has 12 types of scorpions, but none are dangerous.  Their sting is similar to a wasp.  Scorpions in the U.S. are much more deadly and dozens of people die in Arizona from them every year.  There are no dangerous spiders in Costa Rica.  The most poisonous spiders in the world lives in the U.S. (the black widow and brown recluse.)  In this part of Costa Rica, venomous snakes are uncommon and I’ve been unable to find anyone who’s ever been bitten.
• Boredom affects some people who move here, especially people who are from big cities and are used to having dozens of bookstores, movie theaters, shopping malls, and other types of cultural stimulation.  The community here is still in its formative stages.  People spend a lot of time at the beach, hiking in the jungles, working on their gardens and homes, pursuing their hobbies, and having dinner parties with friends.  The closest big city, San Jose, is over five hours away by car.  To some people, the lack of stress can be very stressful.
• Snake Oil Salesmen are common in Costa Rica.  Because the legal and justice systems are still relatively primitive and there’s so much money to be made investing in real estate, there are many people here, including foreigners and even famous name brand real estate companies who are “ethically challenged.”  People sometimes attempt to sell land that either they don’t own, has already been sold to someone else, or has a judicial lien against it.  Most contracts are written in Spanish.

Before buying, get a good lawyer who speaks your language, not a corner shack lawyer in a small town.  Tropisphere can recommend several good ones.  Talk to the local ex-pats about which realtors are honest.  These are small towns and most people living here know who the sharks are.

Taking the plunge… While its not for everyone, moving here certainly makes it possible to retire 10-20 years earlier than in the U.S. or Europe, while you’re still relatively young.  Most of us who have done it can’t ever imagine moving home to deal with endless bills, traffic, pollution, crime, and a constant stream of bad news on T.V.  It’s easy to get used to the year-round warm waters, parrots and monkeys in your back yard, and relaxing in secluded waterfalls. If you love nature and are looking for a more tranquil way of life, then Costa Rica is a great place to live or possibly raise a family.

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