This is an introduction to the advantages you’ll have when you retire in Costa Rica. Many foreigners and foreign companies have found our beautiful country to be one of the best places to retire, live and work, and do business.
Why do people retire in Costa Rica?
Democracy and political stability.
Costa Rica has a long history of stable, democratic government. During the troubles of the Cold War, many international organizations found our country to be a safe base of operations for their aid efforts in Latin America.
Geographic location
It is only 3 hours to fly here from many places in the southern U.S. Many non-stop flights are available to South America and Europe from Costa Rica.
Qualified & Bilingual Personnel
Costa Ricans place a very high value on education. There are many qualified professionals and technical personnel. Many young professionals have received a bilingual education from grade school and through high school in English, German or French. If you retire here, you will find many English-speaking Ticos to help you in many common situations.
Excellent communications
No matter where you are in the country, communications are incredibly good here. You’ll find widely available telephones and the Internet.
The Weather
Believe it or not, Ticos most people retire here because the weather is so good. BUT, make sure you pick the right microclimate for your needs and taste.
Over the years, at GoDutch realty, we have guided hundreds of retirees in their relocation.
Beautiful homes
Homes in Costa Rica, and especially on the west side of the Central Valley, you can buy a beautiful home at an affordable cost. You’ll love working with our GoDutch agents.
A guideline for you
Do due diligence before you arrive.
The internet makes it a lot easier nowadays. Our website is full of info about living, retiring, and purchasing real estate here. But before you start looking for properties, do your due diligence.
Retirement Funds
Use your retirement funds way before you are ready to retire, just to get your foot in the door.
Travel
Make a trip for a couple of weeks and get to know the country, the people, the culture, and the language. Rent a car and stay in different locations during this trip. Absorb as much as you can before you decide on where to live.
Location
Concentrate on finding the right location for you, with the right amenities. Costa Rica offers so many different areas and micro-climates to live with different temperatures, rainfall, city, mountain, and beach, but are they all for you? What are you expecting from your retirement?
Realtors
Try to pinpoint as well as you can what your needs are through email with the realtors who answer your emails fast and punctually. Email is an incredible tool to make life so much easier once you arrive here. Look for a realtor who has offices in different locations, or belongs to a network of realtors, so you can be guided through the process of finding the right location for you.
Relocation Tours
Many Relocation tours are offered over the internet. Most don’t have a clue what they’re doing. Some are retirees like you and think that after living here for a year they know the right way and make some money on the side. The internet also offers many groups, forums, and online newspapers for you to see who is good at this service and who is not.
ARCR Seminar
All participants of the Christopher Howard relocation tour also participate in the ARCR Costa Rica seminar. One Seminar, One Source to learn everything you need to know about traveling, living, retiring, or working in Costa Rica, every last Thursday and Friday of the month.
The Beach?
Of course, it is great to live at the beach. But if you don’t surf every day, you’ll become an alcoholic from sheer boredom. Did you have a stroke recently and need to be close to a hospital? The beach is not the place to be. Are you looking for wining and dining? But do you hate getting stuck in traffic? Your realtor can point you in the right direction on where to live in the Central Valley instead of the beach.
MLS Countrywide
Once you have located the area you’d like to live in, your realtor can find you the right property. We have a Multiple listing system here, so make sure you work with a realtor who works easily with other realtors in that area.
Too Many
Do Not contact 20 different realtors to look at the property. If a realtor shows you he/she is knowledgeable and is willing to go with you all the way till the end, stick with this realtor. You’ll be treated better and your realtor will do all he/she can to find your home at the right price. Touring properties with different realtors might find you the right property, but each realtor will go the easy way, and just show what is readily available. Ar GoDutch Realty, we tell it as it is.
Attorney
Make an informed choice of attorney for purchasing Costa Rica real estate as well as for your residency permits.
Money
Bring some cash with you, it might be necessary to take a property off the market with a couple of thousand dollars. US checks will take 3 – 4 weeks to clear, so are not good for that. Please use escrow when you purchase. Now with all the money laundering laws and controls, that will make the whole relocation process much easier for you.
Patience
Bring a lot of patience and an open mind. Nothing here is like it is back home. Everything works differently as this is another country, with different people, a different language, and a different culture. You are a guest here, so try to speak their language. NEVER shout at the locals, it will not get you anywhere. NEVER say: back home we do this and we do that. Back home is back home. If you’re not willing to adjust to their ways of doing things, stay back home. Once you understand that, it’s going to be a lot of fun to find that because it’s different than back home, it’s why you want to live here.
Adjust
We have found that most ex-pats who leave again after a couple of years cannot adjust to living here because the first year was too hard with too many difficulties. That’s the reason you want to use a GoDutch realtor, as 95% of our clients stay here. We help them through difficult times.
These are important things to think about when searching for properties or considering an investment or just planning to retire. We are the experts and love to assist. Contact us now!
