How the Costa Rica Idea was Born – What made us choose Costa Rica as the place to live?

It all started when I received a bonus at work. I had a stellar sales year in 2007. I received a fairly large commission and a free trip to London (I’ll post later about how I extended the trip to Ireland and Scotland). After returning from the trip, I had a huge decision to make, what to do with my brimming savings account. I started by checking out money markets and CD’s. It is really hard being an average American and figuring out the varying and multiple types of fiscal systems that are available to us. I’m a pretty sharp pencil and I found myself confused with at least one stipulation of every option. While the money market advertisement stated that you would gain 2.3%, you actually only gain 1% annually. If the CD pays ‘x’ amount then you need to pay the taxes on this amount, etc. etc. I found it hard to invest and actually make money.

So, I reverted back to what was always known as the tried and true, land. There’s only so much of it right? This was in early 2008 when the real estate bust had not yet become widely advertised. Foreclosure news was on the news but framed as citizens overspend and have excessive debt. I researched property in several states that I thought I could live in, simply. I knew that having a garden was important to me and that a long growing season would be beneficial. I also wanted to move away from the smog and grit of the city. I felt that with as much cash as I had that I should be able to get at least 10 acres in Tennessee or 5 acres in Oregon. No such luck! I searched for weeks on available properties on landandfarm.com and other various real estate sites. It was impossible to buy any acreage at all for under $70,000. I take that back, there were several properties that were really cheap in Nevada but I wasn’t interested in cleaning the atom bomb residue off of my dishes every day.

One day I came upon a picture/icon that was so green I could barely tell what it was. I opened the listing and low and behold, the Costa Rica idea was born.

I could get how many acres for what price?? The property would have an all-year growing season, a river and property tax at .25%. SOLD. So I placed a call, scheduled a couple of tickets and flew south of the border to dip a toe in the Latin American culture.