Buying land in Costa Rica

After many visits to Costa Rica we finally found a nice little plot of land to purchase. Using a local Attorney that assisted with the prior purchase consideration, we believe the lot we purchased will work well for our needs. It’s close to town (walking distance a couple minutes) as well as close to the beach , 5 minute walk.

The process has many details that are different than purchasing a home in the States but in general it was a simple process including a contract between Seller and Buyer, signing the purchase document and then transferring funds. An attorney is used to manage the transfer, collect the signatures and process the title transfer.

Once ownership is acquired, you can move to planning your home build. Some things to consider are what materials are available and how labor costs factor into your build choices. 

Our house build was initially a simple 2 bedroom 1 bath. Security being a concern we considered putting our home up a floor and using the area below as a car port and use the support columns for storage. 

It quickly became obvious that the structure forming the supports could be expanded to enclose the full downstairs/first floor area. Adding a roll up door and strong entry door would create a the security needed. 

Version 1 (roughing out initial ideas): 2 bedroom with a separate bath for the master bedroom

The next logical step was how much would it cost to enclose half the 1st floor into a rentable space. Factoring in the added income from an AirBnB, it makes adding the additional rentable space a sound decision.

Our little 2bd 1 bath just picked up 2 more bedrooms and another bathroom. 

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