How high can skyrocketing land values go?

By: Garland M. Baker B.

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

Editor's Note: While this article was accurate at the time of publication, some information may now be outdated. We are currently preparing a comprehensive update. Sign up for our Alerts to be notified as soon as the revised content is live!

Tourists arriving in Costa Rica this year have another attraction besides the beautiful beaches: soaring property values. 

Potential investors in property are finding themselves confronted with land prices that are skyrocketing.  The phenomenon is everywhere.  Even tourists notice the flurry about them. Buyers have to hold on tight to offers as prices float even higher.  

A.M. Costa Rica forecasted the growth in Guanacaste last January at the completion and opening of the Río Tempisque Puente de Amistad or Friendship Bridge built by Taiwan.  The bridge in concert with the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia has made an otherwise remote area quickly accessible.  

Professional people, along with the common Joe, from the United States or Canada can wake up and be sick of the snow, hop a plane and be surfing Playa Guiones near Nosara at sunset.  

The question is: Will Costa Rica boom or bust? 

Country's long history of dream developments

By: Garland M. Baker B. 

Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica 

Editor's Note: While this article was accurate at the time of publication, some information may now be outdated. We are currently preparing a comprehensive update. Sign up for our Alerts to be notified as soon as the revised content is live!

Costa Rica is characterized by many old timers as the land of the “wanted and the unwanted.” Some who come here are wanted criminals by other nations and others just do not fit in somewhere else, so they come to this country to live. 

Want to make a million dollars in Costa Rica? Come with two, and maybe you will leave with one.  This advice given to newcomers for over 30 years should now have an inflation adjustment.   Bring $5 to $10 million to leave with one. 

These statements are no joke.  This writer has personally seen it happen over and over again in 33 years.  Those who are lucky get to leave. Some just die along the way trying to get their original nest eggs back, fighting the legal battles that ensue. 

Even the best-looking real estate or financial deal may have hidden pitfalls.