It is assumed that by the time you find this info that you have probably searched the internet for “Costa Rica real estate” or “buying land in Costa Rica” or “Dominical real estate” or some facsimile thereof. You have likely perused countless listings and considered the bountiful information on how to visit Costa Rica (airline tickets, car rentals, hotels, etc.) Just getting here, especially if it is for a family, requires some time-consuming planning. I got to thinking… since typical tourism travel to the tropics generally requires the same stuff, you know– shorts, light fabric shirts, sandals, sunglasses, a hat and some sunscreen, with these things you can pretty much get around the tropics in whatever part of the globe you’re going to. But if you are coming down to look at land, well that can be a twist that can leave one sandal-clad in the jungle with a rash up to your knees. So, here is a step by step for those whose next visit to Costa Rica is for the express purpose of shopping for real estate.
1. Make an appointment:
If you are looking for land anywhere south of Quepos (Matapalo, Hatillo, Dominical, Platanillo, Uvita, Ojochal, etc…) you will find when you get here that getting a realtor’s attention can be a bit tricky. There is a real estate boom going on, and its not so much that the real estate agents are getting snooty… well maybe it is, but I know that in the case of my office, there have been times when we are hard-pressed to have the office manned, womaned, or peopled. If you make an appointment, you will get put into the calendar and get the undivided attention of myself or one of my associates. (Please click here to go to our contact form. There you can send some of the preliminary information that helps us to help you get your property.)
2. Bring the right stuff:
Footwear is a big concern. A number of folks have come in wearing the Keen brand sandal-shoe hypbrid. These are cool, and everyone goes on about them. I got myself a pair and they are cool insofar as they are different. I get asked about them quite abit, and there seems to be a brother/sister-hood among those that wear them. But for stomping about in the jungle… not so good. Entirely closed in shoes/boots are better.
Bring some hiking boots. I recently discovered that using rather thick hiking socks, made of some kinda synthetic material work great. I was surprised to discover that they were actually cooler than my here-to-for exclusive use of cotton socks. Obviously if you are coming down to view exisiting houses, or say… Canto Del Mar condos, you will be fine in flip flops, which by the way, are my footwear of choice when I am not in the jungle. For rainy season, I always wear rubber boots in the jungle. During dry season hiking boots are fine with sneakers a distant second.
A good hat. Sun is another big consieration here. I like the broad rimmed variety since I get a red neck with a ball cap. There is a lot of sun here, even in the shade. A hat can make or break a day’s outing.
Sun screen if you’re not a hat wearer… or even if you are.
A wattle ‘a botter. A carrying thingy that goes over your shoulder, or around your waist for a liter of water is super-deluxe. At the very least, remember the bottle as we head out, and be sure and remind me to do the same.
Bug repellant. I don’t use it myself and I find that I get very few bug bites. But, there does seem to be about a 3 week period when you first get here when your legs are going to get nibbled on up to about the knee. I’m not sure what happens at 3 weeks, either we become distasteful to the little beggars, or they continue to nibble and the body simply quits taking notice. Since the land buying visits don’t normally exceed 3 weeks, it is probably a good idea to bring some kind of defense against these guys. For those that are moving down, I have a theory. It seems to me that among my friends here (yes, I do have some friends here :o) that use bug repellant, they seem to continue to be “bugged”. Since I was bugged initially, and now am not, I wonder if maybe letting it all run its course isn’t the path of profound wisdom. This is a bit of an ongoing debate here among some of my collegues.
Coming next: Strategize!