Costa Rica Blog

People have been getting quite a surprise when driving down the coast in southern Costa Rica.  There among the toucans, sloths and macaws is another rare bird in this area, a cosmic bowling alley.  The Costa Ballena region has been amazing people with its bio diversity for years.  But recently some new inhabitants have appeared, causing a migration of a different sort. 

Rental Property Research Tools:  Thinking of buying Costa Rica real estate as an investment?  When buying real estate in Costa Rica you should research first to determine if it's a wise choice.  Before you decide to build a home in any foreign country for rental income, consider the following.  Have you ever heard of http://www.vrbo.com/  This site, Vacation Rental by Owner, is a great place to find rental properties around the globe.  It is also one of the most valuable research tools available for anyone considering the purchase of property in a foreign country.  One of the best indicators of how to judge the value of a real estate investment in a foreign location is the quality of the rental market.  If a strong rental market exists, you can easily judge the quality of any investment using simple math.  Using http://www.vrbo.com/ you can find complete rental information, including rental rates as well as availability.  Each property specifies the rental rates for short term versus long term, high season or off season as well as features and photos, square footage and number of beds and baths.  It is a great tool to compare potential purchases in various foreign locations.  If the rental market in an area is good, so is the resale market.  If the rental market is weak, don't expect great returns on your investment, appreciation or a secondary market to sell down the road.  
What to Look For:  With this tool you can compare the cost of any purchase to the potential return on investment from rental income.  High rental rates and low availability is the key to solid returns and appreciation.  As an example, check out the rental activity in our town, at VRBO.  From the home page, select Cental America, then Costa Rica, in the state of Puntarenas and the town of Ojochal.  Compare our rates and bookings to any other location, Panama City, Salinas, Nicaragua, Belize, Ecuador or Mexico and see for yourself why our developments continue to outsell many others.  Look through all the listings in each area you are considering, this is what smart investors do.  You may see a few new listings that may not yet have much rental activity and there will always be some very successful renters as well as some who don't do well at all.  Use a good sample size and then compare results to the cost of purchase to figure your potential return on investment.  A good investment should always have a strong rental demand.