The 2 Best Places to Buy Real Estate in Costa Rica

The 2 Best Places to Buy Real Estate in Costa Rica
Costa Rica has been attracting tourists, expats, and investors for decades.|©iStock/AlexKane

If there's one place I love to escape to, it's Costa Rica…

Peaceful and laid-back, Costa Rica is a place where you can soak up the sun, take morning walks on long, almost deserted beaches, and spend your days browsing the local markets, swimming in the warm ocean waters, and enjoying sundowners with friends as the day winds down.

When I think of a lifestyle like that, Costa Rica springs to mind first. It helps that this small Central American country also offers some of the best real estate opportunities on my beat.

Long known for its political stability and commitment to democracy, Costa Rica is among the most expat-friendly countries in Latin America. With no standing army since 1948, Costa Rica invests heavily in healthcare, education, and environmental preservation.

Living and doing business here is easy, English is widely spoken in many areas, the locals—known as Ticos—are famously friendly, and the culture is warm and inclusive.

Then there's the country's breathtaking natural beauty. Picture misty cloud forests, active volcanoes, lush rainforests, and hundreds of miles of pristine beaches. Wildlife is everywhere—scarlet macaws, sloths, toucans, and sea turtles are common sights.

Costa Rica has been on my real estate radar for almost two decades, and it's a place where members of my Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) group have done well (more on that later).

If you know where to look and who to deal with, Costa Rica is a land of opportunity… and the kicker is that it's also an incredible place to spend time, whether it's part-time, full-time, or just a few weeks a year.

Today, I'm sharing some of the best places in Costa Rica for real estate investment—and giving you a taste of the amazing lifestyle that comes with them.

Let's start with the northwestern province of Guanacaste on Costa Rica's Pacific coast…

1. Guanacaste

Costa Rica's Guanacaste province is the perfect blend of natural beauty and relaxed coastal charm.
Costa Rica's Guanacaste province is the perfect blend of natural beauty and relaxed coastal charm.|©iStock/Fertnig

The sunsets on Costa Rica's Pacific Coast are not to be missed.

Families, groups of friends, tourists, expats, and locals alike gather on beaches up and down this coastline to watch the sun sink over the bay. You can watch this spectacular natural light show from a beach bar or restaurant that lines the beach, or you can just grab your own little patch of sand.

As sunset nears, conversations quiet down. There is a communal hush of anticipation… then, showtime! The sky bursts into a palette of coral, tangerine, and cotton-candy pink.

Guanacaste is where you'll find the Gold Coast, known for having some of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica, some would say Central America. This is a part of Costa Rica that I love. And I'm not the only one…

Over the years, the Gold Coast became not only an expat haven but also one of the most popular vacation spots in Costa Rica, thanks to its beaches and activities like surfing, fishing, and outdoor eco-adventures. The region is notable for its many peninsulas, gulfs, and bays, with hundreds of white-sand, golden-sand, and even volcanic black-sand beaches. The water is warm year-round.

Like elsewhere in Costa Rica, beaches on the northern Pacific can be "wild," with the jungle running right up to the sand—they are undeveloped and often protected natural areas. You also have funky seaside havens attracting a bohemian crowd to traditional slow-paced fishing villages to denser developed areas with condo towers and resorts, cafes, boutiques, and high-end dining. The Gold Coast has all of that in spades.

Sports fishing is big here all up and down the Gold Coast, whether in high-end crewed and captained charters with all the latest fish-finding tech—and prices to match—or in the small wooden open boats with outboard motors called pangas. Dorado (mahi mahi), yellowfin tuna, wahoo, and even big-game fish like marlin are abundant here.

This region also boasts its own international airport in Liberia, which opened in 1995 with a flight to Miami. Flights are constantly being added from North America, even seasonally from Europe. The airport regularly expanded over the years with new terminals and gates.

Liberia, the inland capital of the Guanacaste province, also features big box shopping, major supermarkets, government offices, medical clinics, hospitals, and other services. It's 30 minutes to an hour drive from most of the popular beach towns like Tamarindo and Flamingo.

Right in the center of the Gold Coast, is the community of Playa Flamingo. It's only an hour from the international airport and is home to a brand-new, full-service marina. In the last number of years, Flamingo, and the Gold Coast in general, has become a billionaires' playground. Private jets line the runaways of Liberia airport and billionaire groups are pouring money into the region to get a piece of this jet-set market.

Within an hour's drive of Playa Flamingo you have resorts like the Four Seasons, The Westin at Reserva Conchal, the JW Marriott at Hacienda Pinilla, Secrets Papagayo… nightly rates run into thousands of dollars and branded-residences into the many millions.

Playa Flamingo is where in March 2024, I brought RETA members an off-market deal to own incredible luxury homes in a community with world-class amenities like pools, a co-working lounge, an indoor-outdoor gym, and more… all close to the new upscale marina and Playa Flamingo beach. Members could own two-bed homes here for RETA-only pricing from $286,800. I expect these two-beds will be worth $525,000 three years after delivery. That's a gain of $238,200.

Recently, the developer told me that two-bed homes similar to those that RETA members could buy last March were listing for $395,000. That's $108,200 more… in a little over a year!

2. The Southern Zone

Pristine beaches and lush jungles define Costa Rica’s hidden paradise for expats.
Pristine beaches and lush jungles define Costa Rica’s hidden paradise for expats.|©iStock/Eisenlohr

My second top pick for buying real estate in Costa Rica is in the Southern Zone—one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places on earth. Much of this region is protected land—national parks, marine reserves, and wildlife refuges. That means it will always remain low-key, making it a haven for nature lovers.

Once remote and difficult to access, the Southern Zone is now remarkably easy to reach—just a three-hour drive from the main international airport in San José. And the world has taken notice.

Every other week, there's news of a new Path of Progress milestone: a newly paved road, a gourmet restaurant launch, a Belgian craft beer bar opening its doors… even the arrival of high-speed internet.

Because so much of Costa Rica's Southern Zone is protected—forested national parks, marine reserves, and wildlife refuges—it will always remain a boutique, low-key region. You won't find mass-market resorts here. Instead, think intimate eco-lodges and charming boutique hotels tucked into the jungle.

This limited supply of available land has helped shape the real estate opportunities that RETA members have been tapping into for years.

Many of those opportunities have centered around the little jungle village of Ojochal, right in the heart of the Southern Zone.

Once a remote outpost, Ojochal became more accessible after that new highway cut travel time from San José. That opened the door for more people to discover its charm.

Today, you'll drive along a smooth, tarmacked road lined with modern buildings and a couple of lively commercial plazas. You'll find a farmers' market, pharmacy, bakery, cafés, stores, and bars—all just a short stroll away.

Ojochal feels like a European countryside village dropped into one of the most pristine rainforests in Central America. And that's not just thanks to the authentic French bakeries in town…

There's a strong sense of community here. You'll walk past small shops, open-air restaurants, and produce markets with tables piled high with fresh mango, papaya, and pineapple. Roadside stands and local fish markets sell red snapper and dorado for a fraction of US prices.

Like I said earlier, a lot of this region is protected, so there's lots of empty, beautiful land there. But development is tightly restricted and primary forest is sacrosanct. In recent years the hurdles to doing any development (such as water licenses and access) have become so onerous that it's almost impossible to do anything here.

Unless you're on the inside track with one of the country's most forward-thinking developers.

And over the years, RETA members have had exclusive access to deals in projects developed by pioneering expat Sylvaine Pilault. She first visited the Southern Zone in 1989, fell in love with the raw natural beauty of the place and she bought land. She got into the game early and that put her far ahead of the competition in this region.

In August 2019, I brought RETA members an opportunity to own two-bed villas she developed in Ojochal with RETA-only pricing starting at $208,000. There were also premium three-bedroom homes with a RETA members-only price of $233,000.

My team recently found one of the two-beds listing for $315,000. That's an uplift of $107,000.

In February 2021, I brought RETA members another, similar villas project—Villas Vista de la Montaña in Ojochal. The RETA pricing for villas here was from $218,000. There were also premium three-beds homes for $250,000.

My contacts tell me these villas have been reselling in the $330,000 to $350,000 price range. That's over $100,000 more than the RETA price.

And recently one of the premium three-beds was listed for $399,000. That's an uplift of $149,000.

Like I said, Costa Rica has so much to offer right now… both for investing and as a lifestyle play.

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