Costa Rica Feeds

Ben Vaughn, co-owner of Guys In The Zone Real Estate, explains the three listing options available to Costa Rican property owners. There is no Multiple Listing Service in the southern Pacific zone of Costa Rica, which expands the listing possibilities– the Open Listing, the Exclusive Listing, and the (new) Modified Exclusive Listing. Please [...]

In this episode, we start with a Q&A session and share a few tips for those retiring to the southern Pacific zone of Costa Rica. We also share specific ideas about property features that may not be on a buyer’s radar. Whether you are ready to relocate and retire or, like many of our Canadian [...]

“How much is my property worth?” Right from the Guys in the Trenches. Here is how we evaluate property, and where we/I think property values are going.

CAP Meeting in Uvita The bad guys, the criminals, are getting caught and thrown in jail here in The Zone, and the quality of life is in an upwards trajectory. This morning was our monthly community meeting of CAP (Crime Awareness and Prevention). I can say that I am truly proud of this little group of giving [...]

I subscribed to a new blog on my Kindle last night.  I am now paying .99 cents a month for content that can be seen for free by going to  www.sharpbrains.com I am willing to make this investment cuz, as many of you know; I am finding that there are brain changes afoot at this period in my [...]

I understand that up north there are lots of small, 1/4 acre, piano key style housing developments. Since we don't have this type of property here, we are not comparing mangoes with mangoes. Most lot sizes here are multi-acres and have ocean views.

The inspiration for this post came from a recent article fed from LinkedIn.  The title was “38% of Homes Purchased in 2011 Bought with Cash.”  I thought to myself, 38%?!  That number seemed high, so I did I little more research.  According to another article in USA Today, that number was as low as 12% [...]

An article by a transplanted expat to Playa Naranjo: "How I came to live on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica is a story about early retirement, tight budgets and lots of planning." I take some liberties in responding to comments made in this Wall Street Journal article.

Instead of going belly-up and hurting all those who put their belief in the words of dealers (such as yours truly), and who bought untitled land there, the GITZL shareholders got together and prioritized… (now prepare yourself. We are talking here about behind the scenes corporate maneuverings, in an effort to make vast sums of money) - the wellbeing of those who had bought land in the project. The shareholders, at personal expense, allowed the project to go to the primary shareholder without a struggle. This primary shareholder, of his own volition, felt that it was important to protect the land owners there, that their ownership would be recognized and guaranteed. I know, you’re thinking that you have stumbled upon a science fiction account of life on another planet. But you haven’t, and this is not. What you are reading is a firsthand account of my observations over the past 4 or so years. I am also one of those shareholders who lost in excess of $100k in the process (but who knows? The fat lady has not yet sung.)

The global economic crisis seems to have inured to our benefit. People are saying “I’ve had it” with wherever they may live (lots of Europeans in the mix, as well as Canadians and US’ians) and making the move to Costa Rica.

When we foreigners first hear about the amazingly high tax rate on cars, we are shocked and wonder at how can that be? This is lunacy! There must be some way around it. First off: there is no way around it, and as for the lunacy part, perhaps. But there is a rather twisted sort of logic that I’ll go into later that may help to explain this. What kind of car to own? Observations and suggestions.

A week ago, I was reading the Tico Times and the headline “Liberia Airport Renovation Nearly Finished” jumped out at me. It’s only been nine years since that airport opened, and now it’s getting $41 million dollars worth of renovations?? I had to figure out why, if only because it might offer a flash forward [...]

The popular movie series of the – what was it – the nineties, eighties? Well, whatever it was, Back to the Future illustrated well the point that knowing what is going to happen in the future is key to making a lot of money. The problem with this tidbit of obvious investment data is that [...]

Even though we call it Talk Show 15, this is indeed the 16th Episode of the Guys In The Zone Talk Show. This episode delves into the topic of construction in Costa Rica. Ben, the founder of Guys In The Zone, interviews Matt Callero of Mango Construction (mangoconstruction.com). Matt offers some answers to the popular [...]