Considering moving to Costa Rica
January 11, 2023 5:45 PM Subscribe
On a strange whim the other day I was looking at property in Costa Rica and stumbled on a house I can afford. It's in a walkable neighborhood in Guanacasta, a short drive to a tourist area (Samara). Is this a realistic idea? Has anyone done something like this solo? What should I watch out for? Does anyone who lives in Central America have any advice about relocating? I'm prepared for climate, flooding, bugs and lizards, ineffective post, and good internet. What am I unprepared for?
I have no pension or remote work. I would have to work. I don't speak Spanish but I intend to learn. My plan would be to babysit for tourists, drive Uber, or make and sell bags. I am a 50 year old hippie lady with no kids or family.
I have no pension or remote work. I would have to work. I don't speak Spanish but I intend to learn. My plan would be to babysit for tourists, drive Uber, or make and sell bags. I am a 50 year old hippie lady with no kids or family.
My daughter who lived there a long while says don't unless you speak Spanish at least and have local community. She says it's more expensive than you'd assume for daily cost of living and that the crime level is really high, especially for tourists/immigrants. Her healthcare access varied from excellent to appalling.
Go on vacation first, and also start learning Spanish which opens up a huge number of potential places to move to.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:08 PM on January 11, 2023 [9 favorites]
Go on vacation first, and also start learning Spanish which opens up a huge number of potential places to move to.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:08 PM on January 11, 2023 [9 favorites]
You need a visa, you need to speak Spanish.
You need a visa, you need to speak Spanish.
That's all.
posted by Scarf Joint at 6:17 PM on January 11, 2023 [17 favorites]
You need a visa, you need to speak Spanish.
That's all.
posted by Scarf Joint at 6:17 PM on January 11, 2023 [17 favorites]
I have no pension or remote work. I would have to work. I don't speak Spanish but I intend to learn. My plan would be to babysit for tourists, drive Uber, or make and sell bags.
This seems like a bad plan. I know Costa Rica has recently made changes to their visa law to attract remote workers, but that other visas are definitely trickier. Uber is not widespread in Costa Rica - you'd want to check that it even operates in Guanacaste, when I visited recently the only location on my itinerary it was present was in San Juan, and you would need to know Spanish fluently. I highly doubt there is a huge market for freelance baby-sitting for tourists, and tourists tend to prefer handmade products of the country their visiting, not by a fellow tourist. Finally, while Samara is a tourist spot, it's by no means a big tourist spot, so it seems very unlikely your plan would work.
posted by coffeecat at 6:35 PM on January 11, 2023 [8 favorites]
This seems like a bad plan. I know Costa Rica has recently made changes to their visa law to attract remote workers, but that other visas are definitely trickier. Uber is not widespread in Costa Rica - you'd want to check that it even operates in Guanacaste, when I visited recently the only location on my itinerary it was present was in San Juan, and you would need to know Spanish fluently. I highly doubt there is a huge market for freelance baby-sitting for tourists, and tourists tend to prefer handmade products of the country their visiting, not by a fellow tourist. Finally, while Samara is a tourist spot, it's by no means a big tourist spot, so it seems very unlikely your plan would work.
posted by coffeecat at 6:35 PM on January 11, 2023 [8 favorites]
Also: you should consider that you will be participating in the vexed transference of land from Costa Ricans to foreigners, which is an on-going source of tension (for good reasons). If you do not speak Spanish, navigating this will be next to impossible.
posted by coffeecat at 6:41 PM on January 11, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by coffeecat at 6:41 PM on January 11, 2023 [9 favorites]
Consider consulting https://old.reddit.com/r/costa_rica/ as well
posted by falsedmitri at 6:50 PM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by falsedmitri at 6:50 PM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
You should be aware of the average wages in the country.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 6:56 PM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 6:56 PM on January 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'd recommend being an ESL teacher- probably the best job you could get, and (usually) doesn't require learning the local language. It also can be fun and interesting.
You may also want to consider Mexico, or another Latin American country with a lower cost of living that is more expansive. I've never been to Costa Rica, but I spent a semester in Mexico- it's a beautiful and fascinating country.
Or, maybe the Peace Corps? I know someone who did Peace Corps in Costa Rica.
posted by bearette at 7:02 PM on January 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
You may also want to consider Mexico, or another Latin American country with a lower cost of living that is more expansive. I've never been to Costa Rica, but I spent a semester in Mexico- it's a beautiful and fascinating country.
Or, maybe the Peace Corps? I know someone who did Peace Corps in Costa Rica.
posted by bearette at 7:02 PM on January 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
It depends on the sort of lifestyle you want to live and some of the factors you mention stand in the way of others, but if you can afford it you should go and stay in that neighbourhood for a month or so, get to know some local people, and see how you like it. You'll have a much better sense of what is possible when you're on the ground, particularly in a market like Costa Rica where there is a lot of heavy marketing of property to foreigners, especially Americans. This is leaving aside visa and work permit issues which you can find an expert to help you navigate. The marketing of property also means that if you ask around once you get to know people, you will almost certainly be able to find reliable property dealers who speak English.
Costa Rica is one of the more expensive countries in Central America and it is full of bubbles of retirees and people with second homes. You may not care for such environments or the people in them, or you might actually find it quite nice to have an expat community. These are obviously easier for someone who doesn't speak Spanish to navigate but CR is one of the easiest places in Latin America to be without Spanish in my experience travelling with a non-Spanish speaker, so I think you really don't need it if you decide to learn there (learning there is also more expensive than in the rest of the region).
Regarding making a business there: lots of foreigners do that. I stayed for a month in Puerto Viejo (which was chockful of hippies so you might consider that too?) and there were non-Ticos doing everything from running language schools to running Airbnbs on behalf of the owner, to, yes, selling property to other foreigners. You could try to branch out to other services related to what you say, eg offering a booked car service rather than Uber, or getting a childcare certification and setting up a home preschool or art workshops for the children of visiting families. You would have to navigate the legal/regulatory aspects and ethics of all of these yourself of course, as some work will definitely feel less ethical than others and I don't think one can make blanket statements. But you won't find out till you're on the ground.
posted by tavegyl at 7:08 PM on January 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
Costa Rica is one of the more expensive countries in Central America and it is full of bubbles of retirees and people with second homes. You may not care for such environments or the people in them, or you might actually find it quite nice to have an expat community. These are obviously easier for someone who doesn't speak Spanish to navigate but CR is one of the easiest places in Latin America to be without Spanish in my experience travelling with a non-Spanish speaker, so I think you really don't need it if you decide to learn there (learning there is also more expensive than in the rest of the region).
Regarding making a business there: lots of foreigners do that. I stayed for a month in Puerto Viejo (which was chockful of hippies so you might consider that too?) and there were non-Ticos doing everything from running language schools to running Airbnbs on behalf of the owner, to, yes, selling property to other foreigners. You could try to branch out to other services related to what you say, eg offering a booked car service rather than Uber, or getting a childcare certification and setting up a home preschool or art workshops for the children of visiting families. You would have to navigate the legal/regulatory aspects and ethics of all of these yourself of course, as some work will definitely feel less ethical than others and I don't think one can make blanket statements. But you won't find out till you're on the ground.
posted by tavegyl at 7:08 PM on January 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: I have already visited the area. It's been 7 years, but I have been there for a few weeks.
Not sure about best visa, that's why I mentioned the pension and remote work.
I remember wishing there had been a shuttle from the airport. The rural route bus took 4 hours, but the car ride back was only 90 minutes.
I will definitely be learning Spanish.
Back to lurking.
posted by irisclara at 7:17 PM on January 11, 2023
Not sure about best visa, that's why I mentioned the pension and remote work.
I remember wishing there had been a shuttle from the airport. The rural route bus took 4 hours, but the car ride back was only 90 minutes.
I will definitely be learning Spanish.
Back to lurking.
posted by irisclara at 7:17 PM on January 11, 2023
I moved to a Spanish speaking country knowing only rudimentary Spanish and planning on picking it up as I went. It has turned out to be much more difficult for me than it has been for other people I know — I just don’t have the knack and it has been a frustrating grind.
In your shoes I would start conversational Spanish right now and get a rough idea of how long it will take you to become functional.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:40 PM on January 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
In your shoes I would start conversational Spanish right now and get a rough idea of how long it will take you to become functional.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:40 PM on January 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
I've lived for several years in both Guatemala and Nicaragua, but I'm not an expert on Costa Rica. That said, this article is consistent with everything I've heard: to get a temporary residence permit, you need to either be a retiree with a reliable $1,000 income a month, have unearned income of $2,500/month (this means money you receive from investments or whatever without working, though I've heard you can subvert it by depositing $60,000 in a Costa Rican bank and using that as proof of income - definitely do your own research on that), or be a student or a refugee or an investor or somebody's family member. You can also now get a digital nomad visa if you can show that you've have a stable remote job paying at least $3,000/month. Even once you are an approved temporary resident you can't work in the country without a work permit, which generally requires that you already have an employer in the country who's willing to apply for the visa on your behalf.
That said, I believe many people do successfully go to Costa Rica on tourist visas and make border runs every 90 days. The problem is that without Spanish, you are highly unlikely to be competitive for the (poorly paid) informal jobs that you could get without formal status. Maybe you could babysit for tourists, but that's a low-paid market that you would have trouble breaking into without help from established networks, and big resorts and such have their own providers who can work legally. Driving uber is implausible without speaking the local language, and I'd guess even tourists would rather buy bags sold by somebody who represents the local country rather than some expat.
I'd add that you should research cost of living in Costa Rica. My sense is that it's about even with the cheapest third of the U.S., which means it would seem quite affordable to somebody moving from New York City but not at all to somebody moving from Springfield, Missouri. All my local Nicaraguan colleagues complained constantly whenever they had to go to conferences or meetings in Costa Rica because of all the money they'd end up spending just on incidentals.
posted by exutima at 8:07 PM on January 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
That said, I believe many people do successfully go to Costa Rica on tourist visas and make border runs every 90 days. The problem is that without Spanish, you are highly unlikely to be competitive for the (poorly paid) informal jobs that you could get without formal status. Maybe you could babysit for tourists, but that's a low-paid market that you would have trouble breaking into without help from established networks, and big resorts and such have their own providers who can work legally. Driving uber is implausible without speaking the local language, and I'd guess even tourists would rather buy bags sold by somebody who represents the local country rather than some expat.
I'd add that you should research cost of living in Costa Rica. My sense is that it's about even with the cheapest third of the U.S., which means it would seem quite affordable to somebody moving from New York City but not at all to somebody moving from Springfield, Missouri. All my local Nicaraguan colleagues complained constantly whenever they had to go to conferences or meetings in Costa Rica because of all the money they'd end up spending just on incidentals.
posted by exutima at 8:07 PM on January 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
I have no pension or remote work. I would have to work. [...] My plan would be to babysit for tourists, drive Uber, or make and sell bags.
As somebody who has experience with various nomad and expat communities, I ask you to please not do this. Why? Because these are some of the most irritating people you'll meet while on the road. They're always trying to "network" or hustle or sell you something. The worst are the ones who clearly have no real skills and are always trying to sell their "coaching" or "sound healing" workshops or whatever. I also don't have a ton of respect for the folks who try to get by on the "secondary ecosystem" — trying to sell services to expats and nomads — as I really do think we should be going to the locals for things like that. And yeah, nobody wants to buy "genuine" handcrafted goods from an expat or nomad.
Teaching english in another country is a time-tested way to get a foothold in a place. I'm sure you can do this in CR, although I'm not 100% sure what the demand is there, since, from my experience, Ticos are very bilingual (almost like the Dutch in their command of the English language). So maybe you could do this.
My real advice would be to try and find a way to work remotely. Not all employers are cool with you living overseas while working for them, but there are ways around this.
You also mentioned buying property. Well, if you have money to buy property, maybe you could somehow parlay that money into some sort of small, online business? Maybe not as appealing as buying real estate somewhere, but I would take a thriving business + renting over property ownership + no income any day of the week. You could also maybe use that money to live on while you learn some skills that could help you land a remote job (e.g. programming, QA, etc.)
What I would recommend is doing as much research as you can to figure out what your expected monthly spend might be in whatever destination you choose. Maybe work out a few different budgets — like a profligate one, an economy one, and a super economy one — and then see what your options might be for remote work and how you might be able to fill the gap. If you're good at living on the cheap, you might not have to make a whole lot of money at all.
I would also advise you to look into other destinations. Costa Rica, as people have mentioned, is not cheap — about the same cost as a smaller midwestern city. There are other places in Latin America where you can have a quality lifestyle on not a lot of money, and a lot of these places have much the same kind of natural beauty Costa Rica is known for.
Best of luck.
posted by panama joe at 5:36 AM on January 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
As somebody who has experience with various nomad and expat communities, I ask you to please not do this. Why? Because these are some of the most irritating people you'll meet while on the road. They're always trying to "network" or hustle or sell you something. The worst are the ones who clearly have no real skills and are always trying to sell their "coaching" or "sound healing" workshops or whatever. I also don't have a ton of respect for the folks who try to get by on the "secondary ecosystem" — trying to sell services to expats and nomads — as I really do think we should be going to the locals for things like that. And yeah, nobody wants to buy "genuine" handcrafted goods from an expat or nomad.
Teaching english in another country is a time-tested way to get a foothold in a place. I'm sure you can do this in CR, although I'm not 100% sure what the demand is there, since, from my experience, Ticos are very bilingual (almost like the Dutch in their command of the English language). So maybe you could do this.
My real advice would be to try and find a way to work remotely. Not all employers are cool with you living overseas while working for them, but there are ways around this.
You also mentioned buying property. Well, if you have money to buy property, maybe you could somehow parlay that money into some sort of small, online business? Maybe not as appealing as buying real estate somewhere, but I would take a thriving business + renting over property ownership + no income any day of the week. You could also maybe use that money to live on while you learn some skills that could help you land a remote job (e.g. programming, QA, etc.)
What I would recommend is doing as much research as you can to figure out what your expected monthly spend might be in whatever destination you choose. Maybe work out a few different budgets — like a profligate one, an economy one, and a super economy one — and then see what your options might be for remote work and how you might be able to fill the gap. If you're good at living on the cheap, you might not have to make a whole lot of money at all.
I would also advise you to look into other destinations. Costa Rica, as people have mentioned, is not cheap — about the same cost as a smaller midwestern city. There are other places in Latin America where you can have a quality lifestyle on not a lot of money, and a lot of these places have much the same kind of natural beauty Costa Rica is known for.
Best of luck.
posted by panama joe at 5:36 AM on January 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
I have no pension or remote work. I would have to work
I used to live in Costa Rica and knew a few people who got caught doing this, deported, and prohibited from reentering the country. They had to figure out how to remotely manage the process of selling their house and having their stuff shipped to them. It was a nightmare.
Get a remote job that qualifies you for a visa before you attempt this.
posted by Jacqueline at 6:23 AM on January 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
I used to live in Costa Rica and knew a few people who got caught doing this, deported, and prohibited from reentering the country. They had to figure out how to remotely manage the process of selling their house and having their stuff shipped to them. It was a nightmare.
Get a remote job that qualifies you for a visa before you attempt this.
posted by Jacqueline at 6:23 AM on January 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
Best answer: Nthing to have a remote job or pension or something.
According to my Costa Rican friend, from his most recent visit home to Tamarindo, actually in Guanacaste province, the local labor markets are already flooded with Nicaraguan refugees currently, legally or illegally. There are not enough jobs for them all, and they can actually speak Spanish.
Longer term, you could probably invent your own job, especially if you can learn Spanish AND German (lots of German tourists).
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 11:44 AM on January 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
According to my Costa Rican friend, from his most recent visit home to Tamarindo, actually in Guanacaste province, the local labor markets are already flooded with Nicaraguan refugees currently, legally or illegally. There are not enough jobs for them all, and they can actually speak Spanish.
Longer term, you could probably invent your own job, especially if you can learn Spanish AND German (lots of German tourists).
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 11:44 AM on January 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
https://old.reddit.com/r/costa_rica/comments/utw9d2/questions_about_moving_to_costa_rica/
needs "economic migrant" tag, this aint "travel"
posted by lalochezia at 6:53 PM on January 12, 2023
needs "economic migrant" tag, this aint "travel"
posted by lalochezia at 6:53 PM on January 12, 2023
Hi, digital nomad of 10+ years here. Honestly, given what you've written I would strongly, strongly recommend that you do not do this.
You can't work locally in CR without a work visa. You can't get a work visa unless you get hired by a company who will sponsor you. There is no 'I'll find a job, trust me bro' visa. Owning property does not confer residency status.
If you don't have a work visa, you would need to move there and support yourself legally (thru savings or a remote job) until you get permanent resident status which will allow you to work legally. Getting permanent residency status takes about 12 to 15 months. You also can't buy a car and get insurance if you're not a resident.
Yes, Americans can buy property there, but it's nearly impossible to get a mortgage through a US bank and Costa Rican banks don't do mortgages for foreigners. So you'd have to buy in cash. If you have no decent income source though, I would recommend you save this money and rent instead so you don't, you know, run out of money if you can't find a job that will support you and the upkeep of said house.
As folks have said, Costa Rica is not that cheap. And especially property is no longer cheap (that goes double for foreigners!). Other than chain stores with set prices, you'll always being paying more than a local would, which makes it super challenging to live on a local salary like you're talking about. Community and family are super important there, and until you build trust with people (which 100% involves you speaking Spanish fluently), you're going to have a hard time. Like a "people will rob your house just bc you're a foreigner" kind of hard time.
If you actually want to do this without risking deportation and / or destitution, you need to start looking into the actual cost of living for the areas you'd like to move to, and start a business or get a remote job that will allow you to work from CR that pays enough to support the lifestyle you want. You can work remotely on a tourist visa, but do not overstay, the fines are $250 a day or something insane like that. You'll have to do periodic visa runs out of the country so make sure to budget for this. You can get a one year digital nomad visa if you find a job that pays over $3000 a month.
Once you're a resident, your tax status will change, so if you are working remotely you'll need a good CPA who specializes in expat taxes. Also keep in mind if you're not paying into social security in the US your payout is going to pretty much stay where it is now. To get Costa Rican pension you have to pay into their system for 25 years as a citizen. So retirement income is also something to consider.
Again, I don't think it's a good idea. The fantasy is compelling but I think you'll find the reality distasteful.
posted by ananci at 12:05 AM on January 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
You can't work locally in CR without a work visa. You can't get a work visa unless you get hired by a company who will sponsor you. There is no 'I'll find a job, trust me bro' visa. Owning property does not confer residency status.
If you don't have a work visa, you would need to move there and support yourself legally (thru savings or a remote job) until you get permanent resident status which will allow you to work legally. Getting permanent residency status takes about 12 to 15 months. You also can't buy a car and get insurance if you're not a resident.
Yes, Americans can buy property there, but it's nearly impossible to get a mortgage through a US bank and Costa Rican banks don't do mortgages for foreigners. So you'd have to buy in cash. If you have no decent income source though, I would recommend you save this money and rent instead so you don't, you know, run out of money if you can't find a job that will support you and the upkeep of said house.
As folks have said, Costa Rica is not that cheap. And especially property is no longer cheap (that goes double for foreigners!). Other than chain stores with set prices, you'll always being paying more than a local would, which makes it super challenging to live on a local salary like you're talking about. Community and family are super important there, and until you build trust with people (which 100% involves you speaking Spanish fluently), you're going to have a hard time. Like a "people will rob your house just bc you're a foreigner" kind of hard time.
If you actually want to do this without risking deportation and / or destitution, you need to start looking into the actual cost of living for the areas you'd like to move to, and start a business or get a remote job that will allow you to work from CR that pays enough to support the lifestyle you want. You can work remotely on a tourist visa, but do not overstay, the fines are $250 a day or something insane like that. You'll have to do periodic visa runs out of the country so make sure to budget for this. You can get a one year digital nomad visa if you find a job that pays over $3000 a month.
Once you're a resident, your tax status will change, so if you are working remotely you'll need a good CPA who specializes in expat taxes. Also keep in mind if you're not paying into social security in the US your payout is going to pretty much stay where it is now. To get Costa Rican pension you have to pay into their system for 25 years as a citizen. So retirement income is also something to consider.
Again, I don't think it's a good idea. The fantasy is compelling but I think you'll find the reality distasteful.
posted by ananci at 12:05 AM on January 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by freethefeet at 6:07 PM on January 11, 2023 [5 favorites]