Why Americans Are Investing in Costa Rica: Hidden Opportunities Revealed

Thinking about investing in a second home, diversifying your portfolio, or exploring life outside the U.S.? In this episode of Real Talk Hilton Head, David sits down with longtime friend and international real estate expert Travis Comstock, who traded corporate medical sales in Chicago for full-time living and selling real estate on the Central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.

Travis breaks down the real story behind Costa Rica’s fast-growing real estate market:
• What makes Costa Rica so attractive for U.S. buyers
• How titled property works (and what to avoid with concessions)
• The surprising affordability of beachfront condos and mountain-view homes
• Rental income potential, occupancy trends, and seasonal demand
• Building costs, infrastructure challenges, and what to know before buying land
• Why younger buyers and multi-home owners are choosing Costa Rica
• The myths, risks, red flags, and the must-have team for buying safely

If you’re curious about international investing, dreaming about a lifestyle home abroad, or wondering whether Costa Rica is truly worth considering, this is a candid, energizing, and eye-opening conversation you won’t want to miss.

Connect with Travis:
Instagram & LinkedIn: @TravisSellsCostaRica
Email: Travis@remax-occr.com

Phone: 614-499-3911

Thinking about a move to the Lowcountry?
Visit us at www.DavidDale.com
— The David Dale Team powered by eXp Realty is here to help you navigate Hilton Head, Bluffton, and the surrounding coastal communities.

Transcript

Welcome to Real Talk Hilton Head with David and Dale Cross, the real estate lifestyle podcast of Coastal Carolina. Join us as we share stories from our community, insight into the local lifestyle, and the real scoop on real estate. From market trends to home design, we dive deep into what it means to live and thrive here. Discover the state of mind and philosophy of the Low Country that enriches life through personal growth, health, and wellness, and human connection. Whether you're a local or thinking of becoming one, we're here to guide you through the ins and outs of living this coastal escape. Tune in, relax, and enjoy the conversation with Real Talk Hilton Head, the podcast of Coastal Carolina. This episode is brought to you by the David Dale team, powered by EXP Realy in Hilton Head. All right, ladies and gentlemen, today is Real Talk Hilton Head first Zoom we've ever done. We're not in studio and unlike the past episodes, we uh it's just David today. Dale's not here. Um but my guest today, we go back a very very long way. We go back to what 2005, 2006, somewhere around there. Yeah. 2004. Columbus, Ohio. Um, Travis at the time, this is Travis Commtock. Uh, at the time, Travis was in the medical, uh, device industry, right? Medical sales. Yeah. Started pharmaceutical out of college, then went into device. So, yeah. Yeah. So, so, um, Travis has since moved on. We're going to get into the story and we're going to tie in on Real Talk Hilton Head. Um, he doesn't live in the States. He's an expatriot down in Costa Rica, which he'll get into. Um, but he has since turned his journey into a real estate journey and that's why we're gonna have him on the show today. So, welcome to the show, Travis. Thank you. It's good to see you. Sorry Dale couldn't join today, but we'll catch her on the uh the next one. Well, maybe we get you in studio. That'll be the next one. There we go. You buy my flight. I'm there. Have you been to Hilton Head before? You know, I have. Yeah, it was awesome. I think um 2008 or nine, my family rented a beach house. You know, literally walk over the bushes, you're on the beach. Um it was awesome. I mean, they had a Ohio State bar. I remember it must have been fall. So, it was a good trip. A little uh a little difficult to get to depending on where you fly into now, but yeah, it was awesome. Funny. That's called Miamos. I'm actually really good friends with the owners. They they're my neighbors actually. They live right down the street. Yeah. He's good dude. Nice dude. So, all right. All right. Well, hey, why don't we jump into this? So, we talked about you living in Columbus, Ohio. So, what led Travis Commtock from investing in properties because that's how we met initially. You were really into properties. You were trying to build your portfolio and wealth through there to now living and selling real estate going out of medical sales and of all places Costa Rica. Yeah. Like pretty big life change, huh? No. So like you start like you said like you said it started in pharmaceutical sales right out of college. Um was I I believe smart enough to kind of save that meet with you and Dale understand exactly you know what leverage means maybe overlever at some point but uh got into um very nice areas of Columbus. Um I only did brick sidebyside duplex. Um a few of them I was able to go through the legal process to make condos and sell those off individually. So a lot a lot was happening as you know. Um and then 0708 hit everything changed. I mean that was bad lending you know the how bad that was. So it was I was able to get rid of some of the properties but that then and there said to move on to you know something more secure for a while and that led me to medical device onto Chicago where I lived for 11 years. um and got into the medical device industry, more specifically neuro stimulation for um you know a variety of things and mainly startup companies. So that was very enjoyable run. Oh wow. I didn't realize you were there for that long in Chicago. How were those winters up there by the way? Well that's a thing like when I was in Columbus it felt too warm so I needed more of wind and cold so you it's okay. Hey, the summers are so worth it. Obviously, you know, we're big boating people, so we're out on the water every day, Lake Michigan, which is unique down the Chicago River, which is phenomenal. Uh, but, you know, we try to travel in the winter, which makes life a little bit easier. But ultimately, that's kind of why we're down here is to soak in this 85 degree every day, sunny every day type of weather. So, how did you pick Costa Rica out of curiosity, what what was that? Well, go through that process. So, you know, Yeah. go through your process from transitioning, hey, I'm not going to do medical sales. I'm going back into the world of real estate. Yeah. Right. Y and Costa Rica of all places. So, visiting other countries, there's not much of an expat community. Um, you know, went to Colombia. Um, I feel like it's more traditional. Spanish, went to, you know, Panama, Mexico, but this was the most friendly place for expats to kind of land and call home. um been here several several times. Um starting, you know, 2009. Um culture is great. Fell in love with the people. There's so much to do. Size of West Virginia, but it takes hours and hours to drive, which can kind of suck, but I mean, each part of Costa Rica is so different. You got rainforest, jungle, um mountains, obviously beach, you got the Caribbean side, Pacific side. Um you're in the same time zone as Chicago. So coming down here and working is not hard to do. you know, bring your laptop. You maybe need a VPN if you're telling your company you're down here or not. Uh, but what led to sales, what led to real estate, international sales in Costa Rica was, um, the ability to kind of network with some of the local folks who have done it. Um, I live in Hakaco where we are exempt from the maritime law that's on the central Pacific coast. And what that means is you can own title beachfront property right on the beach. Um, you can also own, you know, mountain homes with ocean view, um, fully titled as well. But 95% of Costa Rica, if you want to be within 200 meters of High Tide, you have to get a concession, which is essentially a lease, very, very from the government. Renewable lease, you own the property. Um, you know, it can stay into a trust. It can various things you can do. You have to do your due diligence on it to make sure it is legit. But um there's so many attorneys here that you just need to find a good one which I could recommend several. So to get back to the networking um I was able to come down and start with uh ReMax which is great. I did have my license in Indiana. We still have a lakehouse there um on Lake James north of Fort Wayne. Uh but I had that in referral status so I really didn't do a whole lot with it but now it's you know full go Costa Rica. Uh what I'm doing is relying heavily on my contacts from my past job which is all you know neurosurgeons, ENTs, uh people with multiple homes. Um and I go back for medical device conferences because I used to sit on the other side of the table. So it's kind of good. I go back to the conferences. I set up shop with ReMax. Um it's working pretty well. Um but there's so much to talk about with real estate in Costa Rica. just the investment side of it, the lifestyle investment, um the ability, like I said, to come down here, maybe buy a lot now, build your dream home once you're down here. Um but yeah, hopefully that answers your question. It's been a a fun journey, long journey. Um but yeah, kind of needed a break from the everyday corporatess and you know, doing multiple startup companies, you know, it can wear you down a little bit. So, it's been a great change. uh my fiance slashwife um what long story co but uh but we uh she works remote for a healthcare IT company so um able to you know move down here does she have a VPN? Yeah, of course. And I need that to log into the dumbest things like insurance or you know not my bank. I you know that's a different story but um no so it was easier for us to do. We brought our dog down and we, you know, we don't have children, but I will tell you, more and more families are moving down here. International schools are phenomenal and much cheaper than in the States. Yeah. Well, it's funny story. I don't know if you know this, but Dale and I visited there in 2017. It was our first trip there. We actually stayed Hakacoish. We were in Ply Homosa, just down the street. And um fell I fell in love with it. Like I literally was like, "Oh my gosh." And we were we were in Charlotte still, but at the time we knew we wanted to be coastal. We knew we wanted a change of pace from the city. And we had really really considered Costa Rica. We ended up in Hilton Head obviously, but it's funny. I think for us it was because the kids, the ages where they were, and not knowing the language, we were a little nervous. Yeah. Um, and it's funny, I didn't know about Oh, go ahead. No, no, go ahead. Sorry. Well, I was say and and I I remember um at the time I I didn't know about the maritime thing because I remember hearing about hey you can't like you own a house but you don't own the dirt, right? Is that how that works? Yeah. You own the you own the structure. Yep. Yep. And it's like in the states the government's not in the business of selling property. they're not going to take your property unless you were to do something completely stupid on that concession like build it outside the zoning for it. You know, you can get too close to the ocean. There's just a number of things you have to be careful of, but for the most part, you can knock it down. You could have flat land. You could leave it for your kids. You could decide not to renew it, which would be stupid. But it's all finding the right attorney, understanding which property is good versus which one's not. When it comes to concession, as you can imagine, most of most of my clients, they they they don't want that. they're more familiar with titled property. So that's why Hakaco is very very very busy for both investors and people coming down that just want a piece of piece of paradise. But the area you mentioned, Pia Hermosa, which there's actually three or four in Costa Rica, but this is Punterus Gavito County, um, called oftent times Hakaco or Hermosa Hakaco, but we actually got a lot uh last year. Uh, really nice, probably about a mile up, um, in the in the mountains. There's two routes up there. One, you want a four wheel, you want a four-wheeler, which we have. It's a sidebyside Honda. And then there's another paved route which is awesome because I need to come to Hakaco quite a bit and that's about 20 minutes. So ocean view side to side. We have very nice neighbors. There's a resort beside us. Um so we're looking forward to building which the lots are very very cheap compared to like Guanacasta which is a very very expensive area. Um, so you can get large large plots of land right now that are very good price, but obviously going up because, you know, there's not many more mountain views out there. Are you thinking about making a move to the Low Country? Whether you're searching for the perfect home or you're exploring vibrant communities on the coast or dreaming of a new lifestyle, we're here to help. Contact the David Dale team today and let's make your dream a reality. Yeah, that's the one thing. We stayed we we stayed up on a plateau probably 300 ft up. I remember we got there at night and I looked up and this thing was so steep. I was like, "Oh my god, like am I going to be able to make it?" You know, I had this little Toyota that I rented and and I didn't think that thing was going to get up. Yeah. Yeah. And that's exactly right. And but that vista view of the Pacific over I mean it was just unbelievable. Yeah. Yep. Yep. That's uh ironically has become my favorite thing. I still love going to the ocean, take the dog there quite a bit. There's so many beaches that are different, you know, 10 minutes, 20 minutes away. Ply Hermosa is world famous for surfing. The surf circuit always comes through there. Uh I don't touch it. I I I try pretty hard to surf in Hakaco. Even uh swimming in Bleros is not recommended. There's so many currents there and the waves crash hard and Oh, but it's awesome. Eststeras is our favorite beach by far. Veste beautiful. Rio is awesome. And then um I think the favorite vibe would be sometimes getting out of Hakaco, going to Ply Armosa. They have beach bars. You can watch the competitions. Yes. Go up very high like our house is at and you know take some cool photos, drone photos. But so much to do. That's why we chose Central Pacific. You can drive to just about anywhere. Uvita is a very popular destination down south. Domin. Yeah, Dominica. We go right through there. Um, Guanacost, I've been there several times. We just came back last weekend from Porto Viejo, which is not far from Panama on the south side, uh, Caribbean side. So, okay. Yeah, it's about 5 hour trip down a mountain, up a mountain, but you know, driving here is a whole another thing. It's like a video pretty that's no lie. That is no lie. You know, it is still kind of it's not fully first world, that's for sure. But, hey, you know, it's I call it developing. People call third. Technically, it is, but I get, you know, defended like, hey, it's not third world. It's developing. So, true. I don't know if there's a second world, but I'd like to enter that. That'd be pretty cool. Developing is a good word. It's funny though, when the Plymosa thing, one of my memories, so Shiloh, our youngest, he was three. He just turned three when we went there and we were down walking on that beach and because it was f, you know, the guys, those young kids that can surf those waves. I mean, and these waves were huge. I mean they I'm not joking probably 12 13 foot waves. I mean they were monsters and I'm walking on the beach with him and this wave crashed so hard and when it hit it shot up and like literally I was holding his hand like swept him right out out from underneath me. It freaked me out. I was like you boys are going nowhere near this. This is but Hako so gentle and like we surfed there and it was just those long rolling waves and big wide open bay. I mean, that was so beautiful and and the the dark sand. It was awesome. It's cool. It's volcanic sand. There's Pablanca not far from us, which is white sand. So, yeah, a little bit of everything. But yeah, I mean, you should buy a lot down here and just sit on it. Now, speaking of that, let's transition because now because what's funny, you got me all stirred up. I said to D, I was like, "Man, I see Travis's stuff and I'm like, I'm jealous." Like, and I'm You're talking to a guy who lives at Hilton Head, right? Like, it's not like Exactly. which is a which is a great area. Beats, although, you know, I love Columbus. Go Buckeyes. Amen. Amen. We'll get into that later, too. Um, national champs. Um, so let's talk about real estate market in Costa Rica. Where you at right now, and how would you compare it to the United States? And let's talk about, you know, um, because here we have a ton of second home, uh, a ton of investment properties obviously for the rentals. So, let's talk about that buyer because it would be our buyer as well. And believe it or not, we have a lot of buyers, especially from the Northeast, who it's not just a second home, it's a third, it's a fourth home, right? And so, uh, for those out there who might stumble across this, let's talk about that comparison and say, "Hey, why would you look at Costa Rica? What is it going to get, you know, and and where's the market at?" Yeah, exactly. It's interesting you say that because I have not had one client who doesn't own multiple homes in the states and multiple may be, you know, from California where they own big villas. It may be rental properties in South Carolina. Uh typically though, I see them unloading a property to purchase here. I think just because it diversifies, you put your asset into a international very safe market. Um, I had mentioned to you before that when the US is very hot, Costa Rica is hot. When the US is very cold, Costa Rica is slightly cold. So, right now we're entering into a buyer market. I think a lot of the a lot of the country is, but more serious buyers and higher transactions at this point. The typical cycle for someone in Hakaco buying a condo would be come down for a couple years, fall in love with the area, look at the window at ReMax, look at the cheap prices, uh if depending on where you're from in the States, um and then come back again, kick yourself for not purchasing the last time, and maybe on the third time, could be within a year, that's when buying occurs. It is a cash market. Financing is very hard. Most come down. Yeah. Yeah. It used to be so much easier before the crash that we discussed. Um, and then US banks pulled out. So, it's just hard. But mostly what people do 90% of the time, like I said, is sell something or what they'll do is uh do a home equity line of credit on a property in the States, use that money to come down for cash. There's hard money. Most people don't like the interest rates of that. But yeah, yeah, that's that's one of the things that's challenging. Uh, however, your holding costs once you own the properties are extremely low. You know, your HOA and electricity are your biggest two. Property tax, forget about it. It's 0.25%. So, it can be $1,000 a year where in Chicago, we're paying close to 12,000 for a two-bedroom in Lincoln Park. But, I mean, it was a shoe box for the most part. So, yeah, that's your that's why I mean cost are low. You can afford to get rental investment, you know, money and then pay those three things off for the year. and use the property twice, you know, and it's it's pretty gravy if people want to use it as a lifestyle investment. I think the days of like 10% return on investment for a condo are probably gone, honestly. But in the bigger homes, that may still be there. You got to work hard for it. But, um, here it's a lifestyle investment. You you want to be down here. You know, you're making it first and foremost for you. like I want this condo to be for us and then we're going to rent it out and whatever we can pay back great and then rely on that obviously long-term investment but well let's talk about that. So, so the you you mentioned so price comparison. So, give me somebody so you know for us it's that sort of that northeast I don't know I'm assuming Chicago the bigger cities probably those northern people who kind of want to escape get to a warmer climate. Is that who who's attracting there? California. A lot of people in California escaping it. A lot of people in Denver who either have money. Denver is probably the busiest. Uh either people who have money or they're selling something. Maybe they've been there forever. Florida's a big one. Miami is a big one. Two and a half hour flight. Atlanta. Yeah, that's quick flight. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Okay. So, now give me price comparisons then. What what what am I getting for my dollar there versus here? Yeah. You're the states are way more expensive. I mean, as you know, I have no clue. I'm guessing multi-millions. If you want to be on the Atlantic Ocean, you know, in the States, anywhere on the East Coast. I mean, maybe there's parts of Florida, but I doubt it anymore because New York is kind of flooded, at least that southern market of Florida. But, uh, the panhandle is somewhat affordable into Alabama. But, I mean, even that's, you know, you're paying a lot of taxes, you're paying HOAs, you're Yeah. You know, the type of client from California comes here and they laugh. They're like, "This is so cheap. We can see the ocean." Other people recognize Hakaco and certain areas, Guanacaste, the, you know, are getting very expensive. So, for example, here in Hakaco for a title beachfront condo on a pre-sale, you're looking at about $400,000 directly on the beach, brand new development, HOA under $500. Yeah. So, um, so act fast. Are you thinking of selling your home? With our exclusive Elevate package, we combine over 50 years of experience, cuttingedge data analytics, our unique marketing strategies, and our extensive network to help your home rise above the rest while maximizing your sales price and minimizing the time on the market. So, contact the David Dale team today to learn more. Um, good. Yeah, because it's funny because like Hilton Head to give you comparison. So, you know, Hilton Head is obviously an island, so we're surrounded, right? So, you may not be direct Atlantic, but say you can get on Skull Creek here. You know, right across the street from me, uh there's a house, uh it's probably about 4,000 square feet and it's for sale right now for6 and taxes on that, you know, are uh you know, so it's about a half a percent, you know, so not too bad, you know, by comparison. So, about $5,000 a year. But if you go to Atlantic side, a little condo, you know, but you could still you're still going to be double or triple where you're at. So by comparison, that's a pretty big deal, you know, and and you know, the H aren't too bad. Go ahead. No. And I think even the big villas with Ocean Front and, you know, not main Well, Ocean Front, you're over a million, but I mean, if you want in the mountains and you have a million dollars to spend, um, you're going to get a house. I mean, you're going to get a big house. Um, so that's one of the things you can still accomplish here. And um, you know, it's it's just funny you said people and I kind of knew it. People in Hilton Head, it's not their first property. It's not their second kind of like I said down here that's what it's becoming. Um, yeah. More expats, but obviously people from Europe, Canada big time. Probably just I was say Canada, I could imagine. Yep. Yep. I mean, it's people are angry at the US, people are angry at Canada. So I mean here here they come you know and a lot of people are six months on six months off that's okay so that's how that's how it's working. So, what is your carry? Well, one, what sort of rental can you expect to get on one of those oceanfront condos? Like, what what is the rental market like there? It's very hot. We call it the high season, which is a non- rainy season. Half of December, January, February, March, April through Easter. Basically, that's when occupancy is going to be high, maybe 80 to 90%. Uh, right on the ocean, obviously does much better for people traveling. There are a lot of condos off the beach about a block, so they're cheaper. Your return on investment is probably higher. But again, if you're using it, you probably want oceanfront if you can afford that. Your lower season is most of the year beyond that. So May is not busy if you think about it. In the States, there's graduation parties, right? June, July, and August pickup. Uh end of August very, very slow just because people in the states are back to school. Um November, it's rainy season. In October, rainy season, that's very low occupancy. And then December kicks right back up for the new year. So you're looking at rent anywhere from 250 to 350 high season for an average condo on the beach. And then off the beach, maybe as low as 115, 125. Um, so you know, you you name it, it kind of fits everywhere. And then, you know, houses can go for a grand. There's houses that can go for 1,200. So, it's it's, you know, just about everything for everyone. It's cheap by comparison. I mean, you know, you you you rent a house here, um, you know, that's not even on ocean front, say like Sea Pines, right, on an interior lot, you know, for the week you might be at 10 grand, you know. Yeah. Easy. Our lakehouse back in the States were, you know, northeast Indiana, so not the most popular destination, but we're getting 800 a night. fourth of July 11 or 1200. I mean, yeah, it's it's on the water. Anything on the water, it's hard to lose, you know. Yeah. Yeah. We got we down here in Sea Pines was those old, you know, 1970 little sort of, you know, singlestory kind of beach cottage type thing. And these hedge funds come in, buy the property, tear it down, build these eight, 10bedroom homes, you know, 12 baths. And these things are pulling 600 grand a year. some 800. I bet it is. It is mind-blowing. Um the money actually co-ownership is big here. Do you have co-ownership there at all? Yeah, I I think it's pretty smart to do. I mean, what you see a lot happening is a Costa Rica LLC with dual members, you know, owning the shares. I think it's smart because uh obviously you're minimizing your early investment, but if you do it right, have the right property manager, um same thing, you can make a lot of money to pay back that initial, you know, cash purchase for sure. Uh tourism is down a little bit, but it's still higher than 19, which is kind of the benchmark we use because COVID is very unrealistic, very unfair to compare against. But for sure, yeah, I think I I and that's kind of what I do at the medical conference. I bring an attorney with me to talk about setting up an LLC and going into business on international investment. And there's so many health, you know, tie-ins at these medical conference and freedom, peace of mind, jungle, just, you know, get these guys down here. So, what is a what are the property management what what would it run you? What's your carry on a property manager as far as do they charge a percentage? Yeah, they normally normally it's kind of it depends. If you want to make your most money on a condo, you do your own Airbnb, your own communication, your own booking, and you hire someone to do the cleaning, maintenance, checking it out. A lot of people don't want that. They're in the states, they have a job, they can't be bothered. So, property manager anywhere from 20% off the top up to 50%, you know, depending on what they offer, what they're about the same. Yeah, it's about the same here. And I know four or five recommend easy. So, one of the cool things, you know, with a large brokerage like Remax is we have connections to, you know, everyone. So, it's very easy me to hook my clients up with property man manager, storage facility, attorney, um, escrow company, etc. Okay, that's awesome. Um, now let's talk about the types of buyers. Um, um, who who's coming down there outside of the very wealthy? I mean, is there anybody else that you're finding that is like, "Hey, go ahead." It's interesting because I think the younger population's coming down here, and believe it or not, some of them do not have homes in the States because they simply can't afford it anymore. So, this is a good point. Yep. Yep. So, use your money on property here. Get that rent to pay your rent in the States. Come down here, enjoy the property. Besides that, it's everything. It's all walk of life. think a lot of people are buying now preparing for a full-time relocation or part-time relocation. Uh, you know, you buy at today's price, it's always going to be cheaper than tomorrow. That's kind of common sense. So, I mean, a lot of what is the appreciation? I mean, is it is it do you see spikes or is it pretty steady? Do you see big drops? I think we saw spikes during COVID, so it was very hard to compare. I mean, I bought during COVID just because I had to get out of the country and uh, you know, come down here more often and there was so much demand. But I think it's probably you guys probably have way more appreciation where you're at, but as we have less beachfront property, less opportunity for development because Costa Rica is very protected. Um, I think the appreciation will always go up. I don't think, you know, it's at the percentage of some other places. Um, then again, like I said, it's steady. So, where we're at in Hakaco, it's kind of being overbuilt. So, I think what'll happen is not a price drop, but kind of a a period, especially this year, maybe into next year, where we have to catch up. Yeah. Prices aren't going to drop, but things are going to be on the market much longer. Yeah. So, it's sort of a flattening, if you will, but not necessarily a regression. Yeah. Yeah. I think Costa Rica is such an attractive place. You're always going to have people wanting to invest here. I mean there's other countries to invest but where else can you you know spend 150,000 become a temporary res resident which leads to permanent residency kind of a safety net for a lot of people who want that dual residency. Um and you know it's just it's green here. It's awesome. There's so much to do. It's amazing place to be. Yep. Yeah. I I I was most impressed when I was there that it as much as it did feel like developing, there were certain aspects from an American like there was a supermarket there. I think it's called Super Americano right somewhere near you and it felt like a Publix, you know, it felt like what's that? It was like a Whole Foods on steroids. Very expensive, but you can you can find American brands there. So I I don't Not my job. Yeah. No, I remember that. And then I remember your version of Walmart, too, which was very interesting. Like the fans, no AC, you know, it was pretty wild. But, um, but anyways, I digress. So, I want to get back to you. Let's say somebody you talk about a lot and they want to build. What are the building costs here? Like what what sort of and how would it work? Do you connect people with a builder? Do you have turnkey solutions? How do you deal with architects? And how do you deal with all the zoning and all that stuff? What's that process? Yeah. Yeah. Um, so I'll start off by saying I'm lazy. I'm more of a one-stop shop kind of guy. I shop who was going to give me the most realistic price. I wanted to see projects. My neighbor used our builder, so that's so huge because I always hang out at his house. Um, but really a lot of people say you want a structural engineer that may be different from a contractor or an architect because you want them arguing about what can be done, what can't be done. But I'm more of a one-stop shop. U, I think it's hard to build unless you're here or you're in a gated HOA, meaning if you're on top of a mountain like we are, it's hard to check on. Uh, you don't know what's happening. Unfortunately, there can be shady stuff happening. So, you usually get like a little cassita and you have someone live on property, which is what we'll do. It's about a 10-month build. And to answer your question, I mean, a house in the States that we have similar to what we're going to build here was 700,000 to build where this is going to be probably 250,000 including a pool. So, it's easy to build because labor costs are so cheap. Uh, but that's about the only thing that's cheap. We're going to bring stuff in from the States. Don't tell anyone. But little things like fixtures, plumbing, lighting, you know, uh whatever we can bring back, which you're allowed to bring back X amount with having to send it on a on a crate. Uh but yeah, building's easy to do here if you have the patience or you have someone that's a trusted resource like myself to check on it or uh you buy in a gated HOA where it's very secure and you know, boom, they can build pretty easy. So it's Yeah, there's some gated HOAs over there in Esta Rios area, right? Like if I remember there's still a lot of expats, right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, even Hako's more um Hermosa's more, but a lot of people want that gated community feeling, which which is a good feeling to have. That's you know, we're going to be nonhoa, but we rely heavy on our neighbors um to watch over each other. We have a WhatsApp group. Um you know, you name it. I already know all our neighbors and we haven't even moved there. Probably won't be till late next year when we're up there. That's awesome. All right. All right. Well, let's talk about too what what should Americans know before buying a property in Costa Rica that any as far as the myths that should be debunked? Let's let's start there, you know, as far as, you know, people who are researching currently. Yeah. I guess three things that I would say, you know, pay attention to. Number one, um there is escrow here. So meaning it's actually TLA is a big one and that's a Texas-based company that uses American standards with you know their laws on how to collect the money, how to hold the money, how to distribute the money. So it's safe investment. It wasn't back in the day when escrow wasn't here. It went straight to the developer. Um money tied up money shortened here. A lot of people lost their shorts. So that's kind of the introduction of escrow. So it's extremely safe to invest here. Um the other thing we already talked about is you don't you know lease the property from the government especially if you're up in the mountains or across the street from the beach. Um in Hakaco it is exempt from the merit time law. Uh most of the country is not. And then the other thing is you don't have to be here x% of time. I mean maybe you do but most people are leaving the country coming back quite a bit. Um there is no Amazon here. Uh which is a big Yeah. I never thought I would miss Amazon, but it's hard to get things here. What you do is you order stuff to Amazon. You can fly it down here, but they charge per the pound. So, most people bring it from the States, have family coming. I mean, we go back enough where we can get our things. So, but those are probably the biggest two is just how you own the property, which again is fully titled property. Uh the use of escrow, we don't have title insurance, so due diligence is extremely important. But once the house is cleared and you close on it, it goes into a national registry which is, you know, very very safe. So you just don't see that. How do they do that then? How do they how do they verify that it's a clean title with no leans and encumbrances? Yeah. I mean, it's easy for them to do it be the same way a title company does. I kind of stay out of that other than maybe, you know, working to understand where they're at with the process. But same thing, they just make sure there's no leans on it. They go to the municipality where the information's stored. Um, it's very easy for them to do. It's about a 15-day due diligence process and then closing usually 30 days. So, it's it's pretty quick. Uh you can buy in your passport here. You can also buy through a corporation. So, um Okay. So, you don't need to be a resident. No. No. No. In fact, they entice you, the government, to be a resident by spending $150,000 and then applying for residency if you choose to. That just means you're paying into the KAHA, which is their health care system here. Um and um you can go in the residential or you can go in the local line at the uh at the airport. So customs may be faster, but no, it'd be it'd be a decision you have to make down the road. You don't have to make it at this point in time when That's awesome. So I'm looking here. Actually, we've gone over a lot of my questions I had. So So what's the one thing that surprises most your clients when they start looking at Costa Rica real estate? like what's what do you find that process is for them and and what what jumps out at them? Um I would say a few things for good and bad. I would say depending on where you're from that's your price point like like I said California people in Denver, Atlanta, they have no problem you know with the prices here. They compare it to where they currently live. Um it is a expensive place to live honestly. Um there is you know it it's for a reason. It's probably the safe I know it's the safest country in Central America. Um they take USD all transactions in real estate are done USD which surprises a lot of people. Um really though it's I mean those are I kind of forget the question but well no I was just going to say what like for a lot of people who who you know are thinking about different places even for those who maybe are like if they ever watch this and be like I never thought about international you know like for for them like what you know what they find I obviously I think we talked about the the prices the owning the property and all that um but um it's easy to do people are surprised that the process is easy and it's fairly similar. It's money goes into escrow, due diligence is done. If something's found where the property can't be sold or isn't legally sold. Um, then you know the money goes back to the buyer. Um, the one thing here is water. You have to be very careful when buying vacant land. Um, you have usually you want a water letter or you want a well. Uh for us, we did a well so we wouldn't have to rely on the assada which is you know it's Costa Rica that's the way they administer the waters through an assada that's either publicly owned or privately owned but that can be dangerous. So we did a well and I had a few sleepless nights. Uh there's never been a well dug in Hermosa Hills where they haven't hit water but we had to go 185 meters which is about 616 feet down. So but you want to buy Yeah. You want to buy land where you can get water, meaning it's it's through the through the government, through the municipality, or you can drill a well or dig a well depending on how far you have to go. And then electricity is dangerous. What's dangerous about it? Um, if you can't get water, um, you basically just bought a property that is worthless. Um, so you can try to get water through like a concession off of a river or a stream, but if you don't touch that, you have to get permission to drill a well and go from there. Also, with electricity, a lot of times it's not feasible. It's too far away. So, you have to work to make sure you understand where the electricity is and how much it's going to cost to bring electricity to your house. That's probably easier than getting a water letter. Um, as you can imagine, with, you know, people coming here, it's it's tons of water. It's just the infrastructure to get the water to you. Um, a lot of places aren't giving out water letters or water permits or well permits, especially in Guanacosta where it's dry. You have these big conglomerates coming in like you know your JW Marriott, your Rich Ritz Carlton stuff you don't see here on the central Pacific. There's a Marriott close to us but they kind of keep quiet. It's at a marina called Los Swenos. But yeah, you have to be very careful and that's why using attorneys to do due diligence is even more important than in the states honestly. Oh wow. Yeah. I I remember when I was there too there was a couple things people told us was like electricity is very expensive isn't it? Yeah, by comparison, it's a ripoff. If you can do solar, that's the way to go. Um, they don't give money back to you anymore when you used to be able to use solar and sell it. Uh, they realize that's not the way to go. Uh, but little things like putting your pool pump on solar is great. If you have to, if electricity is right there, kind of grab it. But yeah, you know, it's it's that conversation. Is it solar and invest in the energy now? Those batteries are so expensive. We're close to the ocean. There's corrosion. Yeah. a lot of things that can go wrong with solar. So, I think doing a mix is the way to go if you're building. No, that makes sense. And what about internet? You know, because every the world runs off the internet. Obviously, we're on the internet, huh? It is. Okay. No interrupt. No, multiple options. Starlink's become very popular. Uh, Liberty is what we use. There's CLO, which is another provider. Uh, but no, it's quick. It used to go out quite a bit and now it doesn't. It just, you know, I'm on the internet all the time without issues. So, um, yeah, really service easy on it's good. I mean, I I ported my number to Google Voice, so that's a onetime fee. Um, so I can talk and text anywhere. And then WhatsApp is absolutely absolutely huge here. I wish more people in the States used WhatsApp because it's the easiest way to communicate. So, my cell phone bill with unlimited internet is $34 a month and I was paying 200 in the States. So that's the only thing that's I know. Wow. So what about can you get because I remember when we were there and I don't know why but I couldn't log in to my Amazon Prime account. I couldn't log into I couldn't get move, you know, because we wanted to watch movies with the kids. You can still get all that there, right? Is is that right? Yeah. A Fire Stick can be your best friend here. That can bring you a lot of things. YouTube TV um is what we watch. um just because we have an account with that. We get that through a VPN and then voila, we're there. That also brings us Netflix. So, yeah, you just got to get creative with it. But there are certainly ways to make sure you watch everything including college football on Saturday. Okay. Yeah. Which is most important. So, I want to switch gears though. Talk to me about gringo pricing. Uh it's it's a real thing, you know. Um you go to the car wash one day, it's higher and it's like why? It's like um because you're you're a green goal. Um what I do in this and you got to learn to do this. It's going to cost more money but less headache is take someone with you who is Tiko or Tika. I have a bank person that I take with me to go to like the ATM and talk to the bank. My attorney does a lot with me. Um inspections here on your car are done yearly which it's a big process. It's actually efficient in this country which is rare. Um, so I take someone there because I don't understand like neutral, reverse, forward, blinker. So he's just yelling at command me, but you pay more for that. I take people out to lunch quite a bit. Um, you know, slide them five, 10 bucks. But you're crazy if you try to do anything here by yourself. There's le levels and layers of bureaucracy that just make your life very frustrating. So my advice is spend the money, make friends with people, and use them. Just like if you moved to the states, why wouldn't you rely on people that know what the hell they're doing? So, yeah. Yeah. How how was that language barrier for Did you know Spanish before you went there? No, I mean it's it's an ongoing process. So, a few things with that I tried to learn right away and that was hard because I'm adjusting to a new life, adjusting to sun every day, adjusting to a new culture, new career. So, I mean it was hard to learn. Also in Costa Rica, and this isn't coming from me, it's very fast Spanish. So, when we went to Colombia and Mexico, it's I could understand more conversation. Also, it's lazy Spanish here, which I think kind of just means slang. So, it's a little bit harder to learn, but uh I do lessons now, you know, a few times a week, and it's starting to come. It's you hear a key word in a conversation, you can kind of follow it, but frustrating when you listen to a conversation so quick and you don't get any of it. So yeah, I remember that that it's funny you say that because that sort of was one of my big like like for me I was like at the stage in life where I was and the thought of moving there I was like oh man this is going to be such a learning curve for me and I because because one thing I noticed we would drive around to these little we would just go off the beaten path right and we get into these little neighborhoods and one thing I noticed there was everywhere we went midafter afternoon or So you would see these large gatherings everywhere. It's like they're very communal. It's very big connected community and and I remember trying to you know talk some people knew English because obviously there's so many um you know English- speakaking folks that are there so they accommodate them for the tourist uh aspect. But you could just sense that to really be able to connect, you got to understand what they're saying and that I could tell that that was going to be difficult. Yeah. I think depending on where you're at, usually on the coastlines like where we're at, they speak perfect English. I ask them how and they're like, I just learned from you guys over the years. Um, but I was in an area near Tarolus, uh, on the side by side crossing over like a river. Um, and I went the same way, okay, on the way back. I must have got stuck in a rut. So, I was literally stuck. It ended up being okay. I was just afraid the tide was going to come in and or out and actually push it, you know, towards the ocean. But, I ran down the river, found these two locals. They spoke zero English. They were looking at me like an idiot. I don't know how they say I'm stuck in a river. I know Rio, but you know, Rio, but that's about it. So, the only way to get them to follow me was to reach in my wallet, give 20, 20. They smiled, said, "Okay." And they they got their buddy, which I gave him a 20 and I bought them 40 ounce beers. Got myself one, too. But no, they towed me out. It wasn't an issue at all. That's kind of the way it is here. There's they saw what happened. They reacted. They got paid. And uh they they helped me out big time. So, yeah. I I I noticed that, too. My sense of the people were that they were actually very kind-hearted, very generous people and um you know I think authentic you know they're very genuine for sure. We developed uh great contacts here, great networks and good friends that helped us quite a bit. They're coming over they're coming over next week to teach us how to use 911. I called it before and I couldn't understand anything and it's not like the states where they call you back. Yeah, it's funny because I remember being there too thinking because I when I did my research I'm like there was a police station right there in in Hakka, right? And somebody said to me they're like, "Don't even don't even bother calling if you got a problem. They may come, they may not. No clue. I mean, they're driving around with their lights on just for the hell of it, you know." How funny is that? Well, listen. What's that? Yeah. Do I stop? Yeah. I don't know what's going on. So, hey, I I want to we'll kind of wrap this up here. Put a bow on it. So, tell us about this tower that you have and um that you're selling right now that's in Hakaco. I see you advertising it all the time on on Facebook and stuff like that and and help the audience understand what what you can get down there. Yeah. So, right now there's two projects that I'd recommend. Both of them are on a pre-sale. So, seriously, it's the perfect time to get in because they raise prices. Um they're going to have two buildings. Um they're going to raise the price on that one as well. So if you can be patient, uh the payment schedule's great. It's like increments of 25% uh based on completion the contract. Uh but there's nothing right now in Hakaco where it's a two to threebedroom that you're you know under let's say 450 500,000. So, these pre-sale opportunities range anywhere from 300 to 350 to 400 up to 500 for threebedroom. But the HOAs are going to be under $500. Everything's new. The amenities are better. Uh gyms, co-working space, uh boardrooms, surfboard storage. Uh the one that's closest to Movement, which is 50% sold out, it's called Solea. Um, it's a great location. Kind of the north central area of Hakaco, right on the beach. Uh, that's going to be considered like a lowrise, sorry, that's going to be considered lowrise, mid-rise. Um, and then there's another one called Coastal Point, which is beside Pacific Point, which is just just delivered. Uh, we bought a condo in there. So, same developer. Um, that one's further that one's not as far as long as Solea. Um, but if anyone wants information on these, you know, you can directly contact me. It's easy to do. So, um, Coastal Point is actually taking reservations now. So, you put your name in a hat. It's like a draft. If you're number 49, you get the pick of what's there. Similar prices to Solea as well. So, co, you know, the pre-sale is probably the way to go for a lot of people. It's just some people want it here and now and they're going to pay for, you know, an existing condo. That's very, very nice as well. Okay. Well, this is good. Like I and I've seen some pictures. Uh obviously we're on a Zoom call. What I'll try to do maybe send me some overlays or some some pictures and stuff and I'll have my editor kind of do some overlays as you're talking about it. But if somebody wants to get a hold of you, they have questions, they're a little intrigued by this and they find this and some of cost. How do we get a hold of Travis Commtock in Costa Rica? Easy to do. Instagram, LinkedIn. I think my name's Travis Cells Costa Rica. Um, and then.com, I guess. Um, but really text me, phone me, whatever. It's uh 614 representing Columbus. Amen, baby. 4993911 614. You kept that forever. Yeah, I'm not changing, man. Like, you gotta take a piece of Columbus where you go. And then, uh, the email is actually easy. It's just Travis OCRAX.com. Travis Ocr No, I messed it up. My Sorry, it's Travis.com. Okay. Travis remax Yeah. occr.com. Awesome, man. So, listen, man. This has been fantastic. I I'm stoked. You got me sort of uh making me want to think twice now about uh you know, Costa Rica again. And uh we're going to come down and visit. You're gonna You're gonna you know, show us around. give me good places to rent and all that. Yeah, I'll help you out. You guys should stay in probably Herosa if you enjoyed that again. Um because Hako's right there, but Hakaco at night gets a little crazy, especially for kids. Um so yeah, that's why we that's actually why we did it. Yep. Yep. And then um you know, I can help you with a rental car, a driver, whatever you need. So, I was going to say on the rental cars, real quick on that one because that's an interesting point because when we showed up at the airport, okay, so two things happened to me. I booked a rental car through I think it was Alamo, paid for it. I bought my own insurance, right? I go that I get out there and there there was like I mean dozens of people trying to get me to do a rental car with them. I found the the comp they had the driver there. They took me to the uh rental car place. It took me two hours, Travis to get that rental car. And what they did to me, they were like, "Oh, what you bought?" And he worked me and what I thought I got, I ended up paying five times more just to get the car. He was not going to let me get that car until I agreed to it. And then, oh, that insurance you bought? No, no, no. That's that insurance is going to work there. So, what do people do for that? Huh? Yeah. I got a guy, you know, I send him a lot of business. Um, he's awesome. Basically, they pick you up in a shuttle within five minutes. You go about 10-minute drive, if that. They have the car that you reserve. Says my internet's bad, but you have the car that you reserve. Um, and they charge you two options beforehand. U, it's a basic insurance or a little bit more for full coverage insurance. You don't pay a dime extra. And that's the thing with Costa Rica. You get ripped off when you try to, you know, do a lot of things that you think are right and then you get here and it's just, you know, they they sell you harder than you can ever imagine. It's like when we used to go on a cruise when I was little and they sold chicklets when you got off. Like it's not that. It's like cars, property. It's big ticket items they're trying to get out of you and you know it's dollar signs on your forehead when you arrive, you know, unfortunately. Yeah. They think every American is loaded. Yeah. Yeah, I'm broke. Broke is a joke right now. And they think I'm loaded. Guys, I'm local, you know. That's funny. That's awesome. Well, man, I'll tell you what, Travis. This has been awesome. Um, you know, I really appreciate you coming on the show. And, uh, like I said, send me some of those overlays. We'll try to get this out. I'll send it to you, you know, when we're able to get it published. And go Buckeyes, you know. Are you able to get the games, you know? Um, yeah, I get all the games. I have a Buckeye bar I go to. I think I'm the only person that cares about college football here in Hakaco. Guan Costa is a different story. It's a lot of t-shirts representing a lot of schools. But uh no, and we, you know, when I'm back usually in August, parts of September, so I haven't been to a game since we moved here, but um it's hard when you got an 85 inch, you know, screen TV, but um I don't think I'll go this year, but next year plan to go to Texas at Texas. Um I did go to game, Notre Dame game, national championship game. So, if we go We did. Yeah. If we go pretty far this year or Miami, I'm definitely going to that. So, yeah. Especially Miami, which I think maybe that's where it is this year. So, we'll be there. That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, man, it's been great catching up with you. Yes, sir. And I really appreciate you coming on the show and I wish you all the best down there in Costa Rica. And look us up if you ever come back here to Hilton Head. We got to get together. Okay. Yep. We should do a family trip there at some point. Loved it there. So yeah, come down here. Let's hang out. And uh same thing. Let's do it, buddy. All right, man. You take care. We'll talk soon. Thanks. Thanks. Bye. Don't forget to follow, like, share, and subscribe to Real Talk Hilton Head and leave us a review to help others discover the Low Country lifestyle. out.