SOLD-Build Your Own Costa Rica Vacation Home For Under US$100K

For those of you dreaming of building your own affordable home in Costa Rica, I wrote a series of Build Your Own Home articles which clearly shows you what’s possible even if you are working with a modest budget.

This property is not for sale, it is my own personal vacation home and this type of rural location and rustic, wood panel construction is not everyone’s cup of tea but, we love the cozy, earthy, natural energy of a home built from wood and, although we’re only 15 minutes from a small Costa Rican town, it’s our refuge and an oasis of peace.

I am no construction expert but I did take hundreds of photographs so you can see how we progressed each week and, in our 26 articles you’ll find the details of what we bought and how much it cost…

We built a two bedroom 1,797 square feet vacation home, with one huge bathroom, an open plan living room and dining room area with a large terrace at the front with awesome, panoramic views to the valley below, a good sized kitchen, a study upstairs (which could easily be a lovely third bedroom) and lots of windows, a large fireplace, plus 462.68 square feet for an open area where I chop and store the firewood (leña), a storage room called the pila for a sink, the water heater, washer, dryer and a garage area.

We built and furnished a 1,797 square feet vacation homeFor less than US$100,000!

Our original plans called for a slightly smaller house and I had hoped to spend less than US$80,000 however, we ended up adding a study on the second floor and this increased our construction cost to just under $96,000 but at the end of the day, we built a 1,797 square feet vacation home (plus 462.68 square feet for the garage area, pila and bodega).

This includes all architect fees, insurance, permits, top quality appliances (we love cooking), curtains, light fixtures, beds and all other furniture, plus the cost of the 5,000M2 land which was US$44,049.26 This includes the cost of bringing electricity to the land.

The total cost of construction plus the cost of the landWas less than US$140,000

Over the 2009/2010 New Year holiday I took some video for you of the completed home and the views we love so much which you can see here today. Although I have filmed tons of video over the last few years for our VIP Members, this is the first video I’ve ever sat down and edited so be gentle on me please!

First thing in the morning you’ll find us both relaxing on the terrace watching the valley change colours as the sun comes up…

During the day, I’m normally digging a zillion holes for the hundreds of trees we’ve planted and various plants which we have normally chosen primarily because they attract butterflies and humming birds.

We love the humming birds that visit our feeders and hanging flower baskets but they are so incredibly fast and difficult to photograph…

At around 4pm you’ll find me chopping firewood for our evening’s entertainment – we do not watch TV – and then at 5pm’ish, we’ll spend another hour or so on the terrace watching the sunset and because we are at an elevation of 7,230 feet, this means we are normally looking down on the clouds.

The air is clean, the nights are silent but filled with stars and we enjoy beautifully clear, sunny 70+ degree days nearly every day.

I love Costa Rica …

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.