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Hello again,
First I would like to thank all that have commented here. I watch it regularly and really do get a lot of info. I have been to Costa Rica on 2 different trips, owned
property at Whistler and Poipu, Kauai. I am now interested to purchase a home in CR
and possibly Europe.I have some questions, please.
When I was there the last time it seamed every business or home was for sale due to
divorce or moving back to the home country. Why is that?? People fooling around and
getting home sick ?? I know from this site many of you are happy in CR. Can you
please give me some help with this. Do people get lonely and want KMart back ????
I am 60 years old and don’t want to relocate to many times.Thanks for any input you might have.
John, Canada
Sorry but isn’t that a pretty silly statement – “Every business or home was for sale.”
People move back for a thousand different reasons. Aging parents, missing their children and grandchildren… Lots of reasons.
There are NO FACTS about what percentage of people come to live here and then return so all those numbers you see quoted on various sites that XX% return to the US after XX years are all pulled out of thin air …
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comJohn, please. There are always reasons. First I noticed that you “owned” property in Hawaii. What happened there?
I am an experienced real estate developer (37 years) that bought property in Samara (2003) started bulding in 2006 with a plan to move in late 2007. Then the buyer for our waterfront home in Florida backed out 3 days before our planned move, and after that my wife had health issues arise, the combination of which has forced us to place our planned retirement dream house on the market. In 45 years of business, I can’t tell you how many people I have known that were going to move (neighborhood to neighborhood, city to city, state to state. or in a few cases country to country) and I celebrated when their move was happy and successful, but I never questioned when their plans did not work out as planned because I realized that things come up that are beyond our control. After investing over $1M in our dream house in Samara, we still look at it as “our adventure”. We have sailed many miles across the oceans, and all of those hours and miles were “without roots”. This adventure has roots, and if those roots take hold that will be wonderful. But if they don’t, our other slogan is “we can always go back”. But what we have agreed is that “if we go back” we will still dig a root in Costa Rica, whether it be a smaller house, a condo, an apartment or whatever. One thing for sure “NOBODY ONLY VISITS COSTA RICA ONE TIME”“NOBODY VISITS COSTA RICA ONLY ONE TIME”
I have some pretty strong positive feelings about Costa Rica. After 4 visits in the last 17 months and a property purchase, not a day goes by that I do not think of the place and the people. All things being equal, I also find it strange that anyone would voluntarily leave Costa Rica to return to live in this circus in the States. Of course, all things and all people are not equal.Edited on Jan 04, 2008 13:31
Although there are certainly people that choose to move to CR and then for one reason or another they also then choose or have to move out, there has certainly been a steady increase in the expat population of Costa Rica in the last few decades. In part caused by expats that have lived there for many years. Right now there are slightly more expats than indigenous people in Costa Rica (indigenous are 1.7% of the population and foreign nationals according to the 2000 census are at about 8% but since about 75% of those are Nicaraguan then other “expats” make up about +/- 2% of total Costa Rican population–see link). It is by no means a total revolving door and you must also consider that we’re not immortal so there will be some loss of the expat population due to the inevitability of death.
I absolutely agree, I don’t know of anyone that visited CR just once–I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been there. It’s a wonderful place to live and to visit…
As far as for sale signs, they don’t have to mean that people are leaving–there are many reasons people put their property up for sale–they very well could be trading up or down. I have never seen so many “For Sale” signs in my life in NJ and I assure you that population is not looking to head elsewhere…The real estate market so far in CR seems to be much healthier than the one we’re experiencing in many areas of the US.
http://www.laprensa.com.ni/archivo/2005/junio/17/migrantes/ regarding immigrants in CR
John, although you may see a lot of “for sale” signs that is not an indication that people are necessarily moving from Costa Rica. I too see a lot of those signs, but a couple of years ago my wife & I bought a parcel of land and intend on building our retirement home there in a few years. It’s a wonderful country and the people are absolutely fabulous! I only wished we could retire tomorrow and begin “living” the rest of our lives. Pura Vida!!
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