Mine was no snap decision to go house questing in Costa Rica.

The idea of moving abroad had been ricocheting around in my head for years. Despite my comfy home in glitzy Las Vegas, where everything works and runs smoothly, I was terminally bored.




I suspect this was due to my inherent wanderlust, to growing up in tumultuous Argentina, and underwater film work that paid me to have exhilarating experiences worldwide.




Finally, the creeping homogeneity of America became too much; I needed a culture more exciting and vibrant and peaceful, without my every move being watched, regulated and taxed.

I’d considered Chile with its wonderful people and spectacular mountain wilderness, but I craved a warmer clime year-round.




The Bahamas was out, just too hot & slow, and anyone delusional enough to consider beautiful Argentina with its ultra-corrupt government and unstable institutions deserves to lose everything they put into it.

Hence, Costa Rica — indeed the land of “stunning scenery, sunshine and smiles.” Thanks, Scott!




My first foray was in 2005, when I helped a Spanish-challenged buddy determine if a postage-stamp piece of Guanacaste land he got conned into buying as a tourist ages ago for $3,000 was still his. Miraculously, it was, all overgrown but squatter-free and with a clean title.

Nine months later he sold it for $285,000, with no commission for me! At least he covered the trip, which gave me my first real glimpse of the country and was reward enough.




Between meetings with real estate agents and an attorney we worked in a little tourism, riding ATVs in swollen rivers, through bone-soaking rain, over wobbly suspension bridges and tortuous jungle paths.




All interspersed with close encounters of the friendly kind with the naturally warm and open Ticos. What a contrast to the guarded stance in so many other countries. I was hooked.

Ever since, I had weighed moving to Costa Rica. I read and listened to everything and everyone: the good, the bad, the ugly. The Internet is an incredible tool, and WeLoveCostaRica.com was a fount of nitty-gritty info. I read tons of articles, bought Scott’s cautionary book on buying real estate, and soaked up forums advice.

Culture shock didn’t faze me. I’d already lived in Latino societies for over a decade, and loved it even with all the quirks and frustrations. I’d blend.




Spanish wasn’t an issue. I already spoke it fluently, albeit with an Argentine accent from the land of “Che” Guevara, which I kept polished with my Argentine friends in Vegas.




I was psyched, so in July I decided it was high time for a recon trip. Either get with it or drop it, and dropping it was out of the question. I booked flights for a 3-week stay.

Surprisingly, just over a week into my trip I found a house just outside Grecia in the Central Valley that could definitely work. I spent the next two weeks reviewing every aspect of a purchase, and now I’m set to make an offer the seller can’t refuse, mainly because he’s so desperate to sell.




So how did I find a house so quickly? Luck was definitely a factor, but as I am wont to preach, “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” It wasn’t all luck. Some wonderful people helped make this match happen.

In the next part of this short series of three articles, we’ll look at the sequence of events that led me to my new abode.

1. How I Found My New Home in Costa Rica: Research, Spanish and luck. Part III/III
2. How I Found My New Home in Costa Rica: Research, Spanish and luck. Part II/III
3. How I Found My New Home in Costa Rica: Research, Spanish and luck. Part I/III

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Written by VIP Member Walt “Stryke” Clayton. Walt is the creative genius behind Stryke’s Buns Guide: A Field Guide to Buns of the World, a fun, light-humor parody of popular nature guides available on Amazon.com, but instead of featuring snakes and birds it focuses solely on female behinds.

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.