Introducing us and our Costa Rica properties

[Petra941]

Hi, My name is Petra and I am hosting with my wife Karen who is the actual host but she works a lot and I’ve just retired so I’m basically doing it. It’s exciting and overwhelming and thrilling and scary!

We unexpectedly bought two properties in the law, La Fortuna area of Costa Rica and we’ve had a great time decorating, bringing them up to speed for foreign guests, and generally making them our own. 

Our 1st is Toucan Villa, a small two bedroom, which  has an amazing view directly at the Arenal  volcano, with a small deck and a plunge pool and lovely murals, People really seem to love it

We love this area of Costa Roca, we realized the house is too small for us to stay there for any length of time since Karen remote works and so we had to buy something a little bigger.

Our 2nd is Easy Loving Casa, 3 bedroom, 2 full bath that sleeps 8, with a great pool, lush landscaping and a big yard.  We’ve just spent two months, bringing it up to speed, redecorating with international art and beautiful murals by Betty Smith, and we really love it. it has a peekaboo view of the mountains and volcano and is five minutes from a river with a great swimming hole.

both of our properties are within 10 minutes driving distance from La Fortuna out into the flats so the views are amazing. It’s a little quieter away from the touristy area and there are lots of wonderful pockets to explore.

we live in Dallas Texas in the US and we also have a cabin up in the northeast in the mountains of New Hampshire, but we don’t Airbnb that it’s part of a homeowners association and we’re not allowed to. We’d love to go there in the fall

I just retired from a 41 year career and Karen is running a global spiritual tour company called “Spirit Tours, journeys of the soul” and is traveling all over the world. My favorite part is to join her and create new tours.

looking forward to an amazing adventure with Airbnb. I’ve been at an Airbnb fan for at least 10 years and so now we’re hosting.

[Bhumika]

Welcome to the Community Center @Petra941 !  Buying two properties unexpectedly sounds like one of those “life just happened” moments, right? 😍 

I was taking a look at your listing photos and I LOVE how it's surrounded by nature! Were you always looking for properties near such locations or did you happen to stumble across them and chose to buy it (just for the location)? I'd love to hear all about it!

Regards,

[Petra941]

We were definitely looking in the La Fortuna, Arenal volcano rainforest area. I’m not much of a beach person, but I love lush green, flowers, and mountains. We love how clean it is And focused on eco- tourism. So that’s where we ended up.

We are finding that Costa Rica is definitely operating on a different level than North America and their new taxing of Airbnb’s is pretty complex, but we love our properties, we love being part of Costa Rica, and we love that we’re not right in the tourist area, but a little more out in where the locals live, a little more rural and still close to everything.

We love it that people are finding and loving our places!  thanks for asking.

[Bhumika]

Hi @Petra941 , I really like how much you love the La Fortuna and Arenal area. From your listing photos, it indeed looks like a dream location! It's absolutely a perfect choice 😉

How are you managing the tax related questions then? Have you been in touch with a local tax advisor to help you with the details?

[Petra941]

@Bhumika We are learning all about the tax processes. We have engaged a local accountant to register for the VAT and NITE number. We have learned there is the 13% VAT tax charged to guests through the Airbnb platform once we put the number in our listings.  But there is also an additional 15% income tax for us. Everything is documented through “electronic invoices” which we are working to get monthly.  from our utilities, but haven’t yet worked out how to get from our cash workers - cleaners, yard, pool, and repairs. Do we require them to do it, or do we handle it and withhold the 2% tax. It’s not clear if the automatic deduction will cover this even if we don’t report it.

the accountant is way too expensive as the fax filing has to be made and paid monthly, not annually.  We are looking for an accountant who works with locals rather than Foreigners. And we are learning to do as much as we can ourselves.

now we have to learn about depreciation, Costa Rica vs US LLCcs, and whether to have the income deposited to a US or Costa Rican bank. Oh and foreign income on our US taxes.

its a lot to learn and navigate. I hope to have it all worked out by the end of the year. I’m working to stay patient and learn as much Spanish as quickly as possible.

whew!

[Bhumika]

Wow @Petra941 , that's definitely quite a lot to follow through! All the best with that 🌻 

Have you found any host community in the region where you can connect with local hosts and learn from them? Having that extra support can be so useful!