Any hosts from Costa Rica?

[Alexandra316]

Good day all! My husband and I have two properties we host in Ontario, Canada and we are Superhosts.

We have been looking at purchasing a third property down south, either in the Caribbean, Mexico or Central America. It would be a vacation home, as well as a rental property when we weren't there. The plan would be to retire there for at least part of the year when the time comes.

I'm wondering if there are any hosts on here from Costa Rica, and what your experiences have been with owning and hosting a vacation property there. One of my main concerns is market saturation: there seem to be a lot of places available to rent. Any other thoughts or insights are also greatly appreciated. Thanks! 

[Sarah977]

@Dan505  I'm not Hannah, and I don't know anything about Costa Rican taxes, but as far as your payouts go, if you maintain a bank account in the US, or elesewhere, you can link your airbnb account to that bank account. This is what I do with my rental room here in Mexico- I list my place in Canadian dollars and payouts are transfered directly to my Canadian bank account and I pay no service fees for that, like you would with Paypal, for instance.

[Dan505]

Thank you, Sarah!

I am a bit gun shy on fees and tax consquences. Already investing in that 13% VAT, and legitimate expenses for the betterment of the lives and well being of my two outstanding employees. That is a good thing. Perhaps with the major, (to me), investment in the property in CR I will be able to show the balance sheet and be absolved from US taxes if I have payments here in an account. But there is such a careening clown car of a goverment here I hope to avoid throwing tax dollars to stoke their bonfire.

Many Thanks!

Dan

[Pablo274]

Hi Alexandra,

I have been getting more and more involved during the last years with airbnb in Costa Rica. I have the full experience, had a house in the beach for the last 3 years, and sold it. And also have 2 apartments in Escazu in action for the last 2 years. I cannot speak for the other countries, but for CR, I can tell you a thing or two. Despite the amount of options available, the real quantity of quality options that are suitable to foreigners is still considerable limited in some niches in the city.

For the beach side is a different story, as Costa Rica is still a gem that has plenty of options unknown to people. Is a long conversation, happy to help you with anything here, I have been in the corporate and real estate business for the last 10 years of my life so I think I can add some value in case you want to move forward with your idea on investing in CR. Let me know and we can touch base via phone (which I find easier as this is a broader subject).

My 2 cents!

[Denise521]

Pablo hello -- we are superhosts here in US/ Pennsylvania.  We are considering a move to Costa Rica. We want to purchase a property on the Pacific and build or buy but have a private space for Airbnb!!! What do you think?

[Lucie208]

Hi, I'm also interested in this topic and just read your post. I was wondering what the requirements are for renting out asa non-resident? Do I have to set up a business? I have in mind to only build a very small cabin, maybe two so not sure what the bureaucratic process would be for renting that out part of the year when I'm not there. Would appreciate any tipps! Thank you! 

[Tania291]

Hi I’m actually from Costa Rica, if you go to pacific or in general any place for tourims you have a lot of options,  so you may have to rent it too cheap, not sure if after paying cleaning services, utilities and others is a real bussines; it’ll work if you have the house to vacation and airbnb helps to pay the rent.

In the city you have a couple of nice places where you can buy that are close to bussines and office areas so you received a lot of employees doing temporary assigments in Costa Rica from multinational companies. Good places for this are Escazu, but for me the best opcion is around Nunciatura closer to San Jose down town and it’s one of the nicest places for young professionals. 

[David8801]

Alexandra

My wife and I are also from Ontario. Actually I grew up not far from Lincoln. We currently have an AirBnb in Costa Rica. We had a hotel in San Jose before that. You are correct that there are a lot of places to stay in Costa Rica. Most are in clusters in areas that are well travelled by tourists. Owning and renting while living in Canada I think complicates issues as you need to rely on too many other people. There are still ways to grow a bed and breakfast but it would be through finding a niche market. The locals are in to Airbnb big time but most of the offerings, although cheaper, are quite basic, at least in our area.

Because my wife lives in CR year round, we are trying to grow through networking and exploring different niche markets as opposed to just putting up a shingle and hoping people book with us.

Covid put quite a dent in that but we are exploring some leads.

One thing I would like to do is connect with a group of hosts in different areas of the country and build a network where a guest can travel this network, and see the sights. Referrals would boost the business and keep the quality of the product high.

David