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A good friend of mine had a rent-to-own agreement on the house she was living in, but her application for a mortgage was denied so she was unable to meet the purchase deadline. A rent-to-own agreement is what it sounds like – it looks like a typical lease, except at a specified date, the tenant has the right to purchase the property for an already agreed upon price. For my [...]

We are not financial advisors so nothing in this post should be construed as specific financial advice. However, with $3 million being the new recommended retirement target, I was intrigued by a reader’s retirement plans. Stephanie, currently a US resident in her early 50’s, wrote to us with questions about Costa Rica, as she is investigating possibly retiring there and on much less than millions of dollars: We own our [...]

This COVID-19 pandemic, with its widespread and uncertain fallout, is giving me flashbacks to the Great Financial Crisis of 2008, when the big banks were subject to stress tests to ensure they had enough reserves. I was doing HR consulting for a big global bank that had their stress test deadline coming up. In better times, they probably would have assumed they were too big to fail, except that Lehman [...]

I had written before about how the coronavirus pandemic has affected our FIRE plans, and this was before a continued spike in cases worldwide and Costa Rica closing its borders. Costa Rica indicated the border closings were through April 12, but the pandemic appears far from abating. Estimates for a vaccine are 12-18 months away. Who knows if the border closure will be extended? Even if Costa Rica does reopen [...]

Recently, I bumped into a colleague at one of my clients and discovered we had more in common than just working at the same place. Like me, she had an international vacation rental business, only this time in the Dominican Republic (DR), and she’s only 27! Of course, I had to know more about how this New York City millennial balances a full-time job with real estate. Meet Manuela Rodriguez [...]

I am lucky to get dozens of free books each year since my consulting work includes writing advice columns, and publicists send me review copies to hopefully feature their clients in my columns. I try to read as many review books as I can, and I also pick up books on my own dime and time. I particularly love business, personal finance and self-improvement books. You won’t see any fiction [...]

We received this reader question about whether to buy a small condo for a first investment: Hi guys,   Thanks for all the really useful info!  I'm thinking of buying a small condo as an income property.  I am a single mum living in Vancouver, Canada at the moment.   Do you think this would be a good idea.   Any advice would be greatly appreciated!- Gillian We are not financial advisers, real [...]

Costa Rica real estate represents over 20% of our portfolio. While we are still bullish on the area, we prioritize diversification in our portfolio, including geographic diversification. While we continually view real estate listings in Costa Rica to stay informed about the market, we are looking for a new area to invest in. We have written before about how we picked Costa Rica and why we selected it for our [...]

We just finished spending 30 full days in Costa Rica, by far our longest trip anywhere! We wanted to see what an extended stay would feel like, and also experience the rainier season in the country. All in all, a very successful trip. Since geo-arbitage in Costa Rica is a possibility for us going forward, we were also curious to know how much it would cost for us to spend [...]