Our three days in Manila were based out of Newport City, which we selected because we had considered buying here, and while we decided not to buy in the Philippines in 2017, we figured we’d give it another look. Our stay this time was at an apartment rented through AirBNB, which gives us another data point to compare to our own AirBNB rentals in Costa Rica. The location of Newport City, both as a location for buying real estate and as a location to stay during our visits, appeals to us for several reasons. Newport City is located right across [...]
We started our week in Legazpi because it’s the location of a non-profit we have supported for 23 years and counting, Children International. CI recently opened a new community center, and the last time we visited in January 2017, it was just a concrete foundation and digital renderings. Now, it’s a fully built out, multiple-level, dual structure compound (with a covered basketball court!) that serves over 3,000 kids in the area. While not visible in the photo, the community center is located only a few kilometers from the Mayon Volcano, which was erupting between January and March. In fact, the [...]
ser·en·dip·i·ty: noun: the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. This week, CostaRicaFIRE got two media mentions, which is one of closest experiences I have had with serendipity in my goals; both of these media outlets were a big part of the inspiration behind our pivot into real estate, the FIRE life, and Costa Rica specifically! First off, the publication International Living, which inspired me to take a serious look at Costa Rica as our FIRE destination, featured us in the cover story for their sister magazine, Incomes Abroad. The story was about how to make extra [...]
One of the main reasons Scott and I chose a new retirement lifestyle is the freedom it gives us to travel. We took a trip to the Philippines in January 2017 (Scott’s first and my fourth, but after a 25-year absence), and we loved it so much we booked another trip in April. We found cheap fares on Cathay Pacific and jumped on them. Now I’m writing this post from our AirBNB in Newport City (the complex where we considered buying). I love Newport City because it’s just across from the airport, and you can literally walk from the airport [...]
For me, health optimization is related to stress management. When I’m stressed, I get sick – a cold that won’t go away, an upset stomach, sore muscles. In the year or so right before I left my corporate career, I was besieged by tingling nerves and numbness in my hands and feet that would come and go. Because it was clearly nerve-related, I had my spine looked at, an MRI done, as well as a full check-up. I had been diagnosed with a heart murmur as a child so I had a full EKG work up on my heart. Nothing [...]
We are not independently wealthy, and we have two kids who still live at home, but, we still have the time and money to travel. In 2017, for instance, we were away from home for about three total months, with several of the trips international. Our careers in our 20’s and 30’s were traditional corporate jobs tethered to our desks. But we did pick up some key skills that have helped us to untether, now that we want the flexibility to roam and still stay financially solvent! If I had to pick out what has been most helpful, here are [...]
In March, Caroline and I took a trip to Tamarindo, Costa Rica. Just before our trip, we had a little winter storm in New York, so we were very glad to be able to escape for a few days and enjoy the beautiful sunny and dry season in Tamarindo. In fact, it had snowed several times in New York City in the last few weeks, making the winters end even more unbearable than usual. Today Caroline and I are jetting off to the Philippines, and check the photo above for the snowy weather this morning (even though it is April) as [...]
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. We may receive compensation if you click one of those links and purchase a product. We purchased our second investment in Costa Rica, Casa Salita, using our retirement money. Up until a few years ago when I seriously started researching real estate investing, I only thought of paper assets like stocks and mutual funds when considering where to invest my 401k and IRA contributions. I had no idea you could invest retirement dollars in anything else. In fact, for most people who work a traditional 9-5 job, you like cannot [...]
We made our second investment in Costa Rica for a variety of reasons. Casa Salita is a 4-bed, 4-bath house with a separate casita, private pool, wraparound deck (with two hammocks!) and an outdoor kitchen. It sleeps 10, so the capacity of it certainly increases its rental prospects. However, it also has unique properties that add income potential and versatility to what we can do with the property: The property is on two lots, so we could sell the lot that is less developed, or we could build on that lot – either a small separate house or additional casitas. [...]
We closed on our first property, Condo Boom, in October 2017 and then on our second property, Casa Salita, just under two months later. Why two investments so close together? Having expanded our real estate portfolio from two rentals in our first eight years of investing to two or three per year since then, we’ve seen the benefit of volume. When you have two properties and one goes vacant, you feel that 50% drop in income. When you have 10 properties and one goes vacant, your income drop is only 10% -- not insignificant but much easier to sustain. Now, [...]
