Why I Put My Money in Costa Rica -

As an international real estate investor and scout, I travel the world in search of opportunities to bring to my Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) group.

I’ve been looking for deals in Costa Rica for 15 years, but they’ve been hard to come by. That’s a result of tight restrictions on development, limited supply, and insatiable demand.

The deals I’ve managed to secure over the years have turned out incredibly well, however, as I’ll share in a moment. (I’ve bought in one of these myself for my personal portfolio.)

Now I’ve secured something incredible…not just another Costa Rica deal, but a Costa Rica deal on true beachfront, the scarcest type of real estate in the country.

The community is called Solea and it’s in Jacó, the closest serious Pacific beach to the capital.

I’m opening this exclusive deal to RETA members this Wednesday. Ahead of that, I want to show you why I’ve been happy to put my own money into Costa Rica alongside fellow RETA members…

Costa Rica’s insistence on protecting its natural beauty makes development hard, and a premium base here incredibly valuable.

The Country That Protected Paradise

I want you to picture this country for a moment…

Drive an hour out of San José in any direction and you’ll find yourself in one of the most biodiverse places on earth. Costa Rica is a thirtieth of one percent of the planet’s land surface and home to 4% of all known species.

Cloud forests on the mountains. Rainforest down the Caribbean side. Dry tropical forest in the northwest. Mangroves at the river mouths. A Pacific coast of dramatic headlands, hidden coves, scarlet macaws cracking almond husks, howler monkeys at dawn.

A quarter of the country is formally protected through national parks, wildlife refuges, marine reserves, and conservation zones.

Costa Rica is the only tropical country in the world that has reversed its deforestation. In 1986 forest cover was down to 24% of the country. Today it’s back over 57%—roughly the natural maximum once you allow for the roads and cities.

This is one of the rare places where the government has made a generational decision: the natural heritage is worth more intact than developed.

Over time, the rest of the world started discovering what Costa Rica had preserved.

Costa Rica offers far more than warm ocean water. Cloud forests on the mountain spines. Jungle-clad slopes. Fertile valleys. Thriving towns. A rich, welcoming culture. No wonder so many people come to visit, then decide to stay.

The World Starts Paying Attention

Ever since my first scouting trips Costa Rica’s fundamentals haven’t changed.

The population is still five million. The army was still abolished in 1948—that money has been going into education and healthcare for over 75 years. The literacy rate is still 98%. Life expectancy is still 79+ years, higher than the United States.

Costa Rica still generates close to 100% of its electricity from renewable sources. Costa Rica still has the highest foreign direct investment per capita in Latin America.

What has changed over the years is the scale of who’s noticing…

In 1990 Costa Rica had 435,000 foreign visitors a year. In 2023 it had 2.75 million.

Last year it cleared 2.92 million.

A single-day record of 28,714 international arrivals on January 3 this year.

Tourism is Costa Rica’s number one foreign exchange earner. Has been for 30 years. Generated $5.43 billion in revenue last year and employs 183,000 people directly—7.7% of the country’s entire workforce.

And the country has a lot to draw visitors—not least its beaches, which are not only beautiful, but the scarcest type of real estate…

Encompassing just one-thirtieth of a percent of Earth’s landmass, Costa Rica contains 4% of species estimated to exist on the planet.

The Scarcest Real Estate in Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s Maritime Zone Law, passed in 1977, makes the first 200 meters inland from the high-tide line either public domain or government concession land. The first 50 meters belong to everyone — you cannot build on it.

The next 150 meters is leasehold from the local municipality on renewable 20-year terms, with foreign-owners capped at 49% unless you’ve been a resident for five years.

That’s 95% of every beachfront parcel in Costa Rica.

The other 5%—the small number of plots that were already privately titled before the 1977 law took effect—is fee-simple beachfront. Freehold. Foreigner-ownable. Mortgageable. Yours forever, the same way your house at home is yours.

And that’s what Solea is…the rarest of the rare. Titled beachfront.

Jacó is one of the country’s most popular beach destinations. Now, it’s entering a new phase…

You cannot create new titled beachfront in Costa Rica. The pool is fixed.

That’s the scarcity story underpinning the Solea deal. On top of the scarcity of true beachfront anywhere in the world.

The country has spent 50 years choosing to make development hard, choosing to protect what it has. The side effect is that real estate inside the moat—and especially titled real estate on the beach—is the kind of asset that doesn’t get manufactured anywhere else.

When that kind of structural scarcity collides with rising demand, the results can be extraordinary.

Jacó has been drawing surfers from overseas for decades. Today, they are joined by growing numbers of well-heeled expats, remote workers, and families who come for the town’s vibrant community and beachfront living.

What Happens When Scarcity Meets Demand

I’ve brought RETA members maybe a half-dozen off-market deals in Costa Rica in total, spread over 15 years.

I bought myself in the Acquarello Flamingo deal in March 2024. It’s close to the beach in Playa Flamingo (not on it like Solea.) The RETA-only pricing was from just $286,800 for a two-bed home and from just $386,800 for a three-bed home.

Now, retail pricing is $405,000 for a two bed and $505,000 for a three bed. Those are uplifts of $118,200 in just over two years on the RETA pricing.

Another RETA-only deal called Azul Paraiso has turned out better than I predicted. It’s due to be delivered by the fourth quarter of this year and already RETA members have seen incredible uplifts. A recent price list from the developer shows that the condos RETA members could buy for $268,400 are now listing for $439,000—that’s $170,600 more. And a condo RETA members could buy for $296,400 is listing for $549,000—an incredible uplift of $252,600.

In Costa Rica’s Southern Zone I brought members a deal called Villas Vista de la Montaña. The RETA pricing for premium three-bed homes was $250,000. In mid-2025, one of these premium three beds was listed for $399,000—an uplift of $149,000.

Every single condo in the RETA-only deal in Azul Paraiso will have a panoramic view of the ocean and the rugged coastline below and an expansive terrace on which to enjoy it. (Renders should not be considered final but give us a great idea what to expect.)

A Rare Opportunity on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast

Now, with the upcoming opportunity at the Solea community in Jaco, members can get in from $297,000 for a two-bed. I expect gains of $223,000 five years after delivery. The conservative rental case clears 17% gross once the community is established.

Members will pay just $427,000 for a three-bed. A three-bed penthouse is available for those who move very fast for $535,000.

I expect those $427,000 three-beds will be worth $748,000, and the penthouses close to a million dollars five years after delivery.

Buying titled beachfront in Costa Rica is almost unprecedented. Doing it at RETA pricing is uniquely historic.

Renters will love this beach view, family will want to go here, friends will be full of envy. All while the condo compounds in value as I expect it will. I figure on gains of $321,000 on the three-bed condos. Available to members at a RETA-only $427,000.

I guess you might find titled beachfront parcels in remote stretches of the country where the road is a dirt track, the airport is a four-hour drive, and the surrounding town has a little grocery story, a tire shop and not much else.

But Solea sits on the closest serious Pacific beach to San José’s international airport.

That combination—true titled beachfront, real accessibility, and deeply constrained supply—is why Solea may be one of the rarest Costa Rica opportunities I’ve ever secured.

RETA members, make sure you’re ready. I’m opening this deal this Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET.