The process of buying land and building a home in a foreign country is fraught with uncertainty and challenges – not an endeavor for the faint of heart. This was a 4 part journey, starting with the Decision Process, followed by the Planning Stage, transitioning to Construction, and finalizing with Operations.
The Decision:
Our journey began with our first vacation to Costa Rica in 2014. We were staying at our friends villa on the mountain above Dominicalito. It was an enchanting villa with spectacular ocean views, surrounded by the jungle teaming with life. We were so captivated by the experience, that 1 week into our 10 day vacation, we hired a realtor to show us some properties. We looked at properties around Dominical and Uvita with villas, as well as empty lots that were ready for construction. This property in Escaleras was so mesmerizing, that we both fell in love with it. We immediately began dreaming about a vacation villa overlooking this view with an infinity swimming pool.
At this time in our lives, we were about 5 years out from retirement, and had begun researching different places to live, in preparation for our pending departure from Saudi Arabia. We enjoyed the Expat lifestyle, and had been traveling around the world experiencing different cultures. Costa Rica was enticing with its friendly “Pura Vida” lifestyle and proximity to the USA. We did not like touristy areas, and the South Pacific coast of Puntarenas seemed like an ideal blend of creature comforts immersed in natural beauty. So we launched an exhaustive Internet search on the pros and cons of living in Costa Rica, in addition to several anecdotal experiences of other Expats that chose this area. We were careful to avoid 'confirmation bias', and discovered that many Expats, after exploring the entire country, chose this area to settle. An important step in the process was deciding whether to buy or build. Since we had already committed to an undeveloped property, with established infrastructure, such as water, electricity, and easy access, we needed to find a builder and scope out construction costs.
The Planning:
We interviewed several builders of luxury villas, and fortuitously met Ben Morris with Paradise Homes. He had10 years of experience building homes in this area, using skilled local craftsman. Our original game plan was to mitigate construction risks, by waiting until after retirement to build, so that we could monitor activity on site. Ben convinced us that our investment would be safe, as absentee owners, with regular communications and updates, thanks to WhatsApp. This was his typical mode of operation with clients.
The design process was long and tumultuous. We were not happy with any design plans presented by the architect, so we started from scratch with a blank slate, and began sketching out designs based on a combination of our imagination, and an amalgamation of ideas from several villas that we had visited or rented. The cornerstone of our design was integration into the jungle, while optimizing ocean views. Our objective was to have the premiere medium-sized vacation rental villa in the community. It took about 1 year to converge on a final plan. The scope of the project had significantly increased, and our initial budget had tripled. I had to delay my retirement another year to generate funds to pay for scope creep.
The Construction:
OMG, we can’t break ground because we don’t have a legal certified water source, which is required to get a construction permit!!! The crew has been waiting for a month to start work and we are getting desperate. After failed efforts registering the natural spring located on our neighbors property (our grandfathered water source), and failed efforts for approval to drill a water well, we hired a local Tico to hand-dig what is called an artisanal well, traditionally used by local farmers. I was very skeptical of this endeavor for a variety of reasons, but in an act of desperation, I authorized the $2000 investment. The 2-man crew equipped with a truck, a shovel, a 5 gallon bucket, a long rope, some support sticks, and a hand crank, began digging a 1 meter diameter hole. The first hole hit big rocks at about 2 meters. They got out their witching rod and selected hole number 2. After digging 3 meters, they hit big rocks. Repeat number 3 with witching rod and digging. To my amazement, I received a video from Ben showing that they had hit water at 10 meters. They continued to lift mud and water out of the hole 1 bucket at a time, with a guy at the bottom of the hole with a shovel, and his partner hauling up the buckets. They made it to 15 meters, then cased the hole with 1 meter concrete culvert pipe sections, lowered into the well. The water turned out to be non-potable, due to organic material, however it was adequate to get the building permit approval.
With permit in hand, the crew of seven workers quickly erected a shanty camp out of sticks and aluminum roofing sheets. This was their home for 5 days a week for over a year. They commuted to be with their families on the weekend.
Excavation for the foundation began, and in short order we were confounded again, this time with more giant boulders that were 2 big to remove. After significant deliberation, the engineers decided to use dynamite to blast out the rocks. Once again, I was very skeptical of this idea, as it seemed risky and dangerous. And once again, to my amazement, the local experts came through by carefully drilling holes into the obstructing rocks, and placing small charges to blast away chunks of rock. The next day, all of the obstacles had been cleared – Woohoo!
The foundation was poured, and the structural framework started going up. As a geophysicist, I am acutely aware of structural issues related to frequent earthquakes. After doing some research, we chose to build with Structural Integrated Panels (SIPs), rather than the standard cement blocks. The SIPs consisted of 4’x8’ panels of styrene, 4 inches thick, coated with a wire mesh on both sides. The framework of the structure consisted of welded and bolted steel I-beams. The walls went up quickly by attaching the SIP panels. All of the panels were wired together, so that the house was encased in a wire mesh, that could flex and crack, but not fall down, in case of a major earthquake. The walls were then sprayed with concrete on the interior and exterior.
Additional customized features included, a large palm shaped window on a vaulted wall, cupola with Bali wood carved ceiling, stone fresco wall with Bali carving, media center with Bali carvings, Sukabumi Andesite pool and fountain tile imported from Bali, sunken kitchen with swim-up bar in the patio, garden shower and bath, fusion granite from Brazil, sinks carved from natural stone, and many other features with emphasis on natural materials. The house also has a solar system for electricity, with battery backup. The design invokes thermal convection to naturally circulate air and cool the house on hot days.
The third significant unscheduled event occurred during the rainy season, when a steep slope in the front of the house began to collapse, and resulted in a huge mudslide that flowed into the house. To stabilize the slope we had to engineer a terraced retaining wall 37 meters long to stabilize the slope. This was a significant unplanned expense. In retrospect, the terraces provided additional space for flowers and gardens. The original construction schedule was 11 months. But due to delays, and modifications, it took 17 months. During the construction, we made 3 visits to CR to shop and select finish materials such as tile and countertops. The light and plumbing fixtures were purchased online at build.com, and shipped from the States, and many custom features were imported from Bali. The wood cabinets and furniture was manufactured locally by custom craftsman.
The final stage of the project was landscaping, which was one of Ben's areas of expertise.
The Operation:
In Progress …
Lessons learned:
1) If you want to build a custom home with high quality materials, and skilled legal craftsman, you will have to double the cost per square foot that is typically promoted online.
2) Listen to advise from others (ie. Spouse, builder, engineers, architect, property manager) and acknowledge their ideas and contributions. If an apparently unresolvable conflict arises, put the issue aside for a day to chill out and rethink options.
3) Never consider purchasing a property unless it has documented legal water access.