OFYS

25/05/2026

22/05/2026

One of the things people don't always consider when building in Costa Rica is how the calendar affects their timeline 🌦️

The low season in Guanacaste, when visitor numbers drop and the town quiets down, can actually be productive on a construction site. Fewer disruptions and cooler morning temperatures can make the hardest physical work more manageable.

The build at La Caleta runs the same way it does in peak season. Same team, same pace, and the same attention to what's happening on site day to day. For buyers building remotely, that consistency matters 💪

If you've been thinking about timing a build around the seasons here, it's worth understanding that the construction calendar and the tourist calendar don't follow the same logic.

What questions do you have about how the building process works across the year in Guanacaste?

19/05/2026

The average North American commute is about 27 minutes each way. Add in parking, weather, and real traffic, and most people are closer to 45 minutes. That works out to over 300 hours a year sitting in a car. Over a 30-year career, that's more than a full calendar year of your life.

At some point, you start asking whether that's actually how you want to spend the time you have. A lot of the buyers we talk to from the GTA, Florida, and California, come to stop trading their best hours for a steering wheel.

Down here in Coco, this looks very different. A walk to the beach is 2 minutes, the pickleball courts are inside the community, and some days you don't get behind a wheel at all. It takes a few weeks before you even notice the time you got back, and then one day you realize you played pickleball before breakfast and didn't check the clock once all morning.

That's the trade.

Share this with someone who can relate.

15/05/2026

If Costa Rica has been on your radar, read on 👇🏼

A lot of people come here for the lifestyle — the climate, the community, the Pura Vida. And while they're living it, their investment is holding up pretty well too.

Here’s what to know about investing in Costa Rica:

・ Political and economic stability
Costa Rica has maintained one of the most stable democratic governments in Latin America since 1949 — no standing army, strong rule of law, and a consistent track record of protecting foreign investment. It is one of the most secure places in the region to put your money.

・ Full property rights for foreign buyers
Foreign nationals have the same property ownership rights as citizens. You can generally buy, sell, build, and rent without restrictions. Title is registered through a national public registry, giving buyers legal clarity and security that is harder to find in many other Central American markets.

・ Property values are rising
Guanacaste has seen consistent value growth over the past decade, driven by international demand, infrastructure investment, and limited coastal inventory. Buyers who moved early in areas like Playas del Coco have seen significant appreciation on both land and finished homes.

・ Guanacaste is still 'unexplored'
Compared to overdeveloped coastal markets in Mexico or the Caribbean, Guanacaste is still growing. Infrastructure is improving, international interest is on the high, and quality inventory remains limited. The buyers here now are ahead of the curve, not chasing it.

・ The lifestyle dividend
Beyond the numbers, Guanacaste adds something that is genuinely difficult to price — year-round sunshine, direct flights from major US and Canadian cities, and a community of people who made a deliberate choice to be here.

The question isn't whether Costa Rica makes sense. It's whether now is the right time for you.

If you're exploring your options and want to understand what the process actually looks like, send us a message — we're here to help you.

What's the biggest question you still have about investing or buying in Costa Rica?

14/05/2026

Building in Costa Rica from abroad means putting a significant amount of trust in the people you choose to work with. Most of our clients are based in the US or Canada and will never see their build the way someone living locally would. That reality shapes everything about how we communicate — not as an added service, but as a basic standard we hold ourselves to.

Transparent updates at every stage and honest timeline predictions are at the core of how we work.

If you are considering building in Costa Rica from abroad, what would matter most to you in terms of staying informed throughout the process?

07/05/2026

Six days a week, sunrise to sunset, making it happen 💪🪏

A moment to appreciate these guys, because without them none of this happens. Every build comes through them first.

If you've got people on your team who show up like this for you, send this their way.

28/04/2026

Well… tried it. Didn’t work. Back to work we go.


Construction & Developments, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

22/04/2026

Coco is quickly becoming one of the top investment destinations in Guanacaste, and it's not hard to see why.

Coco combines things that are hard to find in the same place. Twenty-five minutes from Liberia International Airport, sitting within the Papagayo area, with beaches, infrastructure, and a community that has been attracting long-term residents and repeat visitors for years. The people who come here tend to come back, and a lot of them eventually stop leaving. That kind of consistency is what makes the rental market here different from a lot of other spots in Guanacaste.

The expat community is one of the more underrated factors. A stable international community brings with it consistent real estate demand, established services, and a neighborhoor of familiar faces. Add ongoing development, rising property values, and proximity to Marina Papagayo, and Coco becomes a real winner.

If you have been considering Guanacaste as an investment location and want to understand what building or buying in Coco actually looks like on the ground, send us a message - let's chat.

Got a question? Drop it in the comments.

15/04/2026

FAQ: The building questions we get asked the most 🤔

Building in Guanacaste raises a lot of questions, and the same ones come up in almost every conversation we have with people considering building. We’ve put together some answers to the topics we hear most.

1️⃣ Permits: the process runs through CFIA and typically takes 3 to 6 months. The projects that move through fastest are the ones where the builder has done this many times locally and knows exactly what needs to be submitted and when.

2️⃣ Quotations: not all of them cover the same scope. Professional fees, permits, infrastructure connections, and finishes are sometimes included and sometimes not. Before you compare numbers, ask each builder for a full breakdown of what’s included and what isn’t — the difference can add up to 25 to 35% of the original figure.

3️⃣ Building from abroad: it works well when the right systems are in place from the start. A single point of contact who speaks your language, updates tied to actual build milestones, and a written process for approving changes are the things that make building from abroad feel like a structured process rather than a leap of faith.

4️⃣ Materials: reinforced concrete handles the heat, humidity, and seismic requirements well. Anything steel should be coated or stainless, given the salt air. Timber needs to be treated hardwood. Cheap grout and sealants can lead to premature deterioration and water intrusion. Ask your builder specifically what they use in their builds and why.

5️⃣ Heat reduction: it starts at the design stage. A well-insulated roof with proper ventilation, minimal west-facing exposure, calculated overhangs, and cross-ventilation aligned through the home. Get these right in the plans, and the home performs well in this climate for the life of the building.

What’s the question you’ve been carrying around that you haven’t found a straight answer to yet? Drop it in the comments below 👇

Send a message to learn more

08/04/2026

If you're seriously thinking about building in Costa Rica, here's what the process actually looks like — four stages that most people don't get walked through until they're already in the middle of it.

👉 Permits and approvals
This is where it starts, and it takes longer than people expect. Before anything physical happens, you're working through municipal approvals, CFIA structural sign-off, and depending on your lot, environmental review through SETENA. If you're building near the coast or within a protected zone, there are additional steps. A few months is a realistic timeline for this stage alone. It's thorough, it protects your investment long term, and it needs to be factored into your planning.

👉 Foundation and drainage
Guanacaste receives up to 1,800mm of rain and almost all of it falls in about six months. How your site is graded and how water moves away from the house when it comes off the roof gets decided at this stage. It's one of those things that's genuinely difficult to correct once the build is done, so it's worth asking your builder about in detail early on — not as an afterthought.

👉 Orientation and design
This one gets overlooked more than any other. Where your living spaces face affects how comfortable your home is every single day. A west-facing living room in Guanacaste gets hot and uncomfortable by early afternoon. The direction your windows open determines whether you get a natural cross breeze through the house or just still air. Getting this right costs nothing extra — it just has to be part of the conversation before the plans are finalized.

👉 Finishes and materials
Standard iron hardware corrodes fast near the coast and some wood finishes struggle with the humidity here. What works well in a dry climate or a controlled showroom environment behaves differently in a tropical coastal climate. It's a conversation worth having with your builder before you commit to anything on finishes — the choices that hold up here are not always the obvious ones.

If you're in the planning stage and want to talk through any of it, send us a message — we're happy to share what we know.