[Richard Bexon]
Good morning Gina How you doing.
[Gina Briguglio]
Good morning Richard I’m great thanks.
[Richard Bexon]
How are you today, good good it was actually weird I was actually in flying from Tamarindo this morning so I was up in your part now I’m back here in the city. But yeah I mean I suppose one of the beauties of Costa Rica is you can really be anywhere here in 40 minutes.
[Gina Briguglio]
It’s really great.
[Richard Bexon]
It’s pretty cool, pretty cool.
[Gina Briguglio]
It makes it easy to get around here being a small country.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah, I mean you know people sometimes they’re just like, wow, it is such a small country but it’s like when you start to drive around it you’re like it’s like it’s very hilly, like, yes, and there’s nothing straight.
[Gina Briguglio]
I remember the first time I went to San Jose looking at the map thinking that’s not going to take me five hours that’s just silly. And then, actually there was an accident that time so seven hours later I arrived. Yeah, it’s interesting.
Definitely, but all part of the journey.
[Richard Bexon]
That’s it. I mean, you know, yes, journey is definitely a word to use here in Costa Rica so well Gina, again appreciate you taking time to join us on the podcast. The first question.
No, not at all. The first question I love to ask is just, you know, we’re seeing a lot of volatility in Western markets at the moment, you know, especially in North America, and it looks like that that’s probably not going away anytime soon, but I mean, how, what have you seen the impact of that having on Costa Rica.
[Gina Briguglio]
We always have the trickle down effect from North America, and now it’s becoming more global. So what I found is in my business that I’ve had higher price point sales, yet less less transactions, so it’s the same amount, but it’s less transactions I’m finding it to be more serious people I have way more serious buyers savvy buyers. Now, compared to three to five years ago.
Okay, so much more serious people they’re coming down to buy intentionally by it’s not on a whim. And it’s not like 2020 where people are like rushing to escape either.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, because you know I mean, you know, we talked to a lot of people on the podcast and some people like no like we spoke to Santa Elena who has a relocation company and she was like look post election it went absolutely nuts for me. I don’t think real estate saw that as much I think we saw a lot of it from kind of maybe the relocation stuff but maybe not.
I think what people were expecting if that makes sense.
[Gina Briguglio]
Yes, it does. I don’t want to get political. No, no, I won’t.
But I think if the tides were turned we would have had a different market come after the election.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah, I think so. I think so as well. But are you seeing more kind of investment style investors coming down now are you seeing is it still that lifestyle plays it’s still a mix of both.
[Gina Briguglio]
Have you seen much of a change, I would say it’s a mix of both but the majority of my clients are always all about investment. Yeah, because it usually is a second home or if it’s not a second home. It’s, you know, a big leap for them to be investing in a different country.
So it’s always based on investment, but I’m finding it’s people coming here for investment and they have a plan to move full time within the next three years or so.
[Richard Bexon]
Okay. Okay. Do you think, and again, this is a very broad question.
So maybe it’s dependent on area. Are we in a seller’s or a buyer’s market.
[Gina Briguglio]
You know what, up until now I was kind of calling it a flat market. Everything that was going on with the stock market it was really hard to get people to pull the trigger. And then when they did we had this first quarter of 2025, our market had more going back on the market back on the market because when they did pull the trigger than the stock market fell, and people just kind of stopped so it just went flat.
Now we’re coming back again and oddly enough in the low season we’re coming back a little bit stronger than usual I feel like and it’s turning into more of a buyer’s market. Sellers have become more realistic because buyers have become more savvy and that the prices of 2022 just aren’t flying anymore. So I feel like in my own pricing, I’m trying to price more realistic so things aren’t sitting on the market for, you know, a year.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah, I mean that’s going to be difficult for you, like having a conversation with a seller sometimes where they come with the, you know, the past two or three years of history going look my place should be worth a million dollars and it’s like, we can put it there but it’s going to sit there for some time and, you know, we’re going to end up having a conversation where we get it down to like 850 or, you know, where potentially it should be.
[Gina Briguglio]
Exactly. I actually had took a class on how to sell your seller again.
[Richard Bexon]
Okay.
[Gina Briguglio]
Because once you sell the house you have to go back and sell the seller.
[Richard Bexon]
Correct, correct. Is there any markets that you’re seeing up there in any of your markets that is a seller’s market still where there is still like you just know of like if I have a listing in this area, it’s going to move very quickly.
[Gina Briguglio]
Anything within the Tamarindo or close to the Flamingo Marina.
[Richard Bexon]
Yep.
[Gina Briguglio]
They go quickly. If it’s priced correctly, the occupancy rate is so high that it just becomes a no brainer and it goes pretty quick.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, go ahead. Sorry, Gina.
[Gina Briguglio]
Closer to the beach, obviously.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, it’s just and I think that when people are investing, they need to consider that, you know, those things.
[Gina Briguglio]
One of the interesting things I have found is I’ve started selling out by Nuevo Arno.
[Richard Bexon]
Yep.
[Gina Briguglio]
And I have three nice hotels up there for sale. And the clients that I’m getting on those hotels are more people that it is a complete like hybrid of they want a good investment and they want a big investment that they can improve upon. But they want that area because they want the lifestyle.
They want the self-sustainability, the weather, just the whole tranquilo lifestyle.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah.
[Gina Briguglio]
So we are getting a little bit more pickup there than we used to.
[Richard Bexon]
I’m biased to Arno, Gina. And I think anyone listening to the podcast knows that just because, again, you know, I love the area. We’re heavily investing in it because I’m like, OK, it’s.
[Gina Briguglio]
It is so magical. And yes, I’ve invested there myself, too. The place is about to pop.
The only thing that’s missing right now there is a school.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah.
[Gina Briguglio]
So I’m working with some I’m working with some people to get a school because I think that would really attract families where you can get a really nice big plot of land that looks like green velvet and be completely off the grid.
[Richard Bexon]
I mean, you can get a view of the volcano. It’s like the weather is so great up there because, again, you sometimes you get a bit of rain during the day, sometimes that you don’t. So if you want to grow anything, it just grows in two seconds.
Like the difference with Guanacaste is you have to do your landscaping best based on I need to conserve water up there. It’s the opposite of like, how am I going to manage the water?
[Gina Briguglio]
Exactly.
[Richard Bexon]
Exactly.
[Gina Briguglio]
So, I mean, that’s that’s an amazing point right there in itself. How much water in this country affects a market and how different it is.
[Richard Bexon]
Yep.
[Gina Briguglio]
And that’s only what, two hours from the beach.
[Richard Bexon]
Well, and also is just from a demand from a tourism point of view. I mean, anyone that wants a vacation rental up there, it’ll do very well just because, again, you have like, you know, the hotels occupancy and average daily rates are better an hour now than they are at the beach. And I always say to people, and they’re like, why is that?
And I’m like, if you’re going to the beach in Costa Rica, what are your options? Like, there is a lot of beaches in Costa Rica. If you’re going to the volcano with hot springs and like the lake, what are your options?
You’ve got one hour an hour. Very few. So, and yeah, I mean, the hotels are.
[Gina Briguglio]
It’s just an untapped market right now and it’s so beautiful.
[Richard Bexon]
I agree. I agree. How can, you know, I mean, this is a question, you know, a lot of people at the moment are like, hey, like, where is the market going to bottom out in Costa Rica?
You know, how do I gauge when I invest and when I don’t? And my advice is this to people. I’m like, look, you can’t time markets.
You don’t do it when you invest in shares. So don’t do it when you invest in real estate. You invest, if you’re going to invest, invest based on potentially what the cash flow is going to be.
And you’re going to hold it for a longer period of time. So if you can create that cash flow, it probably adds value to your, to your asset as well.
[Gina Briguglio]
Absolutely. I agree.
[Richard Bexon]
But like, how does, you know, when you get that question of like, when is the right time to buy? I mean, what is your response normally to that?
[Gina Briguglio]
Kind of what you said. I mean, you can’t say the right time to buy. You can’t predict it.
But I do feel like right now it’s gone from that flat market to a buyer’s market because of the fact that the sellers kind of did get hit like, whoa, nothing moved. We do need to get, and then as the buyers got more savvy, I feel like we’re finally getting to a point of prices are more realistic. Especially the people who had bought just three, four years ago at the high, expecting it to continue to grow like that.
And then they put it up for sale since we don’t have a, an established MLS, let’s call it, that that will knock things out of the park with the market. Then other sellers try to follow that and nothing moves. And that’s kind of what, what has started to happen, bringing prices back to normal place and getting things rolling again.
[Richard Bexon]
Which is, again, as you said, it was just kind of nice that we’re getting back to a reality where things do start to move because when they’re like, you know, stank out, when they stop, like, it’s not good for anyone. Correct. But, I mean, what do you think are the best areas for people looking to buy, say a second home that they also want to rent as well?
I mean, I think that you’d mentioned it here, some of the key areas around the Flamingo Marina, Tamarindo. But, I mean, if you have a client that comes in and is like, look, I really don’t know. I’ve been to Costa Rica one or two times.
I really don’t know. I’m looking for a second home, you know, that I could potentially rent. I mean, where would you suggest that they probably look for that?
[Gina Briguglio]
Well, I live and sell in the Flamingo Tamarindo area. And part of the reason is because that is the best place. Tamarindo is the most heavily marketed tourism place in the country.
I would say the Haco and Capos would be the second, but between Tamarindo and down there all along the coast, you really can’t go wrong. I feel like the Central Pacific and Osa Peninsula is really picking up in momentum over the past few years and especially right now. So I find that to be a great place to invest as the northwestern section gets a little bit more saturated.
That’s still more virgin and a great place to start investing.
[Richard Bexon]
You know, I mean, somebody asked me today, hey, Rich, what do you think about Playa Junquial? You know, and they’re like, look, I just want a solid investment where everything is safe. And I also want to cash flow and make a couple of percent per year.
And I was like, dude, I don’t know in Junquial whether it’s and I’m just using Junquial as like an area. I mean, that could be that whole stretch that goes down.
[Gina Briguglio]
That whole stretch and the whole stretch. Exactly. That’s going to be a long time before you make your money and you’re going to make your money when they get a road.
[Richard Bexon]
Correct.
[Gina Briguglio]
When roads get paved is when everything goes up. And so where I think over there in that area, Avianas is popping. It is beautiful.
And that’s just going to go crazy when all their roads are paved.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. Look, I was in Avianas.
[Gina Briguglio]
Which will then kind of keep spreading.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. Move south to Playa Negra. But like it still needs there’s still a long way to go.
Makes sense.
[Gina Briguglio]
Like there’s a long way to go and it takes a long time to do things in Costa Rica. So that surely would be a long term investment.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. I mean, but I think anyone that’s like, look, if I if you wanted to make like a 15, 20 year punt, I mean, I would be like, go for it because it’ll get there. But like I think Avianas over the next five to 10 years would probably be a safer investment.
[Gina Briguglio]
I agree. You know, I also think along the Monkey Trail coming in in Potrero is a really good 10 year investment because they’re rerouting all the traffic through there. There’s so much land for sale there right now.
So but like we were talking before, water.
[Richard Bexon]
Correct. Yeah. And I mean, Avianas has the, you know, the Asada of Paraiso, which kind of has good water that comes to it.
And so, yeah, I mean, I think Avianas is going to be like, you know, I think.
[Gina Briguglio]
It’s like a diamond in the rough. It’s a gem.
[Richard Bexon]
It reminds me of Grande a long time ago, if that makes sense. Look where we’re at with Grande now, which is small bits of land selling for $400,000. You know, yeah.
And it’s yeah, it’s yeah, it’s pretty crazy. But, you know, it’s probably not long until Avianas is there. And I mean, there’s restaurants and like things are moving over there.
Like it feels busy.
[Gina Briguglio]
Right. Right. So kind of like Flamingo Grande areas on the other side of Tamarindo.
I feel like that opposite side is going to grow even more.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. And it’s still I mean, I think the advantage that Avianas has is it’s still somewhat raw. Good surf, you know, just good general surf for people as well.
[Gina Briguglio]
The surf, yeah.
[Richard Bexon]
And has good restaurants like it has good infrastructure. I mean, I think the thing that Grande is suffering from is there’s no like higher end hotel. There’s no like new restaurants kind of coming online.
It’s like what’s there is there, if that makes sense.
[Gina Briguglio]
Yes. Yes. Their community hasn’t grown with the population.
[Richard Bexon]
Correct. Correct. So.
Correct.
[Gina Briguglio]
So there’s another untapped potential for growth is opening a good business, a restaurant or something in Playa Grande.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. Well, it’s just I think it’s there. It’s just a question of water.
Like, can you get the water letter in order to be able to do what it is that you want to do? Because typically they’re not giving commercial water letters out.
[Gina Briguglio]
Right. And the water is difficult for sure.
[Richard Bexon]
You know, so, yeah, I mean, you know, I’m very familiar with the Asado of Grande just because we’ve got a bunch of developments down there. You know, and they’re not giving out new water letters. They’re not getting the water that they need that were promised from the IEA in the area.
So it’s complicated.
[Gina Briguglio]
It makes it tricky. The IEA, we have it. It’s everywhere on the beach.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah.
[Gina Briguglio]
Water is gold here. When I first started real estate, someone told me you practice real estate in Chicago. It was location, location, location.
Here it’s water security view.
[Richard Bexon]
Correct. Yeah.
[Gina Briguglio]
And it was so spot on.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah, definitely. And that continues today. I mean, look, you can have a great location, but if you’ve got no water, you’re not building anything.
I mean, you’ve got land.
[Gina Briguglio]
And that was advice to me 15 years ago.
[Richard Bexon]
And I don’t think it will change.
[Gina Briguglio]
It still stands today. I don’t think it’ll change either. So water is really important.
[Richard Bexon]
I always try and educate people on like how ASADA’s form with communities and they’re overseen by the IEA, but they’re not done by it. And like water is somewhat affordable here. And ASADA’s don’t have the money in order to put the required infrastructure in place for development.
So a lot of the time you have to wait for private developers to come in and put that infrastructure in place.
[Gina Briguglio]
Which I wish the government would kind of step up so that like when you do build a new house, you’re paying a water fee. You’re paying a fee. The same with our nature.
You’re replanting a tree somewhere for however many you take down. You’re putting up a monkey bridge for whatever electricity wire you’re, you know, we’re moving into another somebody else’s home. And it’s it’s nature’s home that we need to make sure that we respect that a little bit more.
[Richard Bexon]
I’m in complete agreement with you, Gina. I mean, you know, we’ve had people before that are like, look, we can take all those trees down. I’m like, no, no, no, no, no.
Like, like, no.
[Gina Briguglio]
So I’m actually now that I’ve gone out on my own, I’m researching a couple different places in Costa Rica that do have reforestation projects and stuff and want to offer that to my clients. But, you know, that’s a small amount of money for us. And if you look at how many trees have been erased in the past 20 years here, it’s it’s our duty to pay back to the earth.
[Richard Bexon]
I mean, so I bought four hectares of like farmland, if that makes sense. So everything was cut down on it. And our thing is, you know, we’re building six villas on it, but very small footprints.
But I want to rewild everything else on it, like bring back the forest, because it brings back all the wildlife as well. You know, which is what people staying in these villas are going to want to see as well.
[Gina Briguglio]
The wildlife, the air quality, everything.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. It’s really important. Also, just like from a sustainability point of view of like, if you get shade on your house, like you don’t need as much heating.
[Gina Briguglio]
Exactly.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah, like cooling, sorry.
[Gina Briguglio]
Cooling. And if you build your house correctly and position it correctly on the line, you can have your solar panels doing everything and the rest of your house shaded and it works great.
[Richard Bexon]
So we mentioned here, you know, Avianas, you know, we’ve mentioned here Arenal. Are there any other areas that you think in Guanacaste that investors should probably pay attention to or at least visit if they’re interested?
[Gina Briguglio]
The Central Pacific.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah?
[Gina Briguglio]
Yes. I really think that area is popping. It’s so beautiful, Manuel Antonio, the parks, even if you’re just going to visit.
So since I’ve been here, it really has, for me, been more of a place to visit. But now that I go down there and I see all the building and the communities going on, there’s so many more people that it’s becoming more populated. And that’s a place that I would look at.
[Richard Bexon]
And just to be clear to listeners, this is not a paid anything, just because, again, you’re saying Arenal and Manuel Antonio, which is heavily where I’m invested. Oh, sorry.
[Gina Briguglio]
I guess we’re on the same page because I didn’t know that.
[Richard Bexon]
No, no, it’s a complete coincidence. But, you know, I mean, it’s just I think when you’ve been here in Costa Rica for a while, you know, we have this view of this landscape of like, look, this is where it’s all happening. Like, you know where it’s happening, you know, and it’s, you know, it’s we’ve been here long enough, I think, you know, between us that we’re like, okay, like this is kind of done now.
These are the areas that are kind of developing and this is kind of like the next up and coming areas, if that makes sense.
[Gina Briguglio]
Well, and also, like I said, the buyers are becoming more savvy, but actually our data is becoming more readily available.
[Richard Bexon]
Yep.
[Gina Briguglio]
So I had somebody who’s doing beta test and he did a beta test of an appraisal on my house, which is difficult to do because we don’t declare value. And wow, he was spot on.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah.
[Gina Briguglio]
So I think a lot of the data and there’s this L finance area.
[Richard Bexon]
Yep.
[Gina Briguglio]
Yes, you follow that. And when you collect all that data together, it’s pretty obvious as to what’s happening in the country. Yeah, yeah, it’s just And it’s really interesting because we are such a small country that we’re able to study it.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah, yeah, 100%. I mean, I wish there was more data available, you know, because I have to bring it from multiple sources together. But unfortunately, you know, that’s, that’s the beauty of Costa Rica of, I mean, it would be overdeveloped if it was easy here.
[Gina Briguglio]
Yes, it would.
[Richard Bexon]
So I’m very happy sometimes that it’s, you know, that it is a little bit more complicated because I call it a natural filter.
[Gina Briguglio]
I agree. 100%.
[Richard Bexon]
Okay, my last question for you, Gina, as I’ve kept you long enough, which is the question I love to ask anyone. If you inherited $500,000 and you had to invest it into a business or real estate in Costa Rica, what would you invest it in, where and why?
[Gina Briguglio]
I would invest it in, so I started my retirement fund a little bit late in life. I would invest it in passive income properties.
[Richard Bexon]
Yep.
[Gina Briguglio]
So pretty much because I like to invest, I’ve always, because I’ve been a realtor my whole life, I like investing in something that’s tangible, something I can touch.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah.
[Gina Briguglio]
So I would invest, and I am investing, in a walk to the beach. So those are short, you know, like 10-year investments. And then I have land investments in Nuevo Arnold.
[Richard Bexon]
Okay.
[Gina Briguglio]
Because those are farther out, and I’d be really happy to have a beach house and a mountain house.
[Richard Bexon]
I think we all would, right?
[Gina Briguglio]
Right, and I think my kids will be pretty happy with the purchase of an Arnold.
[Richard Bexon]
I’m sure they will. I’m sure they will. Is there any particular location that you would personally, again, if you had to invest that $500,000, you said walk to beach, I mean, would you be doing that in Potrero?
Would you be doing that in Tamarindo? Would you be doing it in Flamingo? Coco?
[Gina Briguglio]
I would probably do that in Flamingo. If I wanted to split that $500,000 up, I would do it in Coco.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah.
[Gina Briguglio]
Coco takes a little bit longer to go up in value, but if they really get their marina that they’re supposed to, Coco’s a great place to invest right now. You have all the signature developments going up around it, and Coco’s a great place to invest only a half hour from the airport.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah, I mean, look, we had an eight-bedroom villa up in Coco, and people thought we were nuts building it, but it was like, it’s 25 minutes from the airport, guys. It’s really quick. It’s the closest beach.
[Gina Briguglio]
I often get the request of, I want to come, and I want to go directly to my house without being on a dirt road.
[Richard Bexon]
Yep.
[Gina Briguglio]
Coco’s your spot.
[Richard Bexon]
Yeah, I agree. I agree. Gina, this has been an absolute pleasure to have you here on the podcast as well.
Congratulations again on having your own company.
[Gina Briguglio]
Thank you very much.
[Richard Bexon]
Anyone who wants to get in contact with Gina, I’ll put all of your contact details in the description, but very much appreciate you joining us on the podcast.
[Gina Briguglio]
Thank you so much, Richard. It was really nice to see you.
[Richard Bexon]
You too.
[Gina Briguglio]
I appreciate it. Thanks. Have a good one.