Costa Rica Real Estate Development: Episode
For episode 300 of the Costa Rica Real Estate and Investments podcast, host Richard Bexon sits down with Neil Herman for a full conversation on Costa Rica real estate development at scale: how iconic projects actually get built, why so many stall out and where investors should be looking in 2026. The complete episode transcript is below.
Neil previously served as president and CEO of Las Catalinas in Guanacaste, one of the country’s most recognized master-planned communities. Today he leads Punta Cacique, a landmark mixed-use development between Playa del Coco and Playa Hermosa that is home to the Waldorf Astoria. Before Costa Rica, he spent years in luxury hospitality, including the Four Seasons.
300 Episodes In and Still Going Strong
Narrator
The number one Costa Rica real estate and investment podcast, bringing you experts from all over Costa Rica.
Richard Bexon
Good morning, guys and welcome to episode 300 of Costa Rica Real Estate and Investments with me, your host, Richard Bexon. 300, we did it, guys. Wow. I mean, I think we’ve had the podcast now going for four and a half years and yeah, I appreciate everyone’s support during that period of time. I was actually thinking 300, that this is not like the movie where it’s going to be scantily clad men with six-packs.
That being said, I think that the guest that we have on today deserves to be in that 300, for some of the pushing a boulder up a hill that he’s had to do here in Costa Rica, involved in some of the projects. But today we’re joined by Neil Herman, guys. He’s one of the most respected developers and operators in Costa Rica’s real estate and hospitality sector. Throughout his career, Neil has been involved in some of the country’s most iconic, ambitious and challenging projects and I think earning a reputation of delivering exceptional results and just getting stuff done, which, as we know, is very difficult here in Costa Rica.
So Neil previously served as the president and CEO of Las Catalinas in Guanacaste, one of the country’s most recognized master-planned communities, probably a lot of you listening here know it. And today he’s the president and CEO of the Punta Cacique project. That’s a landmark mixed-use development between Playa del Coco and Playa Hermosa in the northern part of Costa Rica, guys and home to the Waldorf Astoria and the Punta Cacique real estate development project.
So in this episode, we’re going to be discussing Neil’s experience developing, investing and operating large-scale projects in Costa Rica, as well as his insights on the opportunities and challenges facing the country’s real estate and tourism sectors. So this could be a very interesting podcast here, sharing a lot of, I would probably say, 20 years of Neil’s projects as well. And I also neglected to mention he worked for the Four Seasons before that as well. So he’s very much been in the luxury hospitality sector.
Guys, I think we’re now fully subscribed in Manuel Antonio. The only thing we have for sale is Villa number six, as a whole project, which also comes with two apartments on the side. So that’s actually currently listed for sale. That project has now been complete. After this, you’ll probably not hear me say much more about it, guys, I promise, even though you’ve probably been listening to it for three and a half years. But our first six-villa development there is doing exceedingly well, guys. I mean, I think occupancy is over 80% with amazing average daily rates and investors, I think, are very, very happy. We’re about to pay out mid-year dividend checks to the investors next month. So that’s very interesting.
And also we have our new Aranel Ridge project, guys, which basically, we’re going to take a very similar design to the Manuel Antonio treehouse villas and re-facade it. We think it’s a smart thing to do. We know how to build it, we can get it built quickly and we also know the costs of building it as well. I mean, that was one of the things in Manuel Antonio, we didn’t clearly understand the costs, but we definitely do now. So I think anyone that’s interested in getting involved in the Aranel Ridge, the first project in that project, guys, it’s kind of a project of projects, will be the Aranel treehouse villas.
Again, as I mentioned, they’re similar to Manuel Antonio, huge success. Why reinvent the wheel here, guys? We know how to do it, we know that it sells well and the area basically is asking for it. And we know that because we have a five-bedroom villa there that does exceedingly well, guys, even better than Manuel Antonio, which really surprised me. But I suppose my thesis that Aranel is the strongest tourist destination in the country is true. It’s just lacking very luxury, high-end projects. But anyway, if you’re interested in learning more about that investment, it started at about $100,000, guys and then four villas are available as well. You can email us, info@investingcostarica.com. But let’s get straight to the podcast. Good morning, Neil. How you doing?
Neil Herman
Excellent. Yourself?
Richard Bexon
Good, man. Good. As I said, I’m very honored to have you here on the 300th podcast. 300 is a big number. Congratulations to you.
Neil Herman
Thank you, man.
Richard Bexon
Yeah, it’s been, you know, some people are like, “Richard, are you going to keep going?” And I’m like, well, until people stop listening, man. When the downloads are zero, I think I’d probably still keep going, to be honest with you.
Neil Herman
But yeah, yeah.
How Global Volatility Is Shaping Costa Rica in 2026
Richard Bexon
Well, awesome. Neil, let’s jump straight into this podcast. I know we’ve got quite a lot to cover and yeah, I mean, your knowledge is deep and wide. But I think the start of 2026 has been very volatile. 2025 was, you know, we got geopolitical tensions, a lot of volatility in global markets here. But from what you’re seeing on the ground here, how is this impacting Costa Rica real estate, tourism and also the investment sectors?
Neil Herman
Yeah, sure. I think it’s always great talking and thank you, Richard, for having me on. I think it’s great talking with people like you who’ve been around for more than one cycle, right? And I think what I’ve seen out here, ’08 to ’09, ’13, ’16, ’21, you tend to have these broad shifts at the macro perspective and what ends up happening and what’s fun with some of the AI tools, you can start to correlate that data, but you start to see an increase in construction shortly thereafter. And so I think there is some kind of correlation between economic uncertainty and the refuge that people are looking for here in Costa Rica.
And so each time we’ve had one of these cycles come through, at the tail end of it, people tend to come down and want to either get off the circus wheel or find a way to get more involved. But we tend to have a nice little uptick as each one of these economic cycles happen.
Richard Bexon
Yeah, I mean, it’s been interesting just seeing tourism numbers for 2026. You know, 2025 was kind of a bit of a flat year. In 2026, the first quarter was pretty huge. I think it was a 13% increase, or 11 or 13, I can’t remember now. But it’s been a big start to the year here, you know and the hotels are kind of like, things are still looking pretty good.
Can Costa Rica Handle 5 Million Visitors?
Neil Herman
There’s a chance we might cross 3 million this year, right? Yeah, you know, it’s heading that direction. Do you see the path to 5 million feasible?
Richard Bexon
Man, I mean, I just don’t know how we’d handle that many people, Neil. That’s the thing, the infrastructure, I don’t know whether it’s in place. The San José airport, okay, it can expand a little bit. But I think most of it’s going to have to go into Liberia and I just don’t know. I mean, the private planes and everything being built there, I think that, yeah, but that’s not going to get us to 5 million. So I think a lot of infrastructure work is going to happen.
And I think Costa Rica, you know, hasn’t been an overnight success. I mean, this has been years, if that makes sense, of organic growth and I think it’s probably going to continue that way. And I think it’s going to be a long while before we’re at 5 million.
Neil Herman
Yeah, yeah. It’s this pop this year, again, kind of turmoil in Mexico, turmoil in the Middle East. And then again, you know, we start jumping up double digits in inbound passengers to the airport. I agree with you. I think a lot of the burden can be lifted by Guanacaste and we’ve got some constraints at the airport. But hopefully, in the next few years, we can see an expansion and continue to sustainably grow the destination.
Richard Bexon
Yeah, I mean, I think we’re moving in a quality-over-quantity direction. And I say that just because of the price of everything here, if that makes sense. I think the price, like, you know, when you look at a vacation to Costa Rica compared to other destinations that are competing with us and I’m going to use Mexico, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, just because those are kind of the main ones out there, like, Costa Rica and Hawaii are probably the most expensive destinations. So I don’t know whether the pricing allows all of that volume to come either, as well.
Neil Herman
Yeah, I think it’s good for us to kind of plateau off, right? I think the focus on quality over quantity, I think, has always been in our minds as we’re starting to lift the destination. And I think now more than ever, most of the players are seeing that same goal and just making sure that we’re doing it right and we’re protecting the very resources that got us here. Yeah, hopefully we start to level off and then it just becomes a different play. You know, it’s not growing the market; growing, it starts to kind of change how we approach things and focus on what the customer is wanting. And so it’ll be a change in the next few years, I think.
From the Dish Room to the Boardroom
Richard Bexon
Yeah, I agree, man. I mean, you’ve been involved in some of the country’s most iconic and I’d say ambitious, development projects now. And I say ambitious because, like, from ground up, man, how did you get involved in these projects? And I’m going to ask you the question, what lessons you’ve learned along the way, but I’m sure there’s a lot of them.
Neil Herman
Yeah, came in through hotels. I don’t know if you ever worked in the hotel business, but it’s one of those wonderful industries, you know, where you come from the dish room into the boardroom. And that was my trajectory. And from there, we started to get into branded residential. So kind of a niche product, but, you know, there’s probably now 200-plus players doing $100 billion a year in sales. So it’s maybe not that niche, but, you know, kind of labeling and distributing residential product through hotel brands was kind of how I got into the business.
Richard Bexon
Wow. And, I mean, as I mentioned there, you’ve been involved in some of the country’s most iconic and ambitious projects and this one’s still ongoing, but what certain things have you learned along that way? I mean, just at a very macro level, I’m sure that we’ll get into the detail a little bit. But yeah, not for the faint-hearted.
Neil Herman
Not for the faint-hearted. And fortunately, I was able to see a lot of projects globally and really understand how long-term asset value can just be enhanced by operating a solid business. You know, once the development cycle has closed and you start to get into an operating company, that’s what we learned doing branded residential. And so it’s kind of this blend of, you know, PropCo/OpCo that I think for a long time people started to separate, but I think, at least in hospitality, we always kind of kept them together. And so I learned that longevity is achieved by just being diligent and consistent in the service offering, to make sure that people want to come back year after year after year.
Richard Bexon
Yeah, look, I think it’s smart coming from hospitality, because I think that’s what people like in a destination like Costa Rica, hospitality is so important for, you know, I would say, the asset value, if that makes sense. How important is that property management to the success of a project?
Neil Herman
Well, I think it depends on, you know, from an investment perspective, what is your hold period? Is this going to be done? You know, there’s projects I’ve been fortunate to be a part of where we’re thinking about what the next 100 years look like. And then, on the same side, you talk to short-term investors that are looking at a three-year, seven-year cycle. And so I think it starts with understanding how long you intend to hold it for. And then that starts to inform you on how it should be performing and increasing in asset value over the years, not just the appreciation of the building, but maybe from a cash-flow perspective. You know, how is that value going to rise by offering a good operation?
Richard Bexon
And when you’ve, like, you’ve been involved in some of these projects, I mean, how often are people talking cash flow, would you say? And how often are people talking, like, I suppose the asset appreciation over a seven-year period of time? I mean, is it both things that people are talking about, or is one stronger than the other? Or are people like, look, this is a lifestyle investment, I’m not, if it pays its bills, it’s fine, but this is not, if I want cash flow, I’ll do it in my home country?
Neil Herman
I think the equity team decides that outlook. You know, that’s who’s making that choice. I think for each group it can be different. I think sometimes it is much more of an emotional play and that’s fine. You tend to find people that are also enjoying using their assets, whether investing in things down here, you know, put a number on that, that’s hard to do. And so I think it just depends on where the investment group is coming from, what their goals are. And if you’re just keeping that in mind, you know, making sure that that vision is upheld every step of the way, you tend to have a successful project.
The Risk Foreign Investors Overlook in Costa Rica Real Estate Development
Richard Bexon
Yeah, I agree. What do foreign investors, I suppose developers, consistently underestimate about doing business and developing projects in Costa Rica? You know, because I’ve seen a lot of people not do so well, if that makes sense.
Neil Herman
Yeah, yeah. We were just talking about, you know, sometimes it can get emotional and I think that can be great for you. I think that’s what we’re here to be doing, is connecting to the lifestyle here and benefiting from certain longevity things that tend to be easily accessible here. I think the main mistake is just people are looking at things from, like, a risk-free rate, you know, they’re not actually starting to widen their aperture a little bit and see, okay, what is the risk on the actual asset? What is the kind of country risk associated with it?
You know, since being down here, we’ve seen, or at least I’ve seen, in the last 15 years or so, our credit rating has gotten a lot better as a country. You know, I think when I got here, we were like triple-B negative. And so that country risk has reduced over time and we’re now a solid double-B. But I think a lot of people come into the country and it feels, whether emotional, or it just feels very comfortable and they don’t actually analyze the risk as well as they should.
And so more and more people are coming in as advisors and being able to get access to good information. That’s happening a lot less, as we start to have a much more solid footing from a country-risk perspective. But you did see a lot of people tend to overlook the country-adjusted risk. I think a great example of that here in Guanacaste is just seeing, you know, these amazing projects that just have a gate. You know and so I’ve got a little photo collage here in my office, about 15 or so projects that just built a gate and that was as far as they got. So they definitely overlooked some aspect of risk. That’s happening less, but something to be aware of.
Richard Bexon
Yeah, I always say to, I suppose, foreign investors and developers, I’m always like, look, you’re looking at stuff from above, the board looks the same, just one team is playing chess and the other is playing checkers. But you think that the games are the same and I’m like, they’re not, the rules don’t always apply.
Neil Herman
Yeah, yeah. And less so, you know, we talked about Costa Rica, but even now, it’s become kind of like our climate zones, you know, there’s so many micro-climates and micro-economies happening here. And it’s been that way for a long, long time. And so you really have to kind of stop looking at Costa Rica as a whole and get more regional.
Richard Bexon
Yeah, I mean, like, weather patterns are different. I mean, you know, your timeline to build and when you build, etc., is very different in each part of the country.
Neil Herman
That’s right. That’s right.
The Debt Trap That Sinks Developers Early
Richard Bexon
I mean, in your experience and what you’ve seen, as you said there, you’ve seen a lot of, I mean, cemeteries of projects, but what separates projects that become long-term successes from those that struggle and fail?
Neil Herman
Struggle and fail? What do you mean?
Richard Bexon
I mean, just ones that just don’t make it. You know, I mean, like, for instance, sometimes I’ll see a project get started where someone’s like, “I’m going to be in and out of this in five years,” you know and it’s 100 lots. And I’m like, no way, dude, like, you’re going to be in this for 10 or 15 years, unless you’ve got, like, some huge following behind you, or you’re some guru. Like, you can’t just throw a flag up and people turn up, or rely on one real estate company and they’re going to sell everything for you. That’s just not how it works.
Neil Herman
Yeah, yeah. No, 100%. It greatly depends on the size of the project and how long you’re actually looking to deploy. I mean, I think the current project I’m on, I’m looking, you know, my timeline’s from now until 2037, right? So timelines can change; it’s just being able to stick with it. I think probably what a common denominator to talk about is probably just the use of debt. I think development risk is different than market risk and I think that you need to analyze those as separate obstacles.
When you look at development risk, you know, it’s a long labyrinth of permitting. If you stick with it and stay committed, you’re able to persevere and achieve what you’re looking for. I think the danger that people might find themselves in is putting on debt too early. And so if you put on debt while you’re still mitigating the development risk, it becomes really hard, or you can start to feel constrained. And I think that’s where people start to get into trouble. And so I think, as you’re advising customers, it’s thinking about your infrastructure, thinking about your development risk, getting through that on a cash basis before you start to load on any debt.
Richard Bexon
Yeah, I think that’s great advice, Neil, I really do. You know, if you get to a certain point where you’re there, maybe you’ve got the first minimal viable product, like your main, I don’t know, clubhouse or main area is done and then from there, you know, potentially go and look at debt, but don’t do it from the start. Because, as you’ve said there, the quagmire of bureaucracy here can take years, sometimes.
Neil Herman
It’s going to take, you know, you’re going to go through some cycles. And I think, as we were talking earlier, you know, this OpCo/PropCo, how to manage those two things together. And I think, from a cash-management perspective, making sure that you’ve got that OpCo moving, so that you can endure time, so that that’s not a constraint for you. If you can kind of operate a company while you’re going through the development process and do that on a cash-flowing basis, the odds just go up in your favor. And so I think it’s preparing for that long haul, having some type of operation that supports the PropCo and you’ll endure the cycle, the next one and take your project to completion.
Why the Right Team Decides Everything
Richard Bexon
I agree. I mean, you mentioned something, Neil, which is just awesome, maybe we haven’t touched on, which is the team behind stuff. Like, when it comes to infrastructure, construction, permitting, you know, whether that’s legal, engineering, you know, I always feel that people just maybe don’t get that right team together when they first start as well and it kind of slows them down, or they have to spend a year or two of learning before they actually do find the right team.
Neil Herman
Yeah, I like the way you said it, you know, destinations tend to rhyme. And so I think people will start to overlook that component of it. But, you know, people are everything in all aspects of the business. And so, finding good advisors, people that you trust, people that you want to spend time with, because, you know, it’s going to be a lot of effort to get these projects across the finish line. And so just making sure that you’re enjoying your time, you’re spending it with people that add value and folks that are being honest with you about what you can actually achieve and what you should be cautious of.
Richard Bexon
Yeah, I agree, man. I mean, I think I always say your project’s only as good as the people you have on it, I suppose. That’s in every part, but especially here in Costa Rica.
Neil Herman
100%, 100%. Yeah, I think, you know, some of the specific areas, civil, I think, is something that people tend to overlook early on in the process. Just working with really great civil engineers can just change your perspective. And then, of course, getting great designers in place and just step by step by step. But getting civil guidance early will help you understand your topography, your land, your constraints. So I’d say the sooner you can get that key person on board, probably the better.
Richard Bexon
Yeah, I mean, you know, I speak to a lot of people who are like, “Hey, Rich, you know, I’ve just invested $2 million to $3.5 million in a piece of land.” And I’m like, great, do you have another $2 million to $3.5 million for the piece of land, for all the studies and then all the infrastructure work? And they’re like, “What?” And I’m like, yeah, I mean, like, it’s probably 50% land and another 50% on studies and infrastructure, at least, you know, depending on the size of the project, of course. I mean, the bigger the project, of course, the more work. But yeah, I don’t think people are and sometimes people can be penny wise and pound foolish on that stuff, if that makes sense. They’re going for kind of the sure thing, you know and that just doesn’t always work here in Costa Rica.
Neil Herman
Yeah, yeah. You’ve got to come in disciplined and ready to make sure you understand, you know, one of the best pieces of advice I think I got was, when you get a new piece of land and there’s a fence on it, you know, you don’t take it down until you know why it’s up. It was either holding something in or preventing something else from getting in. And so, really taking the time to understand your dirt and working with a civil engineer and working with environmental and working within the community, understand what you have. You know, the development process here is informative and I think if you’ve been through it, you understand its benefits. But the area is going to force you to go through it and it’s going to be good for you. But you need to understand what things need to be checked off in order to make a successful project.
The Punta Cacique Vision for Costa Rica Real Estate Development
Richard Bexon
Yeah, I agree. Let’s change gears here a little bit to just talk a bit about Punta Cacique. I mean, what was the original vision behind it? You know and how has that vision evolved throughout the development process? Because a lot of the time, like, I think you have to be flexible somewhat, you know, in projects here.
Neil Herman
Yeah. Yeah. Fascinating piece of land. Punta Cacique, we’re up here, you know, kind of between Playa del Coco, which you know very well and Playa Hermosa. You know, I originally came into Costa Rica just across the bay, in Península Papagayo. We’re just south of here, in Las Catalinas. So I’ve had my eyes on this dirt for a long, long time. I don’t think the vision has changed. We have a solid equity sponsor, a great team in place. And I think the vision has really just been to be a place of community, to make sure that we’re assisting people to go explore the rest of the country.
We’ve always wanted to be kind of this base camp for people to come in and then venture off to other parts of the country and then find their way back, either for a longer stay or a shorter stay. But it should be a really convenient place for people to travel to. We’re very close to the airport. We’re going to keep assembling a collection of hotels and residential offerings. It’ll ultimately be kind of a combination of some of the things that we learned in doing new urbanism and some of the things that we learned by doing ultra-high-end luxury residential. And so I think it’ll be, hopefully, a combination of all the things that I’ve learned along the way.
Richard Bexon
Awesome, man. I mean, you’ve talked about something there, which is, like, creating that destination. How do you create that, something that people want to generally live in and become part of, rather than just simply “I’m in and out in a week,” if that makes sense?
Neil Herman
Yeah. And I think there’s a great field of study, like urban transect theory. You know, really understanding how places ebb and flow between nodes. So you have maybe a city-center infrastructure, another city center, understanding how urban transects start to flow from one place to the next. It helps a place feel much more natural. What you want to see and what people start to identify with, is if a place feels like it belongs there, if it was intended to be there, not just kind of shoved and forced and blasted its way through. Taking advantage of the topography, taking advantage of the urban transects, making it feel as natural as possible. That’s what you see in nature, right?
That’s what you see, if you kind of take, you know, a river or stream and take it from there into where the jungle starts, that natural progression, that transect from one area to the next, it’s a natural feeling for it. So if you can replicate that in your design intent, it starts to register with your customers. Maybe they see it, maybe they don’t, but they certainly feel it.
Richard Bexon
Yeah, yeah, I agree, I agree. But, like, it’s like sometimes you look at land and you see where the cows have been walking, like and what they’ve been walking up, you know and that’s, like, that’s where you build the paths.
Neil Herman
Like, that’s exactly it. Yeah.
Richard Bexon
You know, yeah. And it’s always interesting when I’m, like, I’m flying into, I don’t know, Tamarindo or something and there’s still some of those bigger thinkers out there with the cows, you know and just looking at, like, all the pathways. And I’m like, wow, it’s pretty smart.
Neil Herman
Yep. Yeah, nature will tell you where to go.
Why Hospitality Control Protects Asset Value
Richard Bexon
That’s true, man. That’s true. I mean, I touched on this a little bit about kind of the importance between, like, hospitality management and the success of a development after construction is complete. But, like, I feel that a lot of developers don’t think about that. It’s kind of like an afterthought, if that makes sense. And that, like, there are places that have done it well, like Los Sueños did it well. Reserva Conchal, I think, did do it well. At the beginning, they had their own in-house stuff. But I think that it gets a little too much sometimes, because you’re trying to develop and build while also kind of operating as well, a hospitality component to it. Like, how important is that hospitality component to a development, though?
Neil Herman
I think it can be a tool for different uses, right? And so, what I touched on earlier was, you know, if you’re just trying, the longevity of a product, the longevity of development, it’s just aided if you have a consistent operation that is representative of what you’re trying to offer your customers. And so if you are trying to brand a destination and make it feel, you know, have a consistent feel and look to it, controlling that by running the operating company is going to allow you to do that.
I think for a long time it was also just best practice, because there weren’t a lot of providers that were doing that at a very professional level. That has changed. Certainly in Guanacaste, there’s a number of really, you know, companies that are doing property management. And so I think it’s okay to plan a break in the customer life cycle. But if you’re looking to do it for the long term, you need to run that in parallel. It doesn’t matter what OpCo is actually running, but you need to have something in place, whether it’s a restaurant, some retail, you need to kind of control and make sure that the brand is being represented well and that people can see that consistency in the destination, because if it’s going to take 10 years or more, just showing up and doing that every day is going to be beneficial. And if you can do it in any of the downstream businesses, I think that’s fantastic. And certainly with property management, it’s going to help people have an experience that’s going to continue to grow your ADRs, continue to grow your occupancy. And ultimately, that’s going to help your exit.
Richard Bexon
Yeah, I mean, I think that’s what a lot of people maybe don’t understand, is controlling that experience, which controls its occupancy, its ADR. Because, you know and I’m just going to say, you know, we have a six-villa small development where we’ve got one villa left for sale. And I’m clear with the guys selling it that they cannot step outside of our hospitality company. And they’re like, “Well, why?” And I’m like, my ADR is double anyone in the area. And they’re like, “But, like, could someone else?” I might know, because they’ll drop the rate, which drops everyone’s rate, which drops the cash flow, which then ultimately drops the value of the asset long term, if that makes sense.
Neil Herman
You know, it does make sense.
Richard Bexon
So I just made the decision of, like, I’m doing it all. Because, you know, I may end up regretting that maybe at some point, but I just like to control that client experience throughout, but also control that valuation of that asset throughout it as well. Because everyone that purchases a property with me invests in real estate. I mean, like, I’m also an asset manager for them as well.
Neil Herman
Right, right. At least until it can get stabilized. I think there’s always a temptation to go out there and look at the different aspects of the price elasticity of the products. But if you’re holding to it as one cohesive project, yeah, your customers are ultimately going to benefit from increased RevPAR.
Richard Bexon
Yeah. And also, is that, like, again, a lot of property management, there are some good ones out there, but, like, they’re putting it on VRBO and Airbnb and just waiting, if that makes sense, like, there’s no aggressive direct marketing, they’re not distributing through luxury travel networks and agencies, like, they’re not working, like, as a hospitality company should be doing.
Neil Herman
That’s right. Yeah, yeah.
Where Investors Are Still Overlooking Opportunity
Richard Bexon
Hey, Neil, I’ve kept you long enough. I’ve got two more questions for you.
Neil Herman
Okay, sure.
Richard Bexon
Opportunities in Costa Rica. What opportunities do you think are being overlooked right now? You know, there’s a lot of stuff going on, Río Celeste keeps being thrown out there. I keep hearing Río Celeste, Río Celeste. I should probably get up there. I’m just so busy with my own projects that, like, the thought of doing anything else, like, you know, just makes me melt. But, like, I mean, you’ve cycled, I think, all over this whole country and traveled this whole country, like, where do you believe investors are still overlooking right now?
Neil Herman
Ooh, yeah. Exploring this country by bike is super recommendable. Just get out there. It’s safe to explore and there’s so many different places to go visit. Which I think, if you look at, I was looking at kind of the distribution of people going into different national parks. Yep. And I’ve been kind of looking at that a little bit more. And there’s all these kind of new ways to correlate data with all these fun AI tools and it’s just interesting to kind of play around with them and see what dots might actually connect. But I think that there are national parks that, you know, do not get anywhere near what you might see in Manuel Antonio, right, or Monteverde. And so I think over time, you’re going to see some of those counts start to disperse. And so I think people might want to stop overlooking some of those other national parks that aren’t as popular. Currently, they’re just as beautiful. It’s just maybe the infrastructure hasn’t caught up, or there’s no lodging options. But I think that there’s going to be a lot more people spreading out around the country and taking advantage of our amazing national park system, is one of them.
Richard Bexon
Yeah, yeah, Río Celeste. I mean, I couldn’t, you know, when I looked at the numbers, I was like, that’s still pretty strong numbers up there, you know. And yeah, I think a few developers and people in hospitality have already taken their arrows up there. So, you know, potentially there’s an opportunity for the settlers to get some gold up there.
Neil Herman
That’s right.
The $500,000 Legacy Question
Richard Bexon
Okay. My last question for you, Neil, 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 and why?
Neil Herman
“You inherited” speaks to me of legacy. I think that’s one of my favorite kinds of customers to speak with a little bit, they’re thinking about making a legacy investment for themselves or for their family. I think, me personally, I’m taking that and I’m finding a hundred hectares of either primary forest or secondary and just being a good steward of that and passing that on as legacy. Those deals are still out there. They’re amazing. And I think that is a great investment to make off of an inheritance, because it just signals legacy and it’s something you might want to pass on to your own grandkids.
Richard Bexon
Oh and you can also put it in front of FONAFIFO and make some money from it. It doesn’t really require that much maintenance either. And, like, yeah, I mean, there are still investments to be made in that world as well.
Neil Herman
That’s right.
Richard Bexon
That’s right. So, well, Neil, it’s been an absolute pleasure and an honor to have you here on the podcast. I appreciate you taking the time, which I know is very important to you. I know you’re very, very busy. So thank you very much for joining us on the podcast.
Neil Herman
My pleasure. And thanks for doing what you do.
Richard Bexon
No worries. Thank you, sir.
Neil Herman
Thanks for it.
Final Thoughts on Costa Rica Real Estate Development
Richard Bexon
Guys, again, honored to have Neil on there. He has tons of, I would say, war scars of developing here in Costa Rica. I mean, he was involved in Las Catalinas, you know, from the very start and also, you know, now over at Punta Cacique, which are two huge developments, you know, here in Costa Rica, iconic developments. I mean, for anyone that doesn’t know, Las Catalinas is kind of a European walking town on the beach here. It feels like an Italian beach town. And Punta Cacique is fast developing, I would say, into one of the country’s most luxurious hospitality and real estate developments and just a stunning, I would say, piece of real estate that kind of sits between two beautiful beaches and just really, really nice views. So, yeah.
And again, I mean, I think the lesson here is, in Costa Rica, you just need a really good team, I think, on anything that you do. And developing here is not for the faint-hearted. I’m not too sure how many developers are listening to this, but I would, you know, I’ve just made sure, is that I think his advice there of just not getting into too much debt from the beginning is a smart thing to do. You can do that once your project, I think, has hit, like, a minimal viable product, you have good infrastructure, maybe you have a couple of units already built, because you’re going to need the cash flow, kind of the operating cash flow, from that as well.
But again, Neil, very much appreciated and hope that was useful to everyone. And we’ll continue to do these. And again, I’m sure the 400th one will be around the corner before we start. Remember, guys, if you’re looking to do anything here in Costa Rica and just even want to chat with us, guys, I mean, I’m a sucker for helping people. Again, a lot of the emails do come directly to me, or, depending on what it is, we’ll chat, put you in contact with someone in the company, whether that’s relocation, whether that’s investment, whether you just want a buyer’s rep in real estate. You know, we do stuff all over the country. And there isn’t much that we haven’t done, from, you know, we help build about 15 luxury homes as owners’ reps and project managers.
And, you know, we’ve been in construction ourselves. We don’t build ourselves, we build our own stuff, but we don’t build for clients. And that just really gets us, you know, allows us to get all that knowledge as well, so that we can kind of de-risk projects for clients. So again, if you need anything, info@investingcostarica.com, all of the contact details are in the description down below as well, guys. And again, if you’re enjoying this podcast, please give us a thumbs up, five stars. Because, again, a lot of effort goes into these every single week, kind of setting them up and then also recording them with the team over here. So it’s just a way for us to know, to be, like, your, I would say, a way that indirectly you tell us that we’re doing a great job. So thank you very much, guys, but until the next podcast, we’ll catch you later. Bye.
Narrator
The number one Costa Rica real estate and investment podcast, bringing you experts from all over Costa Rica.
