Introduction
Richard Bexon: Good morning, Larry, how are you doing? I’m doing great, Richard, how are you? Good to see you again.
No, it’s an absolute pleasure to have you on here. As I’ve mentioned, as you’ll see in the intro here, dude, I consider you one of the godfathers of real estate in this country, so I appreciate you taking the time to chat with me.
Larry Graziano: It’s my pleasure, but I think you’re too kind. Godfather is too much.
Current Market Conditions
Richard Bexon: Well, I love to always kind of get an idea of kind of what’s happening in the market when we start this. I mean, you know, markets have been a little volatile in the US, you know, the political situation, economic news is kind of a little bit all over the place, but I mean, what are you seeing happening here in Costa Rica currently, Larry?
Larry Graziano: Well, you know, my main focus is mostly Guanacaste, although I do work all over the country, just like you do. And currently what I’m telling my clients is that, you know, we’re starting to see a slowdown back to normal pre-COVID market time when things were moving good. But there’s three things that are really affecting this very moment in US presidential elections, things always slowed down.
I think that on the seller’s side, once the election happens, then we’re either gonna see Republicans coming in mass or Democrats coming in mass, you know, escaping what they perceive to be something ugly happening. What happened one month ago with the Nikkei and then Europe and the New York stock markets, it was just a 10% blip, 20% would be a catastrophe, but I think that’s got people worried as well. And so I think the combination of those two things causing a stall in this very moment, but that’s also typical for the height of the low season in the country.
Richard Bexon: Yeah, yeah, no, I mean, I agree. I think you’ve got two factors there, which is external stuff, which you mentioned like politics, interest rates, economic, you know, climate, plus also the time of year here in Costa Rica. I mean, personally, Larry, I think it’s one of the best time of the years to buy because you can actually get in and see stuff.
I’m personally buying myself, you know, I mean, I think it was Warren Buffett that said, what was it? Be greedy when others are being fearful. So I think there’s a few people out there that are being fearful, so I’m being a little greedy at the moment.
Larry Graziano: And I believe it or not, I’m in the exact same position, doing the same thing.
Latin American Real Estate Growth
Richard Bexon: Yeah, so again, anyone listening out there, you know, two guys in this country that are in real estate and development are purchasing at the moment. So, yeah, it’s good science. You posted on LinkedIn a while back, you know, with regards to the real estate market in Latin America, you know, that basically it’s going to be worth over 1.4 trillion by the end of 2024. Why do you think the Latin American real estate market is growing so rapidly and fastly, Larry?
Larry Graziano: Oh, I think there’s a number of factors, but it goes back to what I first heard on my first trip in the nineties to Costa Rica, that Costa Rica is the Switzerland of the Americas. You know, sure, there’s a minor thievery, but you can pretty much go to any beach, feel carefree, feel wonderful. You know, there’s places in the metropolitan area that you wouldn’t want to go, but you wouldn’t do that in New York, maybe probably in sections of London either.
Yeah. Overall, the country is safe. Your investment is safe.
You have a great politics here, and more than the Switzerland of the Americas, you know, Costa Rica is a democracy. Socialism, like Canada, but nevertheless, a completely free country. And so as a consequence, when people arrive here, they feel that sense of freedom and they feel an emotional relief.
Healthcare Excellence
Richard Bexon: Yeah. You know, I had this client the other day who moved here from Canada, and she was like, look, my son has a rash on me. We’re in San Jose at the moment.
Where should we go? Do we go private or public? And I said, no, go to Hospital de Niños in San Jose.
She was like, I’m not going to have to wait there for hours. And I was like, look, if you are, then you can just walk across the street and use the private hospital. She was like, Rich, it was amazing.
Like we went in there, within five minutes, they saw me. Within an hour, I had the medicine and the attention was insane. And then I went to get the bill and there wasn’t a bill.
Like, she’s like, this doesn’t even work like this in Canada. Like, how is this possible in Costa Rica? And for me not to pay anything.
And I was like, well, you are paying for it because you’re paying social security. But I think that, you know, especially CHART for children here, it’s an amazing healthcare system for children here.
Larry Graziano: Same thing. First daughter was born in a Caja hospital and the total cost was $300. And on top of it, they asked me if I wanted a 10-year payment plan for that 300 bucks.
And I had to act nervous and embarrassed that I was going to pay in full in the moment.
Cultural Adaptation
Richard Bexon: Wow, wow. Yeah, I mean, it’s, look, I mean, every country has its pros, you know, and its cons. It’s just the pros far outweigh, you know, for a lot of people living here.
As long as you can, I think, adapt to the speed of life here and understand that nothing is a straight line and everything kind of is gray. It’s not as black and white. You know, and I like to just say, surf the wave.
You know, this country can be spectacular.
Larry Graziano: Oh, it can be spectacular. I think you touched on a great point about adapting to a new country. And slowing your speed down.
That’s one of the biggest stumbling blocks I find with people from the quote, first world. They’re all type A personalities. They’re used to running 90 miles an hour.
And it’s hard for them to adjust to go in 25 miles an hour. But that’s the whole point of coming here.
Richard Bexon: Yeah, I 100% agree, man. I mean, look, I think if you’re not willing to slow down your pace of life and kind of, you know, smell the roses, as we say, like, don’t come here because otherwise, like, you’re just gonna get swept away. Without a doubt.
Sustainable Development Practices
Yeah. I mean, you and I chatted a while back. I mean, you’d mentioned something, you know, about developing sustainably in Costa Rica.
And I think that’s a concern that quite a few of us have. What are some of the things, you know, that listeners should understand about, you know, developing in Costa Rica and what things keep, you know, that sustainable, I suppose, development and building in place here in Costa Rica?
Larry Graziano: I think that the number one thing to be reminded of, no matter where in the world, you’re always gonna have a developer with a slash and burn mentality who’s coming in, make a ton of money, and you as a final consumer could decide best in that project or not, buy your condo there or not. Then there’s other developers that have been here a long time and they’re really focused on the sustainability. For example, there’s a project in Avianas, which is 80 homes on 25 acres, and they didn’t cut down any trees.
In fact, instead of building condos, they’re building homes whereby the garage is one building, the living room and kitchen is another building, each one of the bedrooms are other buildings, and they’re built around the existing. So they didn’t cut any trees down. Those consumers are gonna get everything they wanted from Costa Rica, authentic Costa Rica, in the jungle, with the monkeys, with the birds.
And that’s another development style. That’s the sustainability model that I think we’re gonna see really thrive in coming years. We can also take a look back and remember that 30% of this country is already national parkland.
And that’s important. If you took all the UK and you thought, let’s set aside 30%, that would be unbelievable. Or the United States, for example, it would be all of Alaska.
30% is an enormous number, even though it’s such a small country. And then we have, go ahead, I saw you were a part of- Not at all, not at all, keep going. No, keep going, Larry.
Community Investment
I mentioned to you, I was gonna tell you this quip where I’m this dream client. I sold a personal thing of mine to this family and they are the model of sustainability. They came here, they bought the seven hectare finca, they built one home on the finca, they reforested.
It’s in a rural community. They started a nonprofit organization for the community over the course of these last 18 years. I think they’ve put easily $250,000 into the community.
New school, computers, helped rebuild the pooperia. They taught the kids how to be businessmen and then a couple of them turned that into surf businesses and surf shops. That’s the true sustainability.
And you and I both know, no matter what country we’re talking about, if every single buyer, no matter where they bought every ounce of effort back into the place where they bought, what a world this would be.
Richard Bexon: Yeah, look, I completely agree. The word gentrification here in Costa Rica keeps getting pushed around, especially in the more expensive areas like North Saturn, Santa Teresa. And people always ask me of like, look, what can I do to make sure that doesn’t happen?
And it’s like, continue to give back and raise the tide of your community. Don’t just come in and build basically, I don’t know, 20 foot walls and have your castle behind the gates. Become part of the community and help it develop.
I think you have to have that mentality here in Costa Rica. Otherwise, as we were just talking about there about adapting here of like, you’ll just get swept away. You need to become part of the community here to survive.
Larry Graziano: Yeah, just like you’re the part of the community at home, whether you’re in the PTA for the school or you’re organizing donation drives, you’ll do the same thing here that you did there. But I think that it’s paramount that you become a part of the community.
Concerns for Costa Rica’s Future
Richard Bexon: Yeah, I agree. What’s your biggest fear for Costa Rica?
Larry Graziano: Oh, that’s a difficult question. You know, the Costa Rican children. And I think that my biggest fear is that the overall changes that are happening today in terms of the gentrification and sustainability, if they’re not driven correctly, are gonna irrevocably change the coastal areas.
Richard Bexon: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I agree. I mean, the good thing is about some of those coastal areas that there are some very, I would say older regulations on what can be built and what can’t be built.
I mean, you know, I mean, like, I couldn’t go into Playa Negra and put up what’s in Jaco. Well, I don’t believe that I could do, Larry. You know, I think it would be very, very difficult.
But yeah, I mean, you know, I think we just saw something in LeMond recently where actually part of the national park was cut down. Yeah, I didn’t read that article, but I’m dying to now that you mentioned it. Oh, you should read it.
But I mean, again, I think that there was a lot of corruption involved in it. And I think that that’s, you know, that’s my biggest fear for Costa Rica is just that the focus on dollars and because there’s so much money sloshing around and a lot of people want to have some of that and be part of that, that they’re willing to trade that for really what is the natural resource of this country and what makes it so special.
Larry Graziano: I agree with you wholeheartedly. And I think that we could probably agree that would be, you know, this general fear could also be applied to almost every country. I see in the United States in the last three Biden times that they opened up drilling in national parks for oil, for example.
I think that the human element is most important in terms of making sure the future for other generations is green, quote unquote, perfect for Costa Rica.
Richard Bexon: I agree, I agree. I mean, I have huge amounts of respect for guys that have been here for a very long period of time that have vast amounts of land here and are just like, I’m not developing it. Like, and people offer them ridiculous money and they’re like, no, I don’t need it.
Like, I mean, you know, it’s, they’re sitting on a gold mine and they’re like, I don’t want it, but I have huge amounts of respect for those people.
Larry Graziano: Me too. And fortunately, you know, directly where I live, there’s a number of those people and then others who have bought parcels of land that are making residential communities, you know, have minimum lot sizes that, you know, in the first world, you’d call them estate lots, one and a quarter to two acres. So that overall, the density where I live and by just luck, I showed up here and, you know, built a life here, it’s gonna stay low.
Richard Bexon: Yeah. Good for you, man. Good for you.
Optimism for Costa Rica
I mean, what are you most optimistic about Costa Rica?
Larry Graziano: Oh, spending another 25 years of living the pura vida.
Richard Bexon: Yeah, I mean, it’s only when that you travel, you really understand how lucky we are to live in Costa Rica.
Larry Graziano: And I’m here in Costa Rica. You know, you mentioned earlier, pre-recording that you’re in the UK. Yep.
I think the number one thing people ask me is what I like best about Costa Rica. And you’re gonna feel this moment when you’re coming home from vacation. Coming home from the best vacation ever to Costa Rica is a breath of fresh air every single time.
Richard Bexon: That is.
Larry Graziano: It’s unbelievable.
Investment Advice for Costa Rica
Richard Bexon: Wow. You know, I always like to ask people about what their advice would be to investors looking to invest in real estate in Costa Rica. Because again, I still, you know, there’s a lot of, I would say, free cash at the moment looking for places to invest.
And I think people are looking beyond their borders now. I mean, but what advice would you give to people?
Larry Graziano: Oh, I definitely recommend now that we’re seeing, you know, the entire Nicoya Peninsula up to La Cruz and the border of Nicaragua. You know, there’s many developments happening. But if you invested in fincas, farms, larger tracts of land within 10 or 15 minutes of the beach and sit on it at a land bank in the next 10 or 15 years, you’re easily gonna reap 50 times your investment.
Richard Bexon: Wow, wow. Yeah, I mean, I was about to ask you here where you’d be investing over the next five to 10 years, but it sounds like basically larger farms, 10 to 15 minutes from the, you know, from the Guanacaste coastline.
Larry Graziano: Yeah, that’s exactly it. Wow. And there’s lots of gems out there.
Specific Location Recommendations
Richard Bexon: Is there any particular beach locations that you would be focusing that search around? Just because a lot of people listening to this are gonna be like, okay, that’s a long stretch of coastline. I don’t know really what it is.
Is that around Junquiao? Is it around Playa Negra? Is it around Tamarindo?
I mean, where would you be focusing, you know, your efforts?
Larry Graziano: That’s a great question, you know? And a lot of that depends on our local knowledge. I’m sure you have your areas where you live.
For me, any key area that’s semi-rural still within 70 minutes of the Liberia International Airport will be something that in the next 10 to 20 years is a diamond. Right now, it’s a diamond in the rough. So I wouldn’t focus specifically on any beach.
You know, there’s also, you know, another great bet would be to buy large parcels in between Nosara and Tamarindo. You know, where there already is some things happening, but it’s still a little bit rural. And if you have your eyes open up to the future, you’ll see that there’s great possibilities there as well.
Key Property Features
Richard Bexon: I mean, when looking at these large tracts of land, is there anything that it should have, like spring, water, it should be flat, it should have hills? I mean, what, I mean, you know, what characteristics would you be looking for in that piece of land, Larry?
Larry Graziano: Upcoming access to utilities. Here in Guanacaste, you know, it’s a tropical dry forest with a six-month dry season. There really isn’t any rivers that run all year long, but having a river, you know, during the wet season would be fantastic.
You could do hydroelectric power there and, you know, have ocean views, you know, and when you have ocean views, your land is elevated and you’re getting constant breezes, whether it’s onshore or offshore, which goes a long way in the sustainability in that you need to use less air condition, you’re much more comfortable, less insect bites. Yes, people, there’s insects in Costa Rica. And then public road frontage.
That would be my number one caveat here. We have a law that says that you need at least 33 linear meters of public road frontage in order to do a horizontal or vertical condominium. And so, you know, that would be one of my number one caveats.
Even if the road today is not improved, as long as it has that public road frontage, or larger, better, of course, that would also be a prime caveat for purchase.
How Would You Invest $500,000 in Costa Rica?
Richard Bexon: That’s awesome. I’m about to ask you the last question, which I love to ask everyone, but I think I know the answer because you’ve already just said it there, meaning that if you had $500,000 to invest in business or real estate in Costa Rica, what would you invest it in? But it sounds like you’d invest it into a large farm with all of the criteria that you’ve just said.
Larry Graziano: I would invest it in a large firm within that criteria. If I was 10 years older, and had the financial wherewithal all set to live out the rest of my life, I’d buy a lovely home with an ocean view where I can just enjoy myself.
Conclusion
Richard Bexon: Awesome. Well, Larry, I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with us here on the podcast. I’ll include all of your contact details and also your website down below, but very much appreciate you taking the time to chat with us, sir.
Larry Graziano: Ah, it’s always a pleasure talking and seeing you, Rich.
Richard Bexon: You too, man. Have a good day. You too.
Larry Graziano: Take care. Wonderful.
Richard Bexon: Bye.
