Introduction
[Crissy Jones]
Hi, Richard, I’m good, how are you? Good, it’s been a long time coming, this podcast.
I know, I’m super excited. I feel like this was a spot that anybody that’s, anyone in this business has had, so I’m super happy to join you. Thanks for the opportunity.
[Crissy Jones]
I think we’ve tried before, Chrissy, just schedules never kind of seem to meet up, but anyway, it’s a- Good, good, so that means we’re someone too, right?
[Richard Bexon]
There you go.
[Crissy Jones]
Exactly, exactly, but, well, I mean, Chrissy, I mean, you know, we’re here, end of December, or mid to late December. I mean, you know, a lot of volatility, I would say, in Western markets this year. Probably looks like it’s here to stay.
I can’t see that changing anytime soon, to be honest with you. But I mean, what would you say has happened generally in Costa Rica, and then probably in your area, you know, of like Guatemala and kind of the Central Valley area?
Market shifts in Costa Rica and La Guácima
[Richard Bexon]
Well, you know, I mean, I think Costa Rica has gone through a lot this year, and there’s polar opinions sometimes even on what’s going on down here. But I think, you know, Costa Rica’s like a really good wave, you know, not only known for surfing, right? But it’s here to stay.
And depending on who is looking for what, there’s a place. And in my market, particularly, I mean, we work really nationwide, but I live in Los Reyes, in La Oasima, as you know, and I’ve made this my personal home. So as an ambassador to the area, I’ve kind of become an ambassador to the area, not only because I’m based out here, we’re on fire.
I mean, La Oasima right now has grown. In fact, the other day, the municipality, I was doing some research, and the municipality put this thing out that since 2011, La Oasima has grown 54% in population. So obviously, you know, that’s a good like 14, 15 years of time, but over 50% of that has happened since the pandemic in 2020.
So from 2020 to 2025, La Oasima has hit a huge boom. I think Hacienda Los Reyes is just like the crown jewel of the area, of course, is leading the market. And I mean, we are, I would say that the people that traditionally were looking in the general metropolitan area at like Valle del Sol or Villa Real are now going just a little bit west.
You know, we’re really only about 15 minutes from Santana. We’re on route 27, and it’s, you know, it’s still kind of like a more outdoorsy vibe, not so like city congested like Santana Nescazú is. So we’re doing great.
I mean, I think this is our time.
[Crissy Jones]
Yeah, I mean, you know, that business, it’s funny how, because it always moves west, if that makes sense, in Costa Rica, down the 27, whether that’s the Coyol Free Trade Zone, you know, whether it’s grassy developing, whether it’s La Oasima. But I mean, I kind of feel that La Oasima was set up with the infrastructure to begin with of an auto mercado, of a, you know, an international English school before kind of the boom, if that makes sense. A lot of the time, it’s like the real estate comes and then that comes after.
But it seems that La Oasima had all that stuff beforehand.
Infrastructure, schools and lifestyle
[Richard Bexon]
I agree. And it’s actually been, I mean, it’s a huge benefit because I would say GSD, which is at the Bay, it’s a fantastic school out of Madrid, is at the Bay of Los Reyes, country day school. I went to CDS, the original campus.
I mean, obviously I’m 44. So that’s what, how many years ago?
[Crissy Jones]
It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.
[Richard Bexon]
You know, it doesn’t matter, but we were in Escazú, but the new campus opened out here and it opened, I mean, we’re like seven minutes from La Oasima. So I would say like the two leading schools, Pan American, of course, is still a leading school, only about 15 minutes away from here, but CDS, country day school and GSD are in this area. So for people that are looking to relocate with kids, you know, this is actually kind of where you really want to be.
[Crissy Jones]
Yeah. I mean, look, I’m biased. I used to own a lot in Los Manzanos, in Los Reyes, where I was going to be.
Right, right. Just in the end, we decided to stay in Arredia just for, yeah, just for kind of family reasons. But it was spectacular.
I mean, it’s kind of, you know, I mean, it felt like you were so close to everything, but you were kind of out in the countryside.
[Richard Bexon]
You know, I was mentioning that to you before, like when we were chatting, that I’ve also seen a big amount of the market that has invested. You know, we have one of our main markets, of course, is the expat market. And a lot of my clients have invested in Guanacaste with us or without us in the past.
And they’re looking kind of to access maybe better schools, or they’re looking at the general metropolitan area as an option for them, having already invested on the coast, now looking to move inland. And this product offers, you’re in the city, but you’re not in that like congested, once again, you know, city of San Jose, you know, this isn’t New York City. It’s not like a city that you would, you know, think about, right, as a city.
So while you have access to all the amenities and access to the metropolitan life, you still have the benefits of open space, you know, the greenery, lots are a lot larger than you’re gonna find. And of course, you know, there’s more value to the land still now, which is changing, but definitely.
[Crissy Jones]
Polo, you know, auto Mercado, which does, you know, international food from everywhere. I mean, again, as I said, it has all the ingredients and it had it all from the beginning. So yeah, it was smart what they did there.
So, I mean- We’re happy about it, definitely. I still think there’s tons of value in Loreas, because again, I look at some of the prices of some of the, even the older houses, the newer houses there, and I just can’t believe it sometimes, you know, because at some point I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be looking to buy my next house. And when I start looking at prices of stuff, I’m like, wait, like this is a Redia, not like, you know, Santana or something.
And I’m like, in Loreas you can get for, you know what I mean? Five, $600,000 and even further up, like you can get amazing homes.
Lot sizes, product mix and values
[Richard Bexon]
Amazing homes. And you can, you know, you can have, you can get a lot. I mean, anywhere really from, there’s the smaller ones.
I mean, there’s 300 square meter lots and 600 square meter lots. Los Reyes is an interesting product within La Guacima in itself, because it has all these sub communities, as you know. So if you want a smaller lot, you have that, but we’re better known for the larger lots, 1,000, 2,000 square meters in size.
And then they go all the way up to 5,000 in different areas like Villas del Arroyo. So if you think about the amount of land that you’re gaining here compared to other areas, you know, value is, the value is there for sure.
[Crissy Jones]
I mean, for anyone listening to this, that’s like, oh, this sounds pretty interesting. I mean, what would an entry price be for like a three bedroom home? Like just a basic three bedroom home or a smaller lot?
Roughly, I know that’s difficult, but just, yeah.
[Richard Bexon]
Well, no, right about there. I mean, the average ticket currently right now in Los Reyes is $630,000. So that’s the average of what is selling.
I mean, there’s homes here in the $2 million price range. There’s properties in the $4 million range, but there’s also something that’s really interesting about La Guacima and Los Reyes particularly. It’s gone through this renaissance.
So there’s a huge opportunity to buy like an older home and remodel it. So I’ve had, for example, older homes that have been bought in the $350,000 price range, and we’ve flipped it for 800,000. So, you know, it depends.
Older, the older homes have, you know, a little bit better pricing, but right now $600,000 on average will buy you pretty much a brand new home.
[Crissy Jones]
Wow. But I mean, even an older home, I mean, the thing is, old homes in Costa Rica, and I say older, are just solid concrete brick, like, you know, they’ll last forever.
Older homes, construction quality and new builds
[Richard Bexon]
You know, and then an older, you know, I get that from my clients a lot. What’s older? I mean, some people, I’ve had clients that older is like 100 years old, and I’m like- We don’t do that.
You know, I mean, this isn’t, we don’t do that. This is, we don’t have this historic sort of, no, I mean, we would consider an older home. Maybe it’s something that’s about 20 years old, you know, perhaps.
And they’re very, very easy cleanups, you know, floors, bathrooms, kitchen, you know, quick facelift up, upgrading of finishes. Nothing like you have to have these homes torn down by no means. But right now, that’s also another interesting piece of information about this area.
There are 19 brand new constructions underway in Hacienda Las Reyes right now. So that attests to the growth.
[Crissy Jones]
I love how you just know everything about Las Reyes. I know you live there and work there, and it’s just great when somebody really, you know, knows their numbers, so.
[Richard Bexon]
Well, you know, I do. I do think. And this is not for me to say, but they do, you know, Los Reyes is the kings, right?
So I’m the queen of the kings. That’s what they say. La reina, Los Reyes, right?
[Crissy Jones]
That’s the word on the street, Christina.
[Richard Bexon]
Nope, that’s the word on the street. No, no. I live here.
And, you know, and I, it’s funny because it was like reverse engineering. When I moved here, and I certainly didn’t run in this area, and I moved here when Henry and I got married because we fell in love with it. And the rest came after.
We started seeing this big opportunity to promote the area. Once we were neighbors of the community and, you know, everything else is history pretty much.
[Crissy Jones]
Wow. Yeah, I mean, and La Guatemala has a lot of other, you know, apart from Los Reyes, of course. I mean, there was a lot of other developments down there as well.
Other developments around La Guácima
[Richard Bexon]
Well, the entire area. I mean, the general, the general area that we consider like La Guatema even encompasses Hacienda Espinal, which is really, is San Rafael. So it’s like Santana, Ciudad Colon, and then San Rafael, and then Guatema.
But San Rafael and Guatema are interconnected, even through the back roads. So Hacienda Espinal is out here, Hacienda Los Reyes, which we’ve spoken about, Villas del Arroyo, Espabel. You know, these are really nice, large gated communities that are well to do.
[Crissy Jones]
Yeah, yeah. I mean, apart from like that area, what other areas of Costa Rica do you get the sense that are like La Guatema, that are like growing, that are growing?
Free trade zones, Grecia and commutes
[Richard Bexon]
Well, you know, that’s like, that’s like hilarious. Because I just had this comparison with a client and she’s like, Los Reyes makes me feel like Hacienda Pinilla, you know, all the way north in Guanacaste. And I’m like, well, you know, far from it really, there’s like no coast here and we’re not.
But that kind of like, you know, she’s like, she lived there and she moved here and she’s like, I ride my bike out there and I ride my bike here. And I’m like, well, it’s a lot less hot than Hacienda Espinel, of course. I think Hacienda Los Reyes is the new Valle del Sol, to be honest.
I mean, I think Valle del Sol, traditionally, as we said, the city has been moving west. You know, it always, the city’s always moved west. When I was in high school, I mean, the east side of San Jose was kind of where everybody was living and Escazú was just in that process of being developed.
And I remember Santana was full of horses and it was like horse country and ranches, you know, where now that’s more like city, right? So, I would say Valle del Sol is a lot more congested, but it’s that kind of like family oriented living. And of course it has the golf course, which Los Reyes has as well.
So there’s a certain similarity to that, I would say.
[Crissy Jones]
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you know, because we’ve been, we’ve spoken to a lot of people here, like Grecia is growing at a rapid speed. You know, Grecia, San Ramon, and, you know, I don’t know whether that’s going to slow down or probably continue just because of the revolution, you know, free trade zone out there.
[Richard Bexon]
Well, you know, the trade zones is a big, big thing. There’s like massive growth trends right now in this area because of that. Grecia doesn’t have the kind of schools that we have.
So we do have neighbors that live in Los Reyes that are actually, are working in evolution. So that’s, it’s a skip and a jump. I mean, you’re still looking at what, about like 40, 45 minutes.
But you know, I used to live in Miami, you know, as you know, and I lived in Aventura and I worked on South Beach. So, you know, that 40 minute commute was like nothing. But in Costa Rica, things are a lot closer.
So that feels like a lot, but definitely I would say, if you’re looking to a certain type of lifestyle that Grecia might still not be offering, La Guacima does, so.
[Crissy Jones]
It’s funny what you were mentioning there, just about like the east side kind of used to be where it was at. It moved out to the west. It tried to get pulled back a little bit, you know, when Barrio Escalante started to kind of move a little bit, but that seems to have kind of died down and it’s like really pushed west again.
[Richard Bexon]
You know, I think it’s, it has this like gourmet sort of like restaurant vibe. You know, definitely what I think was happening and, or is still happening in Escalante and Barrio Del Ante and all of that. But I don’t see, I don’t know, maybe it’s like Soho in New York a little bit, or I don’t, it’s not the family oriented, open airy space land sort of vibe at all that even Escazú and Santa Ana has.
So I think it’s good for a younger crowd. I think it’s more, you know, more students and stuff, but the professional crowd, the families, and of course, you know, people that are coming down to Costa Rica to retire, we have a lot. We did really well during the pandemic with what I call like plan B and we’ve specialized as an agency in plan B a lot.
And now that’s become like plan A, you know, depending whatever’s happening up north, people that are wanting to relocate, get out of what’s going on there are looking a lot at us and this area, yeah.
[Crissy Jones]
Yeah, I agree. I mean, you know, Costa Rica is not the cheapest place to live, but like, again, you know, we don’t have heating. Sometimes we have cooling, but I suppose in Los Reyes you don’t need AC all the time either.
I mean, you can just open the doors for part of the day, right?
Climate, comfort and daily living
[Richard Bexon]
Definitely. Like I, you know, it’s warmer. I mean, it’s not, I’m not going to say that the weather is anything.
It is warm. I certainly think it’s warm. It’s warmer than Escazú, but cross ventilation, you know, just have the house properly built.
We, I have AC. I have central AC in my house. I never turn it on.
I use it a lot, like March and April, but I sleep, I sleep with the AC on just because I like to snuggle, you know? So I have a duvet. Like Henry, my husband makes fun of me.
Like I have a super thick duvet and I cover myself up to here and I love it, but that’s just how I like to sleep.
[Crissy Jones]
I’m a duvet guy as well anyway, you know, and I’ll sleep with it, but I live in a area which is a little colder, but like, you know, I’ll sleep without the AC with a duvet on. So which people like, are like, wait, you live in Costa Rica and sleep with a duvet? I know, I know.
[Richard Bexon]
We were, we just decorated a, I mean, like equipped a unit, not in Los Reyes, but on the beach. And I bought duvets, not thick ones, but because it’s just cozy. And I think it adds to the comfort.
And the owner was like, they’ll never use it. And I’m like, they will. And they have.
People are like talking about it on Airbnb. They’re like, love the duvets.
[Crissy Jones]
I’m like, to-to-so. Cool. Well, I mean, Chrissy, I mean, of the listings that you currently have, which one like really excites you and why?
Current listings and buyer profiles
[Richard Bexon]
Well, I feel like we’ve focused a lot on Los Reyes. And I want to talk about like La Guasima in general, which is not only Los Reyes, but I, I, I, probably the owners, my property owners would probably want me to, everybody wants me to mention them, right? I, I don’t have a favorite.
And I know that that’s such a cliche to say, but it depends on who you are and what you’re looking for. And then I’m going to have a favorite. Like I have a brand new property right now that’s $795,000, fantastic four bedroom, modern, Andres Morales is the, the architect that I’m loving for a young family that’s looking for modern comforts.
And then I have an older home, which is one story, three bedrooms, and the high five hundreds, which I love if you’re coming down to kind of retire and you want that one story home, you know, that’s easy to get around. I have open lots right now for 5,000 square meters that I think are incredible pieces to develop. So Los Reyes literally and La Guasima overall, because these lots that are 5,000 square meters are in Villas del Arroyo, they’re not in Los Reyes.
It just depends on what you’re looking for and who you are. You know, I just had the opportunity. Well, you know, we sold three, four lots to a gentleman from a German client and he’s remodeling one house.
He’s gonna live in it for a while and he’s gonna build his dream home next to it. So there’s literally something for everybody. And there’s a lot of, you know what I’d like to say?
There’s like a lot of, I mean, I don’t, the word’s not lies, but just like fibs or like rumors on La Guasima and it’s not far. We’re like 12 to, you know, we’re like 15 minutes, 15 to 20 minutes from the airport. We’re 10 to 15 minutes from Santana.
We’re actually like super, super well-located. There’s not any more traffic in La Guasima than there is anywhere in Escazor, Santana. Costa Rica has a traffic, it’s a high traffic congested country right now.
You know, this has to do with maybe the lack of better planning, but it’s not pertaining to this area. You know, we’re on the way to the beach. We’re 60 minutes close to everything, far from the chaos.
I mean, I can talk a lot about the pros and this is an area that is not all over the map that everybody knows. It’s a newer area. It’s quite established, not new and I wouldn’t say, you know, up and coming, we’re far from that.
Los Reyes was established 40 years ago, but what it is now, I mean, for the last five years, it’s been nothing but growth. So we have larger lots, single family homes. Now there’s some smaller homes for people.
You know what’s really cool, Richard? Something that I want to mention about this area. People that have lived in the bigger homes that are selling them, they’re older, maybe their kids have gone and have left, are still wanting to stay in the community.
So now there’s these smaller homes, one-story homes, like in the 400, the high threes, 400, low fours, that are being bought by people that had bigger homes in the community because nobody wants to leave.
[Crissy Jones]
Yeah. Look, it’s a great community. You don’t need to preach to me, you know what I mean?
It’s yeah, yeah, I’d be very happy living there. You know, on the golf course, riding around on my bike, and yeah. But Chrissy, this is my last question for you.
My last one that I love to ask everyone. 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?
Investment strategy and flipping in Los Reyes
[Richard Bexon]
Well, I mean, I probably sound like a broken record. I mean, I think, and- Sounds like you’d buy and flip in Las Vegas. I do.
That’s what I was going to say. Well, what do you know? Not necessarily have I inherited it, but you know, I’ve certainly gained access to some of that of our own and thanks to our good old bank friends, but I’m doing it.
I mean, we’re remodeling homes right now. I’m bringing them to modern life and flipping them. Flipping homes in Costa Rica is not something that made a lot of money people before, but there’s a big opportunity in Las Vegas right now.
And something else that I think makes sense is investing for rentals because there’s not a lot of homes for rent. And right now I think we have one on the market. So definitely buying something to rent it is also something I’d be doing, something I’m doing right now.
[Crissy Jones]
Well, Chrissy, this has been absolutely amazing. You’ve been a wealth of information. Very much appreciate you taking time to join us on the podcast.
Anyone that does want to get in contact with Chrissy, all of our contact details will be down in the description as well as links to our website, but we very much appreciate you coming on the podcast.
[Richard Bexon]
Thank you. I’ve loved being here and thanks for the opportunity.
[Crissy Jones]
Not at all. Have a great day, Chrissy. Bye.
