Introduction and Villa Investment Opportunities
[Richard Bexon]
Good morning, guys, and welcome to episode 262 of Costa Rica Real Estate and Investments. With me, your host, Richard Bexon. Here on the road again today, guys, so apologies if there’s a bit of an echo in this room. There’s not much in it, but I’m sure there will be at some point. But today, we’re talking with Nicole Brose from Guayabo Animal Rescue and Sanctuary about her basically journey establishing a nonprofit in Costa Rica and how her rescue center came about. I think important to also kind of talk, this is a podcast on investing and real estate in Costa Rica, but also talk about businesses here in Costa Rica and kind of running them as well. I know a lot of people have questions here or people looking to move down here and looking for things to do, sometimes for profit, sometimes not for profit. So hence why we’ve been getting a few nonprofits on the show recently. And also they’ve been contacting me, which has been kind of nice as well.
So that’s been good. Guys, we’re about to actually start the build of Villa 5 and 6 in Manuel Antonio. We’re still looking for investors in each one of those. We’ll still go ahead and build them anyway. We just got permits. So we start within two weeks of building those villas, which will be the last ones in Manuel Antonio. So if anyone’s interested in investing, basically investment starts from $100,000. You get annual dividends. Also, we sell the property after five years. And also you get usage rights of five nights per year as well. But if interested, email us info at investingcostarica.com, info at investingcostarica.com. And down below in the description will be all the details for you as well. You can take a quick look at the website. Also, if you’re interested in investing in here in Costa Rica and want some consulting, project management, we do a lot of project management here, guys, as well. We have about 15 builds we’re overseeing here. We’re kind of owner’s reps, pain in the butt, making sure you get taken advantage of. So again, email us info at investingcostarica.com. But let’s get straight to the podcast.
Good afternoon, Nicole. How are you doing?
[Nicole Brose]
Good afternoon. I’m doing great. Thank you so much for having me.
[Richard Bexon]
Not at all. It’s an absolute pleasure to have you on the podcast. We seem to be on a run at the moment of, I would say, non-profit organizations. We recently had Lifting Hands and now we’ve got the Guayabo Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. So I appreciate you reaching out to us.
[Nicole Brose]
Yeah, no, excellent. We definitely want to share what we’re doing. So thank you.
Costa Rica Market Conditions and Nonprofit Growth
[Richard Bexon]
No worries. Well, Nicole, I mean, what have you been seeing happening? I mean, the first question we always like to get an idea is kind of just what you’re seeing happening, I suppose, here in Costa Rica based on kind of the market and kind of where everything’s at. You know, it’s a lot of volatility. I don’t think that’s going anywhere. But what do you think is happening in Costa Rica?
[Nicole Brose]
Yeah. So we’ve had the Guayabo Animal Rescue and Sanctuary now for about three years. So in that three year time and basically we took or I took a lot of the knowledge that I’ve learned in the U.S. and other countries on how we can do better for our people and pets and also just put some more educational programs into the country, right, for the people. So what I’ve noticed is at first people said no one will care what you’re doing. They won’t really appreciate your services. Education programs will go flat. And every month, the year that goes by, I really see an increase on more people signing up for our programs that we offer. I see more, you know, other groups getting involved, more volunteers. And really, it’s just an overall switch from this is how we’ve done things to let’s really embrace these groups and people that want to share the knowledge that they’ve learned over the decades. So it’s been really fantastic.
[Richard Bexon]
And is it mainly expats, foreigners or Costa Ricans?
[Nicole Brose]
So we are in rural, I call it rural authentic Costa Rica. We’re very, we’re really proud of our location because until we started with our programs, there really wasn’t a lot of services in those areas for the local Costa Ricans. So our area is very Tico oriented. So very few expats. The few lucky ones that are there love it. But don’t, it’s just, it’s just a beautiful area where up until now didn’t have a lot of the services and a lot of the programs that maybe some of the more, I should say, maybe developed or just, you know, population is just, you know, there’s just more people in some of the other areas. Ours is a small rural community.
Northwestern Costa Rica Location and Geographic Context
[Richard Bexon]
And you guys are in basically kind of North Eastern Costa Rica, would you call it? I mean?
[Nicole Brose]
Yeah. So we are, I always tell people cause they put reference with it. So the Liberia airport, we’re about an hour Northwest of that airport, about an hour and 20 minutes from the coast. So say Playa Coco, about an hour and 20 minutes or so. So we’re really in where it’s, it is mountainous and it’s not rainforest. It’s the, it’s just different. Yeah. It’s, but the, we have the waterfalls and the hot springs and it’s very rich with things for tourists and people to do and see. It’s just an area that really isn’t on everyone’s radar, but should be when they come and visit or even when they live.
[Richard Bexon]
It’s beautiful. I mean, I’ve spent quite a bit of time up there. You know, mainly at kind of like, I think it’s Guachapelin and all those kinds of areas that are up there, which is not too far. It’s not exactly where you are, but it’s not too far away, but it’s beautiful up there.
[Nicole Brose]
Yeah. So lovely. And again, I love it because I am, I go back and forth between my home in Florida and we also run our 501c3 nonprofit in the U S that’s really a pass through. So we help raise money in the U S and actually all over the world and to help run what we have in Guayabo for the rescue. So I love it because it’s just, it’s just a, it’s just a beautiful, a more simplistic, it’s definitely Puerto Vida.
Guayabo Animal Rescue Operations and Services
[Richard Bexon]
I mean, for the listeners, I mean, again, we’ve been talking here for probably about what, five minutes about the Guayabo animal rescue and sanctuary, but like, what is it? I mean, what animals are in it? What do you rescue sanctuary? Like, what does it, you guys do?
[Nicole Brose]
Yeah. Yeah. Good question. So we, we have, we rescue dogs, horses. We do have some goats, a couple cows, we have our chickens, but we really focus on the dog rescue. So we do dog adoptions. We help bring in injured, sick, neglected, abused dogs, get them back to health, get them vaccinated, get them spay and neutered. And then we adopt them. Some dogs we don’t adopt. They’re sanctuary dogs. Maybe they’re really old or they just have extreme injury. We are on 300 beautiful acres. So we have space for the, for the animals to roam. They’re not caged, they’re free roaming. And we do have some horses that we’ve also rescued, whether they were abandoned, the owners couldn’t afford them any longer. So all the animals come, they all have various stories, but they’re really, we really, you know, stick to the rescuing the animals that have nowhere else to go. So we, so we do the adoption program. We have medical triage. We do, we focus on spay neuter services. We have spay neuter campaigns every month. And we’re very proud of the spay neutering that we’ve done, which I was told again, no one, no one would want to do that with their pet and no one would sign up. And we have folks sign up every single month. And then we also do education programs where we bring school children, whether it’s a school of eight children or 30 children, we bring them to the property and we teach them humane compassion. We show them that about the cows and about just being, just having a compassion for all animals. Maybe up until that point, the cow was only on their plate. So they get to really see and experience the love and joy that animals can bring all shapes and sizes. So yeah, so that’s what we do.
Nonprofit Establishment Advice for Costa Rica
[Richard Bexon]
If somebody, you know, again, a lot of people are looking to make Costa Rica second home and kind of bounce between the two countries. And a nonprofit is something that comes up and Costa Rica is in need of in many different areas. What advice would you give to anyone that’s thinking about doing it?
[Nicole Brose]
You mean living there, moving to?
[Richard Bexon]
No, I mean, actually setting up a nonprofit inside Costa Rica and doing what you guys have, you know, very similar structure to what you guys have done. I mean, what would your advice be to them?
[Nicole Brose]
Yeah. So, so we have the 501 in the US and then we have a legally registered NGO in Costa Rica. So they’re two separate nonprofits. They have, and so, and again, they to legally make it all work. It was very complicated. It took a lot of effort, accountants, lawyers, we definitely did everything the right way. Nonprofits in Costa Rica are a little unique because they’re not the same tax breaks like you would have in another country. So you really need to be doing it for your love of that purpose, right? Not a tax shelter, not any other reason other than that’s your passion. And you really want to make a difference with the, the people, environment, animals, what have you. It was definitely a labor of love. It took a lot of time. It took a lot of resources to, to really make all of this happen. So my advice would be first, find out what’s there, find out where you can, you can, what you can support already. Maybe not reinvent the wheel. Maybe there’s a nonprofit close to your town, your, you know, your city that you may just want to financially support, volunteer, be on the board, whatever the case may be. And if that isn’t the case, then just still do your research, talk to the other nonprofits, talk to the business owners, really truly figure out what is a need versus just what maybe your, what your want is. They have to, they have to really match. And it is a lot of work. It is, you know, I’m working with two different cultures, right? I’m running two nonprofits in totally different places. We’ve made it work and, but it is challenging and it does take a lot of drive and a lot of um, true grit and passion. Again, this is not something that no one makes money off of this. We put all the money we make back into the actual cause. We do have staff that we hire and we hire everyone local to that area. So all, everyone that we have employed with, um, with the rescue is from that small rural community, which we’re very proud to say that because we’re supporting the people who are from that area and their families and, you know, they have children and, um, actually all of them have children. So it’s, it’s really trickling down into helping that community as a whole to grow and prosper. Um, so yeah, so my advice would be do your homework. Don’t just say, Oh, I love, you know, the butterfly. Now I want to start a nonprofit for that. There might be one in, even in Costa Rica, Costa Rica is definitely, uh, definitely, uh, I see having a lot more, um, advancements when it comes to protection and, and just the whole nonprofit. Um, yeah, so it’s definitely improving and growing all the time.
Cultural Differences and Operational Challenges in Costa Rica
[Richard Bexon]
You’ve mentioned something there about, you know, local communities, et cetera. I mean, how do the cultural differences affect you guys day to day in your nonprofit? Because usually that’s the biggest impact. Sometimes if you have this North American culture clashing with this very passive aggressive laid back culture.
[Nicole Brose]
That’s a really good question. And I am type a go, go, go like get stuff done. My to-do list every day is really long. So one challenge for me, besides the language barrier, I am learning the language. I respect the language and I feel like more people should do their best to speak it or try to learn it, especially if you’re living there or working there. Um, but I, the, the whole, I said earlier, the, you know, Puerto Vida, the laid back philosophy, that’s hard for me sometimes. Cause I want 17 things to happen in one day to get checked off my list. And sometimes when I’m working with my team, it, we might check off two of those things and we do things just a little more, um, you know, slowly, but for me personally, it’s been so great to learn patience and to just be in that more, you know, every single thing doesn’t have to happen today. So, but yeah, that’s the pace, the pace of getting things done from our lawyers to the accountants, to all of it is just sometimes can be a lot for me.
[Richard Bexon]
Definitely. No, I look, I completely agree. You know, I’ve got so tired of construction companies, I’m setting my own construction company up. So, uh, so yeah, but I mean, for investors that tuning in, I mean, how can they meaningfully support like your guys work, you know, whether that’s overnight accommodations, monetary donations, in-kind donations, volunteer efforts, advocacy, like how can they get involved?
Eco-Tourism Funding Model and Investment Opportunities
[Nicole Brose]
Yep. And one thing I didn’t mention about us is we do have beautiful villas. They’re almost 1700 square feet. There’s AC. The property was, was a residence of a family from Florida who built it for family and friends. So it’s beautiful. Now we use it for the nonprofit. So we rent those villas out to guests from all over the world. And any given week we may have, you know, Holland, Canada, US you know, UK. Yeah. We, um, so people listening to say, they, they hear this podcast and they, um, doing staycations, right? Say you live in Costa Rica. We’re actually getting more people from San Jose, from some of the other areas. Maybe they’re from Costa Rica, the Tico’s or not. They are coming now for a weekend stay. So you can actually book our villas, get a beautiful, um, retreat. If you will, we’re up high on the, um, on the hill, beautiful Valley views, sunrise, sunset, every dollar you spend on our eco tourism, our villa overnights goes right back into our costs. So every dollar goes right to, um, to what we’re doing to save lives. Um, so folks can do monetary donations, which are always fabulous. They can reach out to me right now. I’m raising money for an X-ray machine, which is very costly. We have, we do have a medical clinic where we do, um, surgeries and, and, um, and things like that. We do all that for a suggestive donation, right? So, um, so, um, monetary, um, sponsorships, um, volunteer, you can come maybe for a week or a couple of days and volunteer feed animals, um, you know, give baths to horses, help with, um, with a spay neuter campaign. Um, you can also, um, follow us on social media, help share what we’re doing. Um, so there’s a lot of ways to get involved, but I think if someone’s listening from another, um, country, come and stay with us, come to the rules and see authentic Costa Rica. There’s hot springs right next door. There’s amazing food. As you know, the food is so fabulous in Costa Rica, especially when you go to the rules. I think the food is the best. Um, so you can stay with us, give a donation sponsor. You can reach out to me and we can be creative on, um, what the needs are and how, how people can get involved.
Investment Philosophy and Property Focus
[Richard Bexon]
Nice. Well, Nicole, I’ve kept you long enough, but my last question for you, which I’d love to ask everyone is if you had $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?
[Nicole Brose]
A hundred thousand percent on property property is so beautiful and property is, um, especially again, I keep going back to the, the rural area, the area that’s, um, it’s, you can, you know, just, I would buy a piece of property. I would probably have a few animals that I’ve rescued on that property. Um, and also keep the rescue course, but just have a, you know, a, a nice simple home and with a view and just, um, really immerse myself in Costa Rica full-time. That’s actually a goal of mine. So good question, but yeah, just having a property and having a home and just being a part of the culture.
Awesome, Nicole. Well, thank you very much for, again, for taking the time to join us on the podcast and anyone that wants to get in contact with you, uh, or the basically animal rescue center and sanctuary.
I’ll put all of the contact details down in this, in the description.
[Nicole Brose]
Oh, thank you so much for having me. And hopefully we’ll get you out to visit us soon.
[Richard Bexon]
I’d love to see you later.
[Nicole Brose]
All right. Thank you. Bye.
