Getting ready to Buy 2nd STR on the Beach in Costa Rica

Getting ready to Buy 2nd STR on the Beach in Costa Rica

Shiloh LundahlPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Gilbert, AZ · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes

Earlier this year I purchased a property in the mountains of Costa Rica. This property is amazing. You can check out the pictures here: Bella Vista Retreat Costa Rica. 



We had 9 investors/friends in on the deal that each put in about 112k to purchase the property. The property is set to produce only between a 5% and 10% cash on cash return to the investors. However the investors can all use the property up to 2 weeks a year. 

After purchase of the property, we got so many people who were sad that they missed out on owning and enjoying a part of the property that we decided to buy another property in Costa Rica. This property will be on the beach in a place called Junquillal about an hour South of Tamarindo in Guanacaste.

This property will also only produce about a 5% - 10% return and we are bringing on 13 investors with about 100k - 110k from each investor. It is going to have a main house with 7 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms and 3 tiny houses along with a grounds keepers house.

What inspired this post was another post I read that stated the purpose of investing in real estate is to make money. While that is mostly true, there are other reasons to invest in real estate such as a lifestyle investment such as this one.

We are really excited about purchasing this property and adding three tiny houses and a pool to it and then renting it out on AirBNB to cover the costs of maintaining the property and to make a little money.

Also, in case anyone had any questions about the process of purchasing properties in Costa Rica, although I have limited experience and I have only done it once before, I have made some great connections with some awesome people who know the process well so I’d be happy to answer any questions about the process to the best of my ability.

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  • Investor · VA AZ, SC · Member since 2017 · 173 posts · 172 votes
    4y

    ”This property will be on the beach in a place called Junquillal about an hour South of Tamarindo in Guanacaste”

    Congratulations! The Ticos are some of the nicest people that I have ever met and it is a beautiful country.

    So your place is 3 miles south of Tamarindo? 😂
    The roads are my only complaint about CR. 

    Is there a property management company in that area that you would recommend?

  • Lien VuongBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Boston, MA · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    Really cool story and deal structure! You're marrying timesharing with syndication investing. 

  • Shiloh LundahlPro Member
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Gilbert, AZ · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    4y
    Quote from @Ian Tyndall:

    ”This property will be on the beach in a place called Junquillal about an hour South of Tamarindo in Guanacaste”

    Congratulations! The Ticos are some of the nicest people that I have ever met and it is a beautiful country.

    So your place is 3 miles south of Tamarindo? 😂
    The roads are my only complaint about CR. 

    Is there a property management company in that area that you would recommend?


    Vacasa is a property management company that manages properties in Costa Rica, but we are self managing with grounds keepers/care givers that will live on the property and offer some concierge services such as meals and pick up and drop offs from the airport.

  • Kerry BairdPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Melbourne, FL · Member since 2011 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    4y

    Your properties are so lovely, @Shiloh Lundahl.  I love the properties that you are moving your hospitality business into.  

  • Michael BaumPro Member
    Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    4y
    Looks great! 
  • Developer · Decatur, GA · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    I love the house, the strategy, side benefits of the vacation home, but I think the decor is WAY short of it's potential. It would do so much better with a few thousand spent on the art, decor.

  • Shiloh LundahlPro Member
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Gilbert, AZ · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    4y

    @Rick Baggenstoss I agree and we plan on spending a few thousand dollars for art and decor. We are just not planning on changing it up to be high end nice with high end finishes like our other property in the mountains. We want to keep the feel of it like an older, comfortable, beach house.

  • Boise, ID · Member since 2018 · 203 posts · 188 votes
    4y

    @Shiloh Lundahl Congrats, that's a very creative way to invest.  

    With so many "partners" do you have a problem with the time share people taking up all the high-income weeks? We own an STR in Costa Rica with only one other couple and we have to really watch to make sure we don't burn up a bunch of income by staying the week between Christmas and New Years, etc. I can't imagine having nine investors to deal with the same issue.

  • Shiloh LundahlPro Member
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Gilbert, AZ · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    4y

    @Mike Smith I appreciate your comment.  We have some limitations to avoid the highest rate dates on the calendar.  Other than that, people are able to rent out the main house for a week and the guest house for a week.  But I don't believe that every investor will use their weeks every year.  

    And as of right now, we have been getting good bookings so I am confident that we will still hit between 5 and 10% of a return.  Probably not our first year, because of the additional set up costs that we have occurred as we have getting everything set up.  But we will have a positive year this year and we will probably hit our projections next year.

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