| December 08, 2013 | | | | | | | |  | | | | Designing Your Million-Dollar Dream Home (Without the Hassle) | | | | | | | | | | The Daily Reckoning's Sunday Investment Review |
Dear Daily Reckoning Reader,
In today's episode, Jason Holland explains how $300,000 can get you a million-dollar dream home. In addition, he'll teach you how to design your perfect home without any hassle. Whether you're interested in purchasing a second home or simply trying to build the house you've always wanted, we hope you'll find Jason's essay interesting and informative.
Before you scroll down and read it, though, be sure to peruse our experts' five investment reviews for this week. We've provided links for each directly below:
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Enjoy your Sunday,
Peter Coyne
Managing Editor, The Daily Reckoning
| | | | | | | | | | | | | The Sunday Investment Review Presents…
| | | | A Million-Dollar Dream Home for $300,000 in Costa Rica | | | | by Jason Holland |
It's a line you hear a lot on Costa Rica's southern Pacific coast. "We thought about Panama—we almost bought in El Valle. Then we came down to Costa Rica's Southern Zone and fell in love. We made an offer on a lot on our first three-day trip to the area," says Russ Miller, 65. "I don't recommend most people do it that way, but we'd done a lot of research."
"Meeting the people here cemented our decision," says his wife Cindy, 55. It was the perfect setting for the non-traditional retirement the couple craved.
"I started thinking about retiring overseas about 10 years ago. I had always thought we'd stay in California, but one day I was at the golf club and saw all the retired guys that were there all the time," explains Russ. "I didn't want to do that for the rest of my life. It's good for some. But we wanted something different."
A sparsely-developed area, the Southern Zone is about a three-to four-hours' drive from the country's capital, San José. It's a still-wild area—there are more toucans than tourists.
| "I didn't want to do that for the rest of my life. It's good for some. But we wanted something different." | But in the past several years it's quietly become an expat destination. The landscape is dominated by the rugged beauty of palm-lined beaches with jungle-covered hills and mountains looming behind. On one of those hills, near the town of Ojochal, lies the Miller home. To get there, you drive about 20 minutes up on a rough dirt road. The altitude gives it a sweeping view of the Pacific and surrounding mountains. It's surrounded by tall jungle trees and vegetation.
They were delighted to discover shortly after moving in that two-toed and three-toed sloths, howler monkeys, and toucans would be frequent visitors there. Their back terrace, which overlooks the Pacific, is the perfect spot for wildlife-watching in the surrounding trees. Armed with a telephoto lens, Cindy has discovered she's got a knack for wildlife photography.
The home is built to their specifications. Floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors remain open throughout the day, letting in the cool ocean breezes. The Millers, from Pittsburgh originally but living in the Bay Area for many years, say they rarely use air conditioning. At 3,000 square feet, the house is large enough for their frequent family visitors. The large back terrace is made for outdoor living, with comfy couches and loungers. And, of course, there's a swimming pool.
"Russ's dream was an infinity-edge pool with a view," says Cindy. After they bought the lot three years ago, the Millers started the building process. Russ, an engineer and president of an engineering firm, did a lot of the initial design, with the developer adding the final details. They monitored construction through regular emails and phone calls, and with visits every three months to check on the progress as the lot was leveled and the building began.
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| | | | | | The house was completed in July 2012. At $100 a square foot (the local rate for luxury finishings), the Millers paid $300,000 for the home. The lot was $165,000. Cindy says the appliances cost more than in the U.S., though they saved a lot (half of what they would have paid back home) on custom furniture made from locally-crafted tropical hardwoods. In general, they believe they got a real bargain for the home they ended up with.
Seven Tips to a Hassle-free Design and Building Process
Building your dream house in a tropical paradise is high on the wish list of many prospective expats. But it has the reputation of being a big headache. It doesn't have to be. The great news is that the process, from buying the lot to constructing the home, can be easy if you follow some simple rules.
1. Start on the right foot by buying a lot with:
• Clean and clear title (no liens)
• The correct zoning (residential, not agricultural or commercial –unless you plan to open a business)
• Building permits (check for restrictions in your area)
• Access to water (either a well or municipal hook-up) and electric (in rural areas you can wait a long time to be hooked up)
2. Only deal with reputable developers or trusted individual owners. Still, do your due diligence and hire an attorney to thoroughly research the property and the future plans for the area. You want to avoid unpleasant surprises.
3. Often developers will also work with you to build your house. Ask your new neighbors how that option has worked out in the past. If you're going on your own, get referrals for qualified and trustworthy architects and builders. The crowd at the local watering hole can help you out there. Once you've met a team you feel comfortable with, draw up detailed contracts with start and finish dates, a description of the work, and what to do in case of cost overruns.
4. This is your dream house, your chance to build a home from the ground up. So don't settle for less. Find the appliances, finishings, windows, countertops, and the like, that you want. If it's not available locally, a trip to the capital may be in order. Or explore custom-made. High-quality craftsmanship for low prices is standard outside the U.S.
5. Fit the home to your surroundings. If you live in an area with a temperate climate, build a large terrace and live outdoors. If you have a view, have picture windows all around. Avoid the expense of air conditioning by positioning the house to admit cool breezes…and keep the windows out of direct sunlight.
6. If you're living back home while the house is being built, stop by for regular visits to check out construction. And keep in touch with your architect and builder.
7. Examine what the builder's warranty covers. And get insurance to protect yourself in case the builder can't finish the project. | "This home would be a couple of million in California, if not more," says Russ. Cindy, fully retired from a long career as a registered nurse, stays full-time in Costa Rica. Russ travels back to the States regularly for work. But he's able to get a lot done from his new home office. Outfitted with high-speed Internet, he telecommutes and has regular video conferences with his colleagues.
Not that Russ isn't enjoying a slower pace. "If you look around the house, you'll see no clocks. That's because we're never in a rush," says Russ. "The daily grind of California melts away here."
Cindy meets regularly with a group of 27 expat women at area restaurants. And the couple frequents local restaurant The Roadhouse, which has live music on Saturday nights.
The area is quiet. "If you like city life, this isn't the place to be. You have to like solitude," says Cindy. But even in the jungle, there are big-city touches, too. Russ and Cindy love to try cuisine from around the world in nearby Ojochal's gourmet-restaurant scene. And there are plenty of imported U.S. items in the local stores, though the Millers try to stick to local foods as much as possible.
"If you want to buy all American stuff, your food costs will be just as expensive as back home," says Russ. "But if you buy local, you can keep your costs down. You have to choose your lifestyle. We treat ourselves now and then."
The couple has made fast friends here. "It's not your average person who's going to live in the jungle," laughs Cindy. "Anybody who has come down here is a different personality…there's a camaraderie," says Russ.
And after a year in Costa Rica, they know they're here to stay. "I was in my home in California for 30 years, and I was really missing it at the beginning. But this feels like home now."
Regards,
Jason Holland
for The Daily Reckoning
[Ed. Note: Jason Holland writes for International Living, where this article first appeared, as IL's Costa Rica editor. Bill Bonner created IL more than three decades ago, and today our colleagues there are still showing readers how to live better for less and invest for profit outside the States, outside the dollar, in destinations around the world that are cheaper, healthier, safer, freer. For more details and a special report, go here.]
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