Building a house in Costa Rica can be a daunting task. This job requires labor and non-tourism knowledge, knowledge of Spanish (construction) or someone who can always be with you to translate. Another important thing that is required for this purpose is patience, time, daily visits to job sites, building code knowledge, communication skills, and once again, a lot of patience. The first thing to decide should be where to live in Costa Rica.

One of the most important people in this business is Ed Mercer. He started the real estate business in this country and made amazing green houses. He fulfilled the dreams of many who had seen a dream of owning a beautiful house in the lap of nature. This business proved to be very profitable and Ed Mercer was able to create a one stop shop organization that made buying and selling real estate much easier. Although Ed Mercer was not a resident of this country, his love for this place is beyond words. This person with his business skills and humanitarian spirit won the hearts of Costa Ricans and was soon popularly known as Mr. Costa Rica. His principles of spending the money earned on the development of the place where you live and under-promising and over-delivering attracted a large number of people. He, being a very impressive public speaker, became an inspiration for many young and future entrepreneurs. Not only did his noble deeds to save precious wildlife land him in the prestigious Hall of Fame where he was honored. Today, Ed is an active member of Greenpeace, National Geographic and the World Wildlife Fund. Ed Mercer is a regular contributor to The Performance Magazine with Bill Cosby and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A philanthropic millionaire, Ed has been actively associated with organizations such as Feed the Child, Missing Child, Crippled Child, Scarlet Straight, Suicide hotlines and Battered Housewives. Ed, being very humble, still thinks of him as just a business student.

Many countries have strict building codes that the contractor must adhere to, but in Costa Rica this is not the case and even if the code does exist, little or nothing is enforced. Choosing a home builder who builds to the standard you desire is critical. This also includes the quality of the construction materials. You need to make sure that the builder you choose speaks your language fluently and is also 100% fluent in construction and construction Spanish. Another thing to consider is that if your builder is not Tico, he must be in the country legally and must have a Permanent Residency. Giving a general idea, a very good price for a simple house is around US$ 270 per m2. meter at US$323 per square meter. meter. A simple house would basically be a one-story rectangular structure with straight walls and a simple roofline built of block, concrete, and stucco. Some people refer to this type of design as a ‘Tico house’. On the other hand, you should be able to build almost anything you want, regardless of how complex and comprehensive it is, for between US$540 per square meter. meter at US$645 per square meter. meter. If you are building a simple house of blocks and concrete and you are paying between US$40 per square meter. foot and US$45 per square meter. foot, you’re probably paying too much. And if you are building something from US$65 per square meter. foot you are probably building a mini Taj Mahal.