Moving to Costa Rica, decoded.
Start with the YouTube channel — it’s free and covers the big questions. When you’re ready to get serious, the guides go deep on what actually trips people up: residency, real estate, cost of living, where to live, and doing business here. Either way, you’re getting it from a Costa Rican who’s run businesses in this market, not a visitor with a camera.
Real numbers. Real paperwork. Written from Santa Teresa — not from a search engine.
Five guides. One system. Zero surprises you didn't sign up for.
Buy one or buy the set — either way, same rule applies: real costs, real contacts, and the trade-offs nobody puts on the brochure. Every guide is built from what actually happens on the ground here, not what ranks well on a blog.
The Relocation Guide
$39
Everything before you land: what it costs, how healthcare works, which bank will actually open your account, and the 90-day plan that keeps it from going sideways.
The Residency Guide
$29
Four visa paths. Two of them fit most people. We tell you which two before you spend six months chasing the wrong one.
Where to Live
$29
Guanacaste isn't the Caribbean, and the Caribbean isn't Santa Teresa. Here's who each region actually suits — and who it'll quietly disappoint.
The Real Estate Guide
$34
That beachfront lot? The first 200 meters isn't really for sale. Title checks, coastal traps, and what "for sale" actually means here.
The Business Guide
$34
S.R.L. or sociedad anónima. What IVA actually costs you. What Costa Rican labor law expects the moment you hire your first person.
The Relocation Checklist
FREE
One page. The moves to make before you commit to anything — free, because you shouldn't have to pay to find out if this is even for you.
Get all five. Stop opening six tabs to answer one question.
Everything, start to finish, at one price that's actually a discount and not just marked to look like one — $46 off buying the five separately. Buy once. Keep the 2026 updates.
- The Relocation Guide
- The Residency Guide
- Where to Live
- The Real Estate Guide
- The Business Guide
- Relocation Checklist — included free
Not sure yet? Good — start free.
One page. The order of operations that keeps a move from turning into a mess. Drop your email, I'll send the PDF — no pitch attached, no seven-part drip campaign pretending to be helpful.
Free checklist first. Then a few genuinely useful emails about relocating to Costa Rica. No fluff. Unsubscribe anytime.
Start here.
Organized by what you're actually trying to figure out — not by upload date, the way most channels do it. Start with costs, move to residency, then real estate once you know you're serious.
How Much It REALLY Costs to Live in Costa Rica
Episode 01
Costa Rica Residency Explained
Episode 02
Can Foreigners Buy Property in Costa Rica
Episode 03
For when a PDF stops being enough.
Advisory for the two moments a guide can't cover — relocating your life here, and building something here. For relocators, a personalized roadmap and the right local contacts. For investors and developers, market entry guidance and a vetted team — legal, accounting, real estate, architecture, construction, and permits.
For serious relocators who want a personalized plan instead of piecing one together from guides and Facebook groups.
- 2 hours of online meetings, split across sessions
- Personalized relocation roadmap
- Direct answers to your specific situation
- Team selection — legal, taxes, real estate, moving services, banking & health insurance
For foreign investors and developers doing real estate or business deals in Costa Rica.
- 2 hours of online meetings, split across sessions
- Real estate development advisory
- Market entry & business structuring
- Team selection — legal, accounting, taxes, real estate, architecture, construction & permits
Álvaro Lachner
I left Costa Rica to study and work in the U.S. and Germany, then came back on purpose — so I've seen this place from both outside and inside, not just the side that photographs well. I've run hospitality projects on this coast, built and operated companies across the country, and spent years advising people making the exact move you're considering — real estate, residency, cost of living, starting a business, all of it.
Costa Rica Decoded is the version I wish existed for them: the costs, the paperwork, the parts that don't make it into a highlight reel. But guides can only take you so far. When your situation gets specific — a property you're actually looking at, a visa category that doesn't quite fit, a business structure with real money behind it — that's what a call is for. Not a sales pitch. An actual answer, from someone who's watched this decision play out for a lot of people, and knows exactly where it goes sideways.
