Launching a business in the Central Valley is perhaps not as easy as it is in less developed parts of the country. While there is always a good chance that you can use your professional experience anywhere in Costa Rica, the market in the Central Valley is more crowded, industry is more developed, and most of the obvious ideas and services are already taken care of.

1. Working for a Multinational or Costa Rican Company

Some expatriates find themselves relocated here by their multinational employer to supervise Costa Rican operations. Foreigners have also been known to move here first and then find a job with a multinational. Companies like as Hewlett Packard and Intel are constantly advertising jobs in La Nación. The majority of those job advertisements are in English, as they need fluent English speakers. However, most of those employers require that you have residency in the country before you apply, so as a non-resident foreigner, you would need to have a particularly rare and important skill set to catch their attention.

Some hospitality jobs are also available, but the same residency restrictions apply, and anyway they’re more likely to be based in the large resorts on the Pacific rather than in the Central Valley.

2. Setting up your own Business

Many expatriates set up their own businesses, starting successful companies in storage, consulting, manufacturing, retail, importing, accounting, logistics, Web design, real estate brokering, and real estate development. The kind of business you start will depend on your skills, your capital and your desire or need to work. A good restaurant in an interesting location and open late will always be popular in the Escazú area, and likewise for the rapidly gentrifying areas of Amón, Otoya, and Escalante.

Some entrepreneurs set up relocation companies that help people find good lawyers, realtors, car dealers, and advise on immigration issues. Though regulation adds significant time and costs to the process of starting a business, things are getting better. Financing is getting easier, for one, as is basic logistics and transportation infrastructure. The Chamber of Industry of Costa Rica and CINDE (an investment promotion agency) are good places to go for information (see Chapter 18, Reference Section for contacts.)

3. Investment Opportunities in Property

Property investment targeting local Costa Rican home buyers is also an interesting opportunity for those with experience in contracting or development. Costa Rica has a chronic and ongoing shortage of viable housing, and well-priced new projects in the outlying areas of the Central Valley get snapped up in the pre-construction phase. In this market you have three basic options:

a) Buying a farm and subdividing.

This is simply buying a farm and subdividing it into lots. You put in the necessary infrastructure (power and water hook-ups, etc.) and sell each home site for a profit. You’ll find there is quite a bit of regulation to deal with, as well as local restrictions that may or may not affect you depending on where you’re building.

The idea is to market to expatriates who want to build themselves but don’t want the hassle of installing the infrastructure and dealing with all the regulation. Plenty of Ticos want the same thing and are looking for plots in Tres Rios, Santa Ana, Curridabat, and Heredia.

In some parts of the country – especially in the best parts of Heredia and the Escazú – it’s become difficult to get hold of farms of a decent size for subdivision, so much land has already been developed. The buzz right now is focusing on Orotina, San Pedro (the one West of San José), Puriscal and other areas along the new highway route, where land is still relatively cheap compared to the more central areas and there are even distant ocean views from some farms.

b) Buying, Building, and Selling for a Profit

Do your research carefully and find an area where land prices are still rising and infrastructure improving, such as Curridabat, Ciudad Colón, Puriscal, Atenas and maybe even Guachipelin. Some people build houses and sell them at a profit. The market is open to all levels of income in each area. Investing this way is mostly a matter of picking market segment, controlling your costs, and managing your cashflow.

This involves a lot of research and due diligence. As always, you should spend some serious time just getting advice from people already investing or living in the area. At the time of research there was a demand for turnkey properties, according to realtor Rudy Matthews of Costa Rica Retirement Vacation Properties (www.costaricaretirementvacationproperties.com).