This Man Sold Everything He Owned to Rekindle a Romance in Costa Rica

While on vacation, Matt met Jessie — who was already living in Costa Rica — and he immediately knew she was special. “Jessie and I had a real spark I had not felt with other girls,” he recounts. After Matt returned home, they attempted a long-distance relationship, but the timing wasn’t right. However, five years later, when the couple reconnected, “Things took off exactly where they left off,” Matt says. So much so that Matt sold all of his belongings and is relocating to Costa Rica so he can purchase a home with Jessie.

“What I love about Jacó is absolutely everything,” Jessie says of the laid-back beach town known for surfing and nightlife. Located on the west coast of Costa Rica, Jacó is home to a lot of ex-pats, like Jessie, who enjoy a slower way of life, known locally as “pura vida” or the good life. That, combined with the lower cost of living (around 30 percent lower than the US or Canada), made the decision for Matt to relocate pretty simple. Oh, and the fact that he’s pretty smitten with Jessie, too.

Local real estate agent and Jessie’s friend Beth Beaird knows a thing or two about relocating internationally to Costa Rica, as she did it herself several years ago. “It’s just really this tropical paradise that you can’t beat,” she says.

Sitting down with the couple, she confirms their wish list: three bedrooms, a pool, plenty of privacy, walkability and, ideally for Jessie, a great view. “A big deal-breaker for me would be not being able to see the ocean,” she says. As for Matt, he is hoping for something updated that won’t require a lot of maintenance. “I don't want to be moving into a place where we're going to have to dump more money into upkeeping it,” he explains.

Matt would like to see if they can find what they want for no more than $700,000, but Jessie would be “willing to take a risk [and] spend a little bit more money to get exactly where I want.”

“I don't want to put any pressure on you, but I'm really counting on you,” she tells Beth.

“You know I will,” Beth tells her with complete confidence. “The real estate market here is really, really booming, and it's very, very strong [but] our prices are still relatively inexpensive.”

The first stop is at a newer-construction home in a development called Ciudad del Mar, which is an easy five-minute walk to the beach. The house has four bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, a private pool and, best of all, a price tag of only $600,000. “I like this already,” Matt says. The open and bright floor plan is modern and stylish for sure, “but I don’t see that Costa Rican flavor that I was looking for,” Jessie says, referring to her hope to find something more tropical-looking.

As Matt checks out the backyard, he notices that the privacy he was hoping for is lacking here, too. “You can see all the way down there into everybody's backyard,” he says.

The next house is also on the south side of Jacó, but to get there, you have to take a steep road. “This is a hike getting up this hill,” Jessie says as they wind their way up toward Miro Mountain, an area known for hiking.

“This property was chosen for Jesse. It's definitely got that Costa Rican touch to it,” Beth says of the large, five-bedroom, five-bathroom home set in the jungle. Priced at $710,000, the house is slightly over their budget but delivers on nearly everything on their wish list, especially the view. “You can literally see all of Jacó from here,” Jessie says as a big smile spreads across her face.

“This is much more what I was thinking about [in regards to] the Costa Rican style: the wood features, the bright colors and some of the details,” she says.

The house is a showstopper for sure, but Matt notices that not only is it slightly over their budget, “it is showing a little bit of age, so we might have to dump some money into it in the future to maintain the property.” With this in mind, Beth takes them to see one last property that is a little different from the other two: a beachfront condo.

This three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom, sixth-floor unit has views from nearly every room. Located right in the heart of town and directly on the waterfront, the newer-construction condo is completely move-in ready, and the price tag reflects that. Listed at $750,000 and with a steep monthly $735 HOA fee, it is the most expensive property they’ve seen.

“It’s worth it, right?” Beth asks them.

Jessie concedes, “You can’t beat beachfront.”

After contemplating their choices, the jungle home on Miro Mountain was the easy winner for Jessie and Matt. “When you find a place that's so unique, I think you have to make some compromises,” Jessie says.

“The hill can be annoying … [but] can be a little bit of an adventure,” Matt says of the steep road that leads to their home.

“Yeah, but what's life without a little bit of adventure?” Jessie smiles.