Hi Mark,
You could technically buy a B&B on a tourist visa, which gives you 90 days in the country. To renew your visa you would have to leave CR every 90 days. You could go to Nicaragua or Panama, travel elsewhere, or head to the States.
Of course, that can get really annoying. So the best bet is to secure a temporary residency.
If you or your wife has $1,000 coming in each month from a pension, you could get pensionado residency for both of you.
To secure rentista residency, you could deposit $60,000 in a Costa Rican bank. You need to do that every two years although you don’t have to spend the money.
For inversionista residency you can invest $200,000 in any sort of property or business.
The process of buying and running a B&B is much like the States. You would have to register employees with the government for Social Security benefits, pay taxes, get licenses from the local govt, etc. Of course, if you buy an existing B&B much of that would already be taken care of.
As far as where to start, I would do some online research first. Craiglist is good. Viviun.com and Businessesforsale.com also have listings for hotels and B&Bs.
Once you’ve narrowed down some areas you want to visit, take a scouting trip to see if the area can support another B&B.
Jason
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