@mwl It may depend on how you go about it. We bought a house here, which counts for the investor residency. We used a lawyer for both getting the house, and for doing the paperwork. Admittedly, it took about 2 years after we submitted our paperwork for it to get through the system to this point.

My brother and his family just renewed theirs...another year-two years, they can apply for permanent residency.

(honestly, if anyone decides to do Costa Rica...Use a lawyer