TV PROPERTY HUNTERS COSTA RICA: OUR EXOTIC LOCATION WITH 2/2 SUCCESS RATE!


The entrepreneurial ex-Army couple living the dream


Former Army offi cers Steven and Rachel Grey were looking for a property in the Costa Ballena area of Costa Rica to run as a B&B. T ey bought a property they viewed – three casitas or lodges on the edge of the jungle - as a going concern for £256,000 and it produced an instant income. Here Steven, 46, tells their story.


“Aſt er a career in the Royal Engineers and the British Army (my last post was Belize where Rachel, now 41, was my boss!) and then two years in the Australian Defence Force I changed tack and trained to be a butler at the International Butler Academy in Valkanberg, Holland. I then did worked at the Savoy [pictured right] until fi lming A Place in the Sun in January. We closed the house deal in February, and moved out in April. “We have three casitas situated on the edge of the jungle over looking a beautiful


river with toucans, monkeys and sloths in the garden full of tropical fl owers. Rachel [pictured right with an Army colleague] and I live in a large open-plan two-bed house. “Each day we wake up to the sound of howler monkeys and birds and the sound of the river. We make smoothies picked from our own pineapples, papayas, bananas, plantain and limes. “Although we’ve had guests from day one our day is never planned we just go with what we feel. We have bought a puppy and recently it has meant morning walks on the deserted beaches. Our families also come to visit (I have two teenage sons) and it really is like living like a millionaire!


“In fact we have just sold our London fl at [near Waterloo station] for a ridiculous price – and another one near Salisbury - and as they say we are living the dream in Costa Rica.” costaricariver.com


“Each day we wake up to the sound of howler monkeys and birds and the sound of the river. We make smoothies picked from our own pineapples, papayas, bananas, plantain and limes”


98 | aplaceinthesun.com


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