Untitled Land

The land he acquires, titles, subdivides and sells is simply called “untitled land." He discusses his profit-making real estate transactions with the casual demeanor of a man who spends his days surfing and renting out his successful hostel to an eager entrepreneur. He tells me how he obtained a lot and subdivided it into thirty pieces which he will sell for $650,000. He titles each lot before sale to save on upfront expenses.

“It's like homesteading,” he says, like the Westward expansion in the so-called United States.

“Like staking a claim?" He confirms. I think about who lives on or near the land before and while the claim is staked.

It’s raw jungle when he acquires it. Natural habitat for sloths, monkeys, frogs, iguanas and other Costa Rican jungle creatures. Surely nobody will build tiny homes for them.