A mortgage lender helping Americans buy homes abroad received a capital boost this week thanks to a new warehouse agreement with an investment management firm.
Volo Loans, which specializes in serving U.S. citizens looking to finance properties in Costa Rica, landed its $50 million investment from Gramercy Funds Management, a global firm specializing in emerging market alternative assets. The capital provides Volo with a senior secured
Volo claims its process shortens the origination time for American customers looking to buy or refinance a property in Costa Rica from over a year to 45 days or less.
"The biggest challenge that we set out to solve was providing good quality financing options for U,S. citizens as they look to move abroad," said Volo Loans co-founder and CEO Ben Pack in an interview with National Mortgage News.
"That's been the biggest challenge. Historically, people have had to pay cash, which means they have to liquidate assets, leverage their house or sell their house up in the U.S."
Current loan products include fixed and adjustable-rate options to fund both existing-home purchases and lots for new construction around the country, as well as refinances.
"The majority of the financing we do are for people that are buying second homes, Airbnb or investment properties. We certainly do finance people that live there full time, but the majority of folks, it's a second home or an investment property," Pack said.
The company designed its platform to alleviate cash and residency requirements as well as other complexities foreigners typically navigate when buying a home in Costa Rica. Volo developed the process to resemble the American conventional mortgage experience as closely as possible, using Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac standards to guide its underwriting process.
Payments and servicing are handled domestically, with loans funded in U.S. dollars. Costa Rican real estate and legal partners work alongside Volo's American lending team.
The Salt Lake City-based company was founded in 2022 and is also currently licensed in Utah, according to the National Multistate Licensing System.
Pack's own experience in trying to buy a vacation home planted the seeds for the business idea that turned into Volo. While Costa Rica offers amenable homeownership rights, he said, he also realized there were no good financing options.
"You can try and go through the local banks, but it is extremely difficult to say the least."
The size of the ex-pat population in the country also opens the door for future growth to a larger client base attracted to the country. The company hopes to develop a similar product for Canadian citizens in the future and plans to expand the business model elsewhere, Pack remarked.
"We've identified the top 10 markets around the world that we can take this same structure and plug it in to provide international buyers financing options that currently don't exist," he said. "We've already identified the next country that we will go into."
Who is looking to move abroad?
Volo's investment comes as a Harris Poll from early 2025 found over 40% of Americans entertaining the thought of moving abroad, with 15% seriously or definitely planning to relocate in the next two years.
Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia were the three most popular destinations for Americans seeking to move to a foreign country. While no Central American nation landed in the top 10, approximately 120,000 Americans currently live in Costa Rica full time.
Respondents cited a range of factors behind their sentiment, including political developments, lower taxes abroad and personal growth. The data was collected over three different time periods both before and after the U.S. election.
Generation Z and millennials were more likely to entertain the thought of an expat experience compared to their older cohorts, with a majority of both groups considering an international move.
Among the group considering a move, a 60% share said they were open to paying for services that would help facilitate relocation. When it came to looking for a place to live, more than four out of five said they wanted connections to international real estate firms that would ease their housing search.
