Does anyone have experience with “alternative financing” in Costa Rica?

The alternative (waiting for a downturn) could leave you on the sidelines indefinitely.

Not a ton of new material to add, mostly to add +1 to @Nathan G. and Account Closed responses: becoming a licensed agent is not cheap.

All 4 are good guys, good material.  

You can also speak with some agents, get some properties you're interested in, and then fly out there to confirm it's still good after seeing the properties and neighborhood.Another alternative is to find deals in MA, and even NH, southern ME, RI and maybe even CT.

Say you know what needs to be done, but need to determine cost of materials/labor.

Those two categories are income -- not losses.RE pro allows you to take rental RE losses as non-passive if material participation is involved. 

You can also do a google search for "coin operated laundry alternative" which may or may not work.

I think if the lease happened after the PSA and after attorney review, this might be a material change in the liens on the property that allows you to back out. 

However, one general rule of thumb in many cases, is the added value is often equal to the cost of materials only and sometimes the answer is it adds zero!!!