Buying in the wrong place can change your life tremendously. Honestly, I’ve met people who have wanted to hang themselves, because of it. I’ve written a blog about that before. Unfortunately, I get listing requests from people who purchased in the wrong place all the time. Of course, they are desperate to sell! You have…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes If you want to get along with your Tico neighbors, you really don’t want to commit una polada. You don’t want those Tico neighbors or friends to think that you are a person of little culture and education. Because then you’ll be a polo. Polada = stupidity, an act of…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Which type of expats in Costa Rica do you belong to? I saw an interesting survey about types of expats worldwide on InterNations. In 2018, Costa Rica scored # 7 on the best expat destinations. That’s pretty awesome if you see that we’re #7 out of 68 countries. Of course,…
Most area rugs in Costa Rica have a problem with the humidity. Stop worrying about the area rugs in your house. You can now stop putting those beautiful area rugs away when you have guests coming in with wet feet. Traditional fabric rugs with fiber don’t hold up well in the tropical weather. And imagine…
Yes, there is a marijuana friendly real estate broker in Costa Rica: me. I saw this article about Denver residential real estate agent Bob Costello. He launched a Marijuana friendly real estate broker advertising campaign in January 2014. That’s when the state of Colorado legalized marijuana for recreational use by adults 21 and over. Great…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Let me tell you all about kissing and greeting in Costa Rica. Not that I’m a kissing expert… But I do know that people kiss a lot more in Costa Rica than you might be used to. The title of this blog should really be “how do people in Costa…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Costa Ricans smell good, at any time of the day. Costa Rican men and women alike, always smell good, as opposed to some other varieties of humans. Now, you will probably say that you always smell good too and that you’re not a Costa Rican. That means you’ve either been…
Did you know that Atenas valley view building lots are incredibly special? Let me tell you all about it, so you’ll fall in love, just like so many others before you. Atenas real estate is pretty well known to expats. That’s because they say Atenas has the best climate in the world. If you’re looking…
Estimated Reading Time: 8 Minutes Single people often need to be a member of clubs in Costa Rica to stay entertained. Couples have each other but often have nothing in common. So they still need to be a member of clubs to have a good time. (last updated on 7/26/2019 – we now have 75…
Often, clients ask why it is necessary to live in a gated community or a condominium in Costa Rica. In other countries, residents are used to living in a neighborhood. Of course, we also have neighborhoods in Costa Rica, just like you do. And just like you, we have safe and dangerous neighborhoods. In most…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes I read the complaint “the mangoes are keeping me awake”. This complaint was from a client who had signed an agreement on an Atenas rental home. Strange, I thought, I never have any heartburn when I eat mangoes. I get it from pineapple but not from mango. When I read…
Sellers often forget to take into account the insane factors that reduce home value. I know, sellers don’t have any control over many of those factors. Therefore, I’d like to show you both external and internal factors that reduce home value. It happens that the situation around your house changes, for some reasons. Maybe you…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes I have described in another blog why doing a fixer upper in Costa Rica is not so easy. Nonetheless, doing a fixer upper can be a profitable investment project, if you do all the right things. Sometimes, the perfect home for you can be in that older neighborhood that you…
It’s time to tell you what can happen when a seller backs out of the property sale. In another blog, I’ve covered what happens when the buyer backs out of a property sale in Costa Rica. Today, we’ll turn things around. A real estate deal can be scary as hell, for both sides. Some people…
When you are totally over your head in work, you can say “estoy hasta el copete de trabajo”. Then Ticos will understand you perfectly well. When you’ve had enough food, you can say estoy hasta el copete de la comida. Also, being totally fed up with someone’s behavior, you say estoy hasta el copete de…
In this blog, you’ll find the comparison of the cost of groceries Costa Rica versus the cost of groceries in Florida 2019. Diego Xavier, an expat in Costa Rica since 2014, shared this tremendous information recently on Facebook. I’d like to thank Diego Xavier, for allowing me to use this incredible comparison between the cost…