I’d love to hear from my readers which exterior house color makes a home hardest to sell. Feel free to leave your comments in the comment box at the end of this blog. I have listed hundreds of homes in Costa Rica in my real estate career and I’ve seen some seriously colorful houses myself.…
In Costa Rica, you will hear the expression Mas Tico que el Gallo Pinto. Literally translated, this means a person is more Costa Rican than a spotted rooster. Does that make sense? Gallo is rooster and Pinto means spotted. Gallo Pinto is the #1 food for the Ticos. It is the famous rice & beans…
Some of you are not even thinking of renting an apartment in the Central Valley when moving to Costa Rica. And others do. Why is that? Are there any benefits to renting first? Most our clients from up north and Europe are retirees, looking for a much different lifestyle than they were used to. No…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes A dream of a lifestyle at the beach usually involves white sand beaches, palm trees, and quite a few piña coladas. This dream can easily turn into a nightmare if you don’t figure it all out in time. GoDutch Realty services only the west side of the Central Valley. That…
Moving to Costa Rica and you don’t know if you should rent furnished or unfurnished? I know that is quite a difficult decision. But don’t go crazy over it, that’s why we are here: to assist you. The very first question you need to ask yourself is if you will move to Costa Rica permanently…
You don’t need to Go-Fish it yourself, and they’ll serve it cooked. We’re not family, although we sound like it. Go-Fish is not the same as GoDutch. Go-Fish does fish and GoDutch does … real estate in the Central Valley of Costa Rica. At GoDutch, we are incredibly good at doing real estate. Go-Fish is…
The severe water problem in Atenas was in the news again, this time in the Diario La Extra. Before you decide that Atenas is not for you and close this blog, let me tell you: the severe water problem in Atenas is only in certain parts. The gringo communities don’t have any problems because they…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes Sometimes, buyers want strange things included in their Costa Rica property purchase. Other times, sellers want to include even stranger things in their turnkey property sales. What is included and what is not? Check on that before you pay. On your first tour of a house for sale, you might…
Are you a motivated seller? Help yourself and don’t become a pain in the butt. It’s amazing how some sellers become so desperate, they become a pain in the butt for everyone. They become a pain in the butt for everyone around them, not only with their real estate agent. Motivated or desperate Quite often…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Any idea who Tica Linda is? You’ll probably say “something like a Miss Costa Rica”? You’re partially right. She is the queen of the “festejos populares de San Jose”, but more about that later. This was the start of the use of the word as a designation used by…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes You’re looking at this incredibly well-designed promotion material of a new construction home by a builder. You instantly fall in love with what you see. This is the place you want to spend the rest of your life or your vacations. This new construction home looks just what you…
Just imagine living in a beautifully master planned community. Picture a large pond with ducks and huge arches at the entrance. Residencial Los Arcos de Heredia is a small community just off highway 1 with quite a few beautiful homes. The first things you see when you arrive at Los Arcos de Heredia are the huge…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Do you often have a creative moment, just like I do? If you are a creative person, Costa Rica is probably a good place for you. In fact, you need to be creative to be able to survive. It doesn’t necessarily mean you can make a living by being creative,…
This is a cry for Grecia rental property investors. The reason I am inviting you to invest in Grecia rental property because you can make a smart and safe investment without running any risk at all. Our rental market in Grecia assures any investor of a 6% ROI as an absolute minimum, being very conservative.…
I am a landlord myself. Dany and I thought it was a good idea to purchase a small 2 bedroom condo in Sabana as income property some years ago. Hey, I’m a real estate broker, so we should own some rental property too, right! First, we had several tenants from hell, one after another. Sadly,…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Costa Ricans use animals quite a bit in their expressions. The tiger is one of them. Pa’l Tigre means not feeling well, feeling sick, or not having done well. Estoy pa’l tigre = I feel terrible. Something that is not usable anymore, out of order, esta “pa’l tigre”. Esta…