Author: Ivo Henfling

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8 Smart steps to buy a new construction home in Costa Rica

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…

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Residencial Los Arcos de Heredia is more than just a great location

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…

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Stand back, I am having a creative moment

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,…

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A cry for Grecia rental property investors

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.…

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The 9 things I hate the most about tenants in Costa Rica

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,…

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What does Pa’l Tigre mean in Costa Rica?

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…

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Wow gardens and retirement in Grecia

Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes   The year-round spring-like weather and the volcanoes are the best ingredients for an entertaining retirement. Are you wondering what you are going to do with all that free time when you retire? Gardening is a great option, isn’t it? Therefore, wow gardens and retirement in Grecia are a perfect…

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16 Magnificent terrace views of Atenas homes

As you have probably noticed before, I like to use visual materials to show our clients and readers what Costa Rica is all about. Visual materials show the magnificent terrace views of Atenas homes better than any beautiful write-up, even though our Atenas agent does a real good job on that too. That’s the advantage of…

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Ned Nossaman and another Costa Rica poem

Estimated Reading Time: 3 Minutes Did you read Ned Nossaman’s Costa Rica poem last year? The title of this Costa Rica poem was Costa Rica ~ Pura Vida! in which Ned shared his feelings for Costa Rica with us. Is moving to Costa Rica a consideration for you? Ned wrote another Costa Rica poem, with…

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Can you pitch a lowball offer when you need owner financing?

Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Cash is king, but you already knew that I’m sure. If you are looking for an incredibly good deal, you better bring cash if you want the seller of a property in Costa Rica to even think about accepting a lowball offer. Of course, if you are looking for owner financing…

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Can I use my cell phone in Costa Rica while traveling?

Wondering if you can use your cell phone in Costa Rica while traveling? You need to be able to stay in touch with your family back home while having a good time, right? You live in Costa Rica and you have family and friends coming to visit all the time? Of course, they want to…

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Why do Ticos talk about the mother of Tarzan?

Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes   You don’t want to be called The Mother of Tarzan in Costa Rica, you know why? In the past, I have been telling you about certain slang words used in Costa Rica, to give you the opportunity to go a little bit native when you move here. Learn the…

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How to select a Costa Rica real estate closing attorney

Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes How to select a Costa Rica real estate closing attorney Isn’t the internet a marvel? You are looking for a Costa Rica real estate closing attorney and you just go to Google and type “Costa Rica real estate closing attorney”. This is what you get:  8.5 million results. That’s worse…

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Should a couch potato look for a home in Costa Rica?

Do you want to become a couch potato? Probably you’re not, because you wouldn’t be reading this article. But maybe your spouse wants to be a couch potato? We have the solution for it: move to Costa Rica! Once you take that decision we can assist to look for a home in Costa Rica. You have…

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Use a self-directed IRA to buy a vacation rental long before retirement

You might not be able to retire for another few years. For sure you have the picture of your dream retirement home tucked away in a corner of your mind. Maybe it looks pretty much like the home in this photo? Did you know you use a self-directed IRA to buy a vacation rental? Retirement…

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Why rent a furnished home in Costa Rica?

Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes   Should you rent first? And if you rent, should you rent a furnished home in Costa Rica? Or would it be better unfurnished? Moving to Costa Rica can be a huge pain in the butt. Just taking the decision of moving or not is huge for most. Let me…

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