Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Did you know that Costa Ricans have two last names? When born, children are registered in the civil register with the father’s surname first and the mother’s as the second surname. If you come from a non-Latin American country, it’s hard to figure out why Costa Ricans have two last…
Estimated Reading Time: 10 Minutes Looking for free apps you can use in Costa Rica? If you’re a tourist or an English-speaking resident, this blog should interest you! You’ll be surprised how much assistance these free apps can give you in Costa Rica. Many of us now live with our phones in hand, all day…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes Can you possibly buy a house with bank or owner financing and no money down in Costa Rica? Is that possible? The short answer is no unless you do it illegally. And believe me, it happens. I recommend against it. If you are selling your house and a buyer or…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes One of the foremost concerns when selling your property is getting a fair sales price. It’s likely that you’ve lived in that house for years and invested quite a lot in making it a beautiful and comfortable place. In short, that property has both monetary and sentimental value; it’s only…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Can you trust the home inspector to do a good job when you buy a home in Costa Rica? Will he be on your side? A client asked me that question some time ago, which left me speechless. I know that she is reading this blog. And I want her…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Property owners in Costa Rica are often not realistic about the listing price of their property; so I decided to publish the five most common listing price objections. Listing a Costa Rican property for sale can be a lot more complicated than you think, no matter if you’re a motivated…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes Did you know that in Costa Rica homes are sold “As-Is”? In every country real estate laws are different and Costa Rica is no exception. The purchase of property is handled differently in Florida than it is in France, or in Thailand. I have seen hundreds of different purchase sale…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes Should you first rent instead of buying so you can feel at home? First, do your due diligence before you do anything at all! You might read someplace that you should rent first before you buy. This works for some but doesn’t for everyone. And there are reasons for that.…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Costa Ricans still dress quite conservatively in public, although they are not as prudish anymore as they used to be. Costa Rica is not that 3rd world country where I moved to in 1980 anymore. Although, of course, television and foreign influence have opened their minds tremendously. But there are…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes I often get the important question “do I bring furniture with me or should I buy new when I arrive there”? The answer can go both ways; it depends on a few things. Once you have the correct information, you can decide to bring furniture or not much more manageable.…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Homebuyers often have different challenges to overcome, the reason we like to give you these 3 useful homebuyer tips. Unfortunately, foreign buyers need to be aware of the fact that you need to be a resident to obtain home financing in Costa Rica. I’ve seen a couple of banks who…
Estimated Reading Time: 11 Minutes These are the most read live in Costa Rica blogs 2021, of a total of 615 published since 2010. It all started when I realized how many questions our website visitors ask that I could respond to easier by writing a blog about it. The hard part of writing a…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes There is a fantastic amount of old information available online. But, how do you know if an online article or blog gives you excellent and up-to-date Costa Rica information or if it’s outdated? Google sends me messages when somebody writes a blog or an article about Costa Rica real estate,…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes In most countries around the world, employees do not receive a Christmas bonus – Aguinaldo in Spanish. For your information: it is mandatory to pay the Aguinaldo – Christmas bonus to all your employees during the first 20 days of December, even if they work only a few hours a…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes This week, we had the monthly ARCR seminar, part of the Christopher Howard’s Live in Costa Rica Tour. Elizabeth, one of the participants, asked me about Dutch cooking, and we ended up talking about vegetables and Tico Cooking. So I thought to re-publish this article. In 2015, I felt an…
Estimated Reading Time: 8 Minutes Does a neglected house sell quickly? Let’s find out now! Dick and Jane del Valle – Springfield called me to check out their house for sale. They needed help in getting the house priced right because they already have moved to another country. Their 20-year old son is living in…