Estimated Reading Time: 10 Minutes Buying a rural home in Costa Rica sounds like an exciting plan, but is it so easy? Now, with Covid, some are looking to buy in a rural area. Others even go a step further: off the grid, Costa Rica has a varied topography. The Central Valley has smooth hills…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes No matter where you live in the world, you need tolerance to live in peace and harmony with your neighbors. Therefore, if you want to move to Costa Rica, YOU have to adapt to the local culture and not the other way around. To be able to adapt, you will…
Estimated Reading Time: 9 Minutes I was updating this blog about vehicle restriction or tag day and realized that the government started implementing this restriction on the 6th of April, 2013 for the first time. So, it’s about time for an update, especially with all the Covid restrictions. For a realtor, before Covid started, vehicle…
Estimated Reading Time: 8 Minutes Would you like to learn how to handle culture shock when you move to Costa Rica? Did you know that culture shock is good for you? Honestly, I didn’t either. George Santayana explains in his article that you should try culture shock to keep the mind nimble, kill prejudice, and…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Flipping houses is a financially helpful pastime that isn’t done that often in Costa Rica. Nonetheless, in some specific areas of Costa Rica, flipping houses may soon become a very profitable business. Although it can be an expensive business to start on, the payoff can be hundreds of thousands of…
Estimated Reading Time: 8 Minutes There are reasons why resort communities like Nativa Resort in Garabito not to be thriving. There are quite a few abandoned residential communities along the coast of Costa Rica. Sonesta One Jaco, Columbus Heights, and Costa Esterillos are just a few in the Central Pacific coastal area. Some were sold…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Residential construction in Costa Rica has changed quite a bit in many ways over the last 25 years. This is due to changes in the way of living, the climate, and construction materials. When shopping for a house, of course, you have your expectations of how your house should look…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes For a successful real estate investment in a foreign country, and to keep it successful, there are a few things we want to have a good look at. To keep a financial investment secure, and without having to predict what will happen in the near future, you have to understand…
Estimated Reading Time: 3 Minutes Are you planning to live off the grid? This can be a rewarding way to live, but it isn’t always an easy transition if you have always lived in a traditional neighborhood. Costa Rica is the environmentalist’s dream home, yet putting your roots down in the Central American nation isn’t…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes Waking up early morning is horrible for many of us unless you’re a farmer. Normally, people who live in a colder climate go to bed late and wake up late. Some have a really hard time adjusting to that when they move to Costa Rica! Nonetheless, when you live in…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Quite often I receive an email from someone looking for property records. Sometimes it’s the wife of someone who believes her husband bought a beach condo in Costa Rica for his lover. More often a loved one passed away and for some reason, the heirs suspect they own a property…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Costa Rica is a marvelous place to live; however, there are 3 items new residents cannot do without. The Switzerland of Central America, as Costa Rica is known, is a place where it feels like every day is a vacation. With a population growth rate of 1.48% per year, more…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Buyers make loads of house shopping errors, especially when they come from another country. I’m sure that first making this big decision of moving to Costa Rica and then making costly mistakes when buying a house in your new home country, is not What you are looking for. I’m also…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes In many countries, it is pretty common for homeowners to live in a house for five to seven years before selling. It’s rare a house is a “forever” house. The truth is, if you are like most people, when you purchase a house, you only plan to stay for a…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes A non-smoker will notice immediately a smoker’s house, from the moment of entering. Also, a strong smell of Febreze, air fresheners or other fragrances could mean that the seller is trying to mask an odor. The other day, when we arrived, the seller was sitting up front, waiting for us…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Did you know that you can get a foot in the door by investing in Costa Rica using your retirement funds? Of course, there are some rules. But most think their IRA or 401(k) can only be used to invest in stocks and bonds or in real estate in the…