- This topic has 1 reply, 8 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 7 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I need some advise. I am a 42 Canadian, married to a wonderful wife…We have 2 boys age 8 and 15. I am an IT specialist and database analyst, we are ready for a change from living in the cold. My wife is a Nurse and taking courses to open her own destination spa. I have asked for a LOA for a year from my work. We are planning on selling everything and moving to Costa Rica, so she can open her business when completed. We are coming down at the end of April to look at a few Developments as well as venturing up to Nicaragua to look at land etc. Has anyone here in this forum moved down with younger children to live and if so what is the educational system like etc. Life is too short and we came to the realization that this would be an adventure for the whole family. Is Costa Rica a good safe place to raise children? Is it better to buy a house or Condo then look at developments once in Costa Rica for a period of time? We are touring Joya Pacifica and the Ramada Jaco bay developments this trip.
Sorry for the ramblings but any information would help me greatly in our decision.
LKB
From the great white north!You are asking a lot of questions… You will find many answers on our site but at the end of the day, it is YOU and your family that must decide
1. You do not mention if you have even been to Costa Rica before.
2. Taking courses to open a destination spa may be very useful but actually buying/building and opening a spa could mean a very large investment, plus marketing afterwards – Do you guys have significant assets in order to be able to do this?
3. Plenty of our VIP Members have come to Costa Rica with children and they may give you their opinions about children here but how do you know they have the same values and standards etc., with regards to their children that you do?
4. The private education system here is excellent ‘if’ you can afford it. The public education system is allegedly good but we still seem to churn out a lot of people who have only very basic English language skills when they supposedly studied it for years…
5. With young children, my personal suggestion is you would be better and safer having your children live and play within a gated community rather than a stand alone house.
6. With young children, schooling will be a crucial perhaps deciding factor and outside the Central Valley area, there are very few places that have good schools.
7. If you are an IT Specialist, I am assuming that there will be technical requirements (fast reliable internet for example) that can be fulfilled in certain geographic areas and not in others…Come down, take a good hard look around and evaluate things BEFORE you think about “selling everything and moving to Costa Rica” and for goodness sake, PLEASE speak with an immigration specialist BEFORE you do anything because if you build a 25 room luxury hotel/spa your residency status may be different than if you have your own IT Consulting Company that has ‘offshored’ itself to Costa Rica.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comGreat move! Wonderful dream and one we all wish comes true!But have you done your homework? Scott touched on it at the end of his posting… as well as some other points. I think the FIRST and most important issue is residency. What are your plans for staying in the country legally? What status do you plan on applying for? Since you don’t seem to be at retirement age there may be a rather large deposit or business investment required to apply for residency.
First off don’t do anything until you have a plan and the information you need to make this dream a reality. Read the numerous articles and postings on this site. Get an idea of what your doing and how to make it happen without major problems.
You have the first step in place… the dream… now work on the rest! Best of luck!
This is, of course, a highly subjective issue. As great as Costa Rica is, I have to assume it will not be great for everyone. But the more I visit CR, the more I like it.
LKB, what will you be doing while your wife runs this spa that you’re going to create? You say you’ll be taking a leave of absence from your job, so I assume that means you won’t be working, right? Recall that there are severe restrictions on foreigners working in Costa Rica.
Do you have a funding plan for the spa? Have you staked out a location? Is there a demand for the services that this spa will offer? Are there competitors?
As an IT Specialist myself I don’t see working in Costa Rica as a problem, with an internet connection you can still for your North American company.
Hi MTCca. I would really reconsider the proeprties that you are planning to look at as niether one of them will really suite your needs. Ramada is not going to be a place to live with a family and is really over priced. The La Joya propject is nice but is way off the beaten path. So no schools and no High Speed Internet. There are a few communities in the Jaco area that will be close to schools and have high speed internet but they will all depend on the price range you are looking at.
Hi LKB…My husband and I are Canadians as well and in fact we have an offer coming in on our house today. We are building in the Jaco area (Hermosa Hills) in a gated community and we were shown all the schools in the area, which had great reports. We are up for an adventure and especially after this long drawn out winter, are ready for a different lifestyle. If you open the spa in that area, I will certainly become a customer!
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
