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I know a few people and have heard of many others that have moved back home after a few years in Costa Rica. There’s a noticeable increase in the homes for sale in my area too.
Boredom, culture shock,not adjusting to the hot climate, missing freinds and family, and certainly the economy are the main reasons.
Once you’ve decided on a specific area, you should rent and spend an entire rainy season there to see if it’s for you.
There’s a survey to win a trip on the WeLoveCostaRica site that you could use as a tool to establish your “wants and needs”, and then check if those things are available in the area you choose to buy or rent a house.I know you’ve cited this anecdotal evidence from the moving companies before, crf, and I can’t dispute it. Just one question, however.
Of those whom the moving companies have moved back, how many intended to move back all along? That is, how many reassigned personnel from the U.S. Embassy have they moved back? How many promoted Intel executives? How many from Chiquita Banana? How many from . . . wherever?
It’s indisputable that [u]some[/u] folks who planned to make this a lifetime move do, in fact, move back. We’ve established that. What’s not clear is what the actual incidence is. Just because (say) thirty percent of some moving company’s business is northward doesn’t mean that thirty percent of those who move to Costa Rica intending to stay eventually leave. Nor does it say anything about those who don’t use a moving company at all but arrive with only suitcases.
I [i]know[/i] we differ on this subject, David.
But another couple I know slightly, are leaving Monday. Again, this is a second marriage, and they have only lived here for 18 months, but she really misses [i]her[/i] grandchildren, but [i]he[/i] really didn’t want to leave…
None of the people I knew personally, were working here, but I can’t report on how many others have left due to work being terminated.You’re making my point, crf.
Nobody really knows the incidence of folks returning to their home countries or why they leave. Yes, your acquaintances (one couple) are leaving for family reasons but that one instance hardly constitutes a trend. Nor does it form the basis for making a prediction about anyone else’s future. We cannot, for example, use that information to meaningfully predict that couples in second marriages who have grandchildren are likely, or more likely, to leave.
If the underlying question is whether someone who moves here is likely to leave, the answer is that nobody has a clue. The only thing we can say with any certainty is that if they do come, there is some chance, however great or small, that they will leave. Obviously, if they don’t come they can’t leave. It doesn’t tell us much, does it?
I think we do a disservice to potential newcomers when we misrepresent what we think we’ve heard or read somewhere as actual fact. That’s the real point.
Jim Butler, for whom I worked for a number of years, used to say that if you say something forty times it becomes true. When we repeat these groundless “truths” over and over again, they assume a credible quality however undeserved. (“It must be true . . . I’ve read it everywhere.”) If I repeat over and over again that costaricafinca’s real name is Suzie Glitz and that she’s a Samoan fugitive blackmarketeer trading in palm oil and betel nuts, in the public’s mind it will become true. But it still won’t be.
Can we all agree that people come and go for a number of reasons, some personal, some health related, some job related, etc., and then we can possibly get back to what this thread is supposed to be about, i.e., providing Miss O with information that will help her in her decision making process.
This is a perfect example of how these threads take off on wild tangents!
By the way David, what is a betel nut?See for yourself . . .
[quote=”costaricabill”]Can we . . get back to what this thread is supposed to be about, i.e., providing Miss O with information that will help her in her decision making process.
[/quote]Bill, providing Miss O with information is, indeed, important, but equally important is not providing Miss O with misinformation. Clearly, Suzie wants to be helpful, but quoting unsubstantiated rumor in the guise of information falls into the latter category rather than the former. When that happens, I promise to pipe up.
(Two down, thirty-eight to go, Suzie.)
I just added the info of the couple leaving today, as another point to emphasize, that whether or not, David agrees or disagrees, many people return to their home country for a variety of reasons.
And this is why I say to [b]Miss O[/b], and other potential residents; visit and [i]really check out where you think it will suit[/i] you and your family because if you find yourselves in a community that doesn’t fulfill your requirements or that it seems to be constantly raining, it will make you disappointed with the decision that you made.Since we have a house in a gated community in Atenas, I may be able to help on this question. We have had the house since Feb. And have lived in it for several weeks. In Atenas like all areas in CR (too my knowledge) you need some type of security. No we don’t have bars on our windows in the gated communities in Atenas, however you still probably should have a security alarm system and friends, neighbors watching the house when your not there. When we were looking for houses in Atenas we also saw some houses not in gated communities that didn’t have bars. I’m not really sure if its safer because you have a gated community with a 24 hour guard. Folks could and have argued both ways, in the end if you have a good security plan which includes friends, neighbors and alarm system, you should be fine.
As far as the website, there are many out there, there is no MLS or really realtors per say. just unlicensed folks selling real estate. Of course someone that sells a lot of it with knowledge of the area is very helpful. There are 3 different realtor groups in Atenas to my knowledge.
Oh by the way, some one was talking about the high humidity in San Ramon (low fog, etc.), When we were doing our search last year, we found a website, don’t recall now but it lists the average temp, rain and humidity for many cities in CR. San Ramon actually has lowest average humidity compared to Atenas or Gracia. Grecia has the most extreme rain months, while Atenas is slightly warmer.
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