Moving to Costa Rica Advice Needed

[ShawnLorenzoYork]

Hi everyone. I’ve been lurking on this discussion board for a while now. (This is by far the best Costa Rica site around BTW.) I’ve made the decision to move to Costa Rica and am hoping to gain some advice on certain subjects. Here’s a little background:

I’m an inventor living in Utah and have recently sold some patents and I receive perpetual royalties from the sales. My original interest in Costa Rica was based on my desire to slow down, buy a tiny little house (with low payments) simplify my life and maybe surf and grow a vegetable garden – but based on the advice I get here I may consider a slightly alternative path.

I lived in Costa Rica exactly twenty years ago for one year. The Tico’s taught me my Spanish and I still speak fluently. I lived a considerable amount of time in some very remote areas and fincas. These remote fincas are the areas of Costa Rica and the people that I fell in love with. I almost married a Tica. We still stay in touch. She lives in Las Vegas now.

I will be arriving in a few weeks to begin looking for a place to rent while I decide whether I want to buy a new home, an old home or a fixer upper. I don’t expect to be in my “permanent” dream home in CR for two or three years.

I only have about $40k cash available to me but my royalties have been providing me a very secure income of around $5k per month for several years now.

With the limited knowledge I’ve gathered thus far I’ve drawn the conclusion that I should buy a med-grade Tico construction home (on a 3 to 10 acre lot) for 100k and then spend my monthly income to remodel it. I have had a general contractor’s license and have some limited experience in re-construction and remodeling. My intention would be to bring the home up to full NA construction codes with materials equal to the quality of a high end luxury home. This may even require tearing most of the structure down to the just foundation and walls if necessary.

Comparatively to new construction – I would save a considerable amount of time and money on civil eng, electricity hook up, permits etc. It seems like an easy and fast way to get started and it’s the type of work I love doing. I have no interest in being involved in a large development area (right now anyway) – rather I would like a large lot in a smaller Tico community. Mountain or Valley views are essential – but I dont know if I have quite enough money for even a distant ocean view on a lot that’s over 3 acres. A Lake view would be awesome as well. Most important is that I can’t see any of my neighbors from anywhere on the building pad. (This may be a tall order, I know.)

The final product would have it’s own website and be marketed as a VERY high end Costa Rican Luxury home hideaway. I’ve seen a few 3 to 10 acre lots in remote areas for $80 to $140k with 2000 sq ft Tico homes. Here’s the question;

1. Am I dreaming to think I could buy a $100k piece of land in a remote area and then invest another $100k to remodel and still make a decent profit? I’m an artist, web designer and photographer with a sharp eye for detail. The homes I remodeled 10 years ago were extraordinary.

2. Should I sell my Lexus LX470 here in the US and buy a new car down there OR Should I ship it down there and then immediately sell – it OR should I ship it down and pay the import taxes and keep it?

3. I have some very specialized exercise equipment that would fill up half of a shipping container. Some of these pieces are only made by one company in the world which is located in the US. Should I sell the equipment here and then pay a Tico sporting goods store to buy a new one and import it? Or Should I ship it to myself in a container and pay import taxes?

4. Should I sell my i-phone? Have any of you seen an IPhone in CR?

Thanks so much everyone. I hope to meet some of you someday.

Shawn Lorenzo York

[Andrew]

Welcome back to Costa Rica ShawnLorenzoYork, I’m assuming you will notice a few BIG changes here after 20 years…

Buying a med-grade Tico construction home with a $40K cash deposit should not be a problem if you can show a consistent $5,000 per month income. If you can speak fluent Spanish and have construction experience then you should be able to save a small fortune doing much of the work yourself with the help of some local laborers.

You might want to contact Terry Moran on our site [ https://www.welovecostarica.com/public/1702.cfm ] who could probably show you some beautiful plots of land near Arenal Lake that might work for you and my friend Steve Riley in Orosi who we’ll be featuring on the site soon…

1. No! You are not dreaming. I closed on 5,000M2 of land a few weeks ago with gorgeous, panoramic mountain views for $8M2 – We will be doing a series of articles about this construction as I build a new vacation/retirement home which will hopefully end up costing me less than US$140K for the land and the new home… We’ll see.

2. This is a controversial topic that nobody can seem to agree on… Please search for articles by Arden Brink [ https://www.welovecostarica.com/members/1586.cfm ] on this site and contact her. They ship cars here every week…

3. Ask Arden again on this one, she’ll have a good idea of what import taxes might be applicable.

4. This one I honestly don’t know…

Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com

[albertoB]

If your car is in excellent condition, it is a good idea to import it and continue to drive it here. If it is less than perfect, you can find lots of those here without the import hassle. You might find that you can buy new in Costa Rica for not much difference than importing depending on the age of your Lexus. The vehicles here tend not to be as fully loaded so they are less expensive when new.

I don’t know about a Lexus dealer, but the Toyota dealer is likely the biggest car dealer in the country. They stock Land Cruisers which are a less expensive version of your Lexus.

We imported our Honda van because we had owned it from new and we knew it’s condition. I think next time we will just buy new locally.

When we moved we were told about the horrible import taxes on personal items, so we sold a lot of our belongings and filled a 20 ft. container to ship. Looking back, I wish we had kept all our things and shipped a 40 ft. instead. A lot of the special things we had are just not available here and we got very little out of them when we sold. The taxes were minimal (less than $1000) and a good broker got it through in 48 hours.

Buy shipping damage insurance if you can. Our container was dropped and 40% of our goods were damaged. We packed it ourselves so had no insurance. Que sera!

Buen viaje!
Alberto

[jessicab]

Alberto – where would one go to purchase shipping damage insurance?
We’ll be shipping a 40ft. container with our truck also.
Arden will be handling the move. Would she know where to get that particular
type of insurance? Thanks.

[Cancertomnpdx]

Dear ShawnLorenzoYork:

I have been on this website for about three or four years. I have a budget similar to yours give or take a few dollars. I sometimes sign myself as “Tom on a budget in Portland Oregon,” which tells you that I don’t have the resources that many on this website have. I would like to suggest three things to you that will help confirm you can have what you want in Costa Rica without breaking the bank.

First, carefully study Scott’s materials. He gives you a lot of good information for very few dollars. Take what he suggests from his materials and watch other website so you can see what is happening in your price range. This isn’t a fool proof plan, but it helps strengthen you knowledge of many parts of the country. I have about twenty or so real estate website I have watched almost weekly since they have in one form or another, confirm the advice laid out in Scott’s book. I am sad to report that from time to time you will see someone buy a house that you have watched for a year or so that looked like the perfect spot for you. Oh well, you can find others!

Second, take George Lundquist tour. It is worth every penny because he gives you in four-days enough information by showing you the “what and how” of making your Costa Rica dream a reality. Many of the things George showed me on my tour I could never afford to buy, but in the end I met the one person that could help and mentor me. That was Steve Riley in the Orosi Valley, who immediately understood my vision, goals and what resources I have to make my home a reality.

Third, go and see Steve Riley, his wife Nancy and their wonder dog Ms. Lola Mae, spend a few days in Orosi to get a feel for the community. It is a pretty remarkable place, everyone is friendly to you. In fact when I returned after I finished George’s tour at Steve’s invitation, I never thought I would come away from my three-day visit owning a small but very sweet piece of land in Costa Rica. I have a view, I have a small stream, and I have the opportunity to hire an excellent gardener who can help me achieve my dream who lives just across the road from me.

I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that doing your homework well as study is the best preparation you can do. Scott has always been willing to give me his best advice in the past over several projects I was hot for I found on the Internet. His advice on the next questions I needed to ask was always right on the money. As a side note, when I went to setup my corporation for my property, my new attorney told me he was amazed that I was asking him all the right questions. He wanted to know how I become so well informed about the legal structure of buying property in Costa Rica. So my study and preparation really paid off since I knew what was happening while the took the steps to complete my purchase. So making this adventure is what will keep you on track and help you to find the best value for your budget.

You can find your dream property on your budget if you keep in mind you will probably have to work harder to find and/or build a sound home compared to those who have six or seven times the budget you and I are talking about. They can demand more attention, we will have to walk through the process probably on our own efforts. Remember we Americans always seem to want many choices, but in the end you are only to select and pay for one. Now I am reading books on house construction and collecting pictures from the Internet of houses that I find to my liking, this is my next phase.

One big hint I can tell you is that pre-fab houses probably fit best into what kind of budgets when each have. Scott just posted a great series of pictures and article on pre-fab wood panel house building. About two weeks ago I settled on the idea that is probably the type of house I will build in the Orosi Valley, half way up the mountain where I bought my property.

If you want, you can ask Scott to forward me an email if you want some of the links I have collected on pre-fab houses or ask other questions.

Good luck!
Tom on a budget in Portland, Oregon.

[Andrew]

3G iPhone unlocked and working in Costa Rica

(Inside Costa Rica) — The new iPhone 3G can now be used in Costa Rica. The latest iPhone hit the market in July and was to be “unblock” proof, as Apple set to improve the security after the first generation iPhone was easily unblocked, using a software called “jailbreak.” The 3G has been unlocked and definitely proven to work on the Costa Rican Electricity Institute’s (ICE) GSM network. Although the 3G iPhone can be unblocked and has been proven to work in Costa Rica, it doesn’t come cheap. An 8Gb 3G iPhone that sells in the United States for about $299 is at least $1,000 in Costa Rica

Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com

[Author]

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