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After 5 years of looking and trying to decide which was the perfect location for us, we finally made the decision. Endured the rainy season on Pacific and still agree it’s better than Puerto Viejo for us. We closed escrow on a property in Hatillo (Dominical) Now we are starting to decide on building. I think we will start with a small 1 bedroom on the upper lot (has a bigger lower plantel as well) Can anyone suggest builder? Also the “driveway” to lower lot is somewhat steep. Would you suggest gravel, or some concrete? How long to get permits? I’m mostly hearing about $70 sq. ft. Does that sound right? And does anyone have any experience with prefabs? We have considered this option for one of the buildings because it would be quick. Thanks.
We too started looking seriously about 5 years ago but dreamed about since we got married down here 12 years ago. The prices have really dropped for the Tico builders and not so much for the Gringo builders. Gringos are around $80/sf and not as hungry as the Ticos who have children in school and have dropped to around $30/sf for survival reasons. This is where it was around 10 years ago and they are just trying to feed their family. We started building our bodega on January 3rd and the casa started right on time January 17. We live up the mountain from you just down from Tina Mastes and we do not need A/C since it gets down around 65 F each night. That will add to the costs along with insulated glass windows and doors. We are our own general contractor which helps greatly since the Gringos wanted cost plus 15%. We set up a pre paid account at Boston Hardware in San Isidro which saves us 10% for cash right off the bat and then 2-5% for contractor discount. If you live here full time I would suggest this route but if you are building from afar I would never do it. We live out of our bodega until the main house is built and are on site everyday to manage the crews.
Norman and Ronny that are brothers have been outstanding to work with since Ronny speaks very good English and Norman has been building houses his entire life. They are charging us a flat fee for the bodega and casa and we are paying for the materials. This way you can watch the costs and save by paying cash. Santiago at Boston also speaks very good English and has helped us in many ways. So far we are meeting budget and we hope that it will run about $27-30/sf which includes a large front porch not counted in the sf. We have also hired a Gringo that married a Tico to do our electrical at $5/hour. We have hired other neighbors in the area that needed the work so we have been well received. This helps to watch your back with thieves and such…which there are many to go around.
If you would like to speak further let me know and we can talk via phone.
Pura Vida,
Brian
[quote=”dreammakers”]After 5 years of looking and trying to decide which was the perfect location for us, we finally made the decision. Endured the rainy season on Pacific and still agree it’s better than Puerto Viejo for us. We closed escrow on a property in Hatillo (Dominical) Now we are starting to decide on building. I think we will start with a small 1 bedroom on the upper lot (has a bigger lower plantel as well) Can anyone suggest builder? Also the “driveway” to lower lot is somewhat steep. Would you suggest gravel, or some concrete? How long to get permits? I’m mostly hearing about $70 sq. ft. Does that sound right? And does anyone have any experience with prefabs? We have considered this option for one of the buildings because it would be quick. Thanks.[/quote]Thanks Brian. I am currently in the States, but my husband in still in CR until March.I will let him know what you said. He has been meeting w/some people and wow, prices sure vary. Not that that really surprises me. The driveway-gravel only is $400, real cheap, but of course has to be done over constantly. The concrete price was $6000, but permanent. Have not decided yet. We are thinking like you, build a small thing to stay in first, then stay while building the rest. Would love to talk to you if you want to e-mail your phone #. My email is drmakrs@aol.com
we have had property in CR for 5 yrs waiting to retire there before building
we do plan on renting while making sure the area is good for us to live permenantly. my question to both of you is how do you find an architect and is that where we start or find a someone to ck the land to make sure the land is buildable..so many questions ….do i build a well first…geeeez in my next life i will be in construction
thanks for any help
deniseDenise, you should be able to get referrals locally for a good architect. S/he can give you a pretty good idea of the buildability of the property, but to fully flesh out the analysis you should probably have a soil engineer determine the characteristics of the soil. And if this property is heavily vegetated, you might do well to have a topographical survey done so that you can see what the lay of the land really is.
We have great architect. Generally, where is your property?
As for you well, that’s a complicated question that your architect can help with. In brief, ground water is considered a public asset in Costa Rica, so first you must obtain a permit to drill for water. Then, if you find water, you must obtain a concession from the government to actually use it. Remember, whether it’s a well or a spring, just because it’s on your property you have no inherent right to benefit from it. The water is a public asset.
Denise, I may not be much help since we are just starting the process as well. After searching past posts on this site I found a great list of architects, but feel referrals are even better. We have met some many wonderful people in the Domincal and surrounding area that intorduced us to their builders. We have an overwhelming # of choices. The nice thing is we have been able to see everyone’s house so can compare the work. We too thought the well would go first, but David is correct and we found it not really necessary as we have municipality water run to the proprty. We also have a waterfall so will use hydro power as well. A catchment tank is always good. Harness the natural resource of the rain. Our area has a back up water tank for the “neighborhood” in case city water runs out during dry season. We are meeting with someone to help us identify which trees are protected (can’t be removed) and which ones will fall easiest. (remove from structure areas for safety)
We want a soil engineer because we have one area that has quite a slope/drop off and don’t want to slide down the hill! The whole process is quite a task, but I can’t wait to really get started!If you have concerns for a water outage during the dry season, you architect can advise you about installing your own residential water tank. They’re reasonably inexpensive and available at any [i]ferreteria[/i] in a variety of sizes. These tanks use a float/valve system similar to that of a conventional [i]inodoro[/i] (toilet) to control the water level. The incoming supply line from the water utility is plumbed into the tank and you take water for the house from the discharge side. It’s pretty basic stuff.
The downside, of course, is that there is the mechanism inside which may need repair from time to time, and I think I know that these tanks require periodic cleaning although (again, I think I know) they are constructed of materials that do not support bacterial growth. If your water supply is chlorinated, as is now required of all community water supplies, the bacterial growth issue should be much less a concern.
we are in Playa junquillal but way up in the hills
we are in the middle of a road being built from the beach to Santa Cruz…
we have spent alot of time Nosara (Playa Guiones)…that town started out as a sleepy village to now a booming tourist area.
summer of 2009 we spent 3wks in Hotel Romantique, just vegging, no car, no tv,,,ahhhhhhhh
the town looked like a ghost town but no one had told the stores that they should lower their prices!!! i think they were in deniel of an ecomonic crisis in the world
anyway …..that is our dream…..to build on our property that has a view of the ocean in one direction and farm land in the other. we have named our lot DOS VISTAS
AHHHHHHHHHHH
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