[Andrew]

davidd is referring to a lady by the name of Jo Stuart who wrote a column in a local online publication called amcostarica.

She is the author of: [url=http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-City-Good-Life-Costa/dp/1475049013]Butterfly in the City: A Good Life in Costa Rica[/url]

Hope that helps.

Scott

[Andrew]

Thanks for your sarcasm sweikert925. You forget I’m British – we own sarcasm 🙂

And welcome to the Forum bangroot! Good to see you are no longer a lurker but actively participating… Look forward to seeing you share more with us.

I am a U.K. citizen however I grew up in West Africa and left the U.K. for good when I was 25 years old…. I am 54 now.

I have actually lived longer in Costa Rica (14 years) and New York (11 years) than I did as an adult in the U.K. (Ages 18-25)

The biggest percentage of our readers are U.S. citizens and when considering a move to Costa Rica, they are understandably concerned about crime in Costa Rica. This U.S. crime data was posted to put crime figures in perspective.

Hopefully that explains my motives.

[Andrew]

You may wish to check out the [url=http://www.hacienda.go.cr/autohacienda/autovalor.aspx]’AutoValor’ Hacienda website here.[/url]

ESP: Esta aplicación le permite al contribuyente obtener el valor de mercado, que el Ministerio de Hacienda ha definido como parámetro de control, para la determinación de la base de cálculo del Impuesto General sobre las Ventas e Impuesto Selectivo de Consumo, cobrado a nivel de Aduanas en la importación de vehículos.

ENG: This application allows the taxpayer to obtain the market value, which the Ministry of Finance has defined as a control parameter for determining the basis for calculating the General Sales Tax and Selective Consumption Tax, levied at Customs in vehicle imports.

PS. A 1995 car driven on great roads for all that time might still be in a great condition but a car that’s been driven for nearly 20 years in Costa Rica? Not sure I would be real interested in that …

[Andrew]

U.S. Embassy in San José Causing “Political Unrest” in Cuba.

[url=http://www.sunherald.com/2014/04/23/5518254/costa-rica-is-demanding-us-explain.html]Here’s another article on that[/url] …

Yeah! I read that story this morning too … This is how the U.S. and the U.K. spread “freedom” and “democracy.”

This [url=http://stopwar.org.uk/videos/ukraine-is-the-latest-of-over-80-us-coups-or-failed-coups-in-foreign-countries-since-1953#.U1lBVOZdX8w]related news item[/url] also came out today….

“To place the coup in Ukraine in historical context, this is at least the 80th time the United States has organized a coup or a failed coup in a foreign country since 1953.”

[Andrew]

Although this would not surprise me, this has certainly never been made public by Intel and of course, we have no way to verify this…

The Costa Rica government is very reactive rather than proactive so only after big companies have already left will they start to wonder how we can keep them.

What’s that expression about closing the stable door after the horse has bolted ?

It’s important to remember that both Intel and Bank of America Continuum shut down other operations, not just in Costa Rica.

Scott

[Andrew]

As Kwhite so eloquently put it: “when you feed quarters into the machine and pull the handle, you already know what happens next, the wheels spin, sometimes you win and most of the time you lose and put more quarters into the machine and do it again…. The simple solution to always win, [b]don’t feed quarters into the machine![/b]”

I won’t be putting any more quarters in your machine mate, in fact, I won’t even bother reading your comments or responding to you at all – I make a great living and have an extraordinary life but I do have to be careful where I invest my time and energy and, responding to you is a total waste of time.

You and I live on very different planets and I hope you stay on yours because you will not be happy living in Costa Rica.

[Andrew]

I have to agree with davidd about you – sweikert925

[b]”You actually scare me too sweikert925!”[/b]

I can picture you now, helping Homeland Security to herd your friends and family into the FEMA camps “for their security” with a smile on your face….

Scott

[Andrew]

Yes! You certainly can pay directly into the municipality’s bank account but it ‘may’ depend on the municipality

Supposedly collection of all forms of taxes is going to be a priority for this next administration so make sure you are up to date.

Scott

[Andrew]

My passport has a chip too davidd

[img]https://www.welovecostarica.com/public/images/passport-chip.jpg[/img]

I feel so much safer now!

[Andrew]

Amazing eh?

And we are forced to pay for the privilege of applying for and receiving a passport….

[Andrew]

I bought a new Toyota RAV when I arrived in Costa Rica 1999 and it’s been through quite a bit and still running beautifully…

Remember that cars are NOT cheap here so buy it to last….

Scott

[Andrew]

[quote=”bbrunsca”][quote=”Scott”]None of the Realtors you named in your email are listed on my list of Recommended Realtors so it’s probably safe to assume that you saw their companies listed in a Google advertisement which appear from time to time on my website.

I can assure you that our Recommended Realtors do respond.

Scott

I wish that was true but I have replied at least 3 times to a piece of property listed on this website using the mechanism provided, never to receive a response from the realtor, although it did say an email was sent and I would receive a response. So maybe not all the time.[/quote]

Please email me the details and I will look into it for you …

Scott

[Andrew]

On the 21st February 2013 I wrote about ‘[url=https://www.welovecostarica.com/public/4056.cfm]Businesses Leaving Costa Rica. Is this the canary in the coal mine?[/url]’, I concluded with the following:

“Having said that, with the recent news of these different companies leaving Costa Rica, the warning bells are ringing and now is the time for the government to refocus their efforts on the education and training of our young people for both foreign and domestic employers, to try and cut costs – especially energy costs – and re-evaluate how we can remain competitive as an offshore destination or, we will see more companies leaving this rich coast… “

That was in February of last year…

Costa Rica is certainly NOT immune to global economic conditions – we benefitted from those conditions for many years when U.S. companies moved here to save money – but apart from electricity costs rising [i]significantly[/i] during that time, has anything improved at all?

Have we seen any improvements that would make Costa Rica an attractive offshoring location or, is that cycle now over?

Would love to hear your opinion…

Scott

[Andrew]

None of the Realtors you named in your email are listed on my list of Recommended Realtors so it’s probably safe to assume that you saw their companies listed in a Google advertisement which appear from time to time on my website.

I can assure you that our Recommended Realtors do respond.

Scott

[Andrew]

Hi

1. Our Recommended Realtors advertise their properties for sale here yes! But they don’t say “how wonderful” they are, I do …

2. Just so you know, I just searched my databases for your email address (the one you registered with) and we have received no email from you since October 2012 so perhaps you used another email address? One that you did not use for your registration?

3. Feel free to name names however, in all fairness to the Realtors, please include the details of the email you sent them so we know that you were not making an unreasonable request….

Scott

[Author]

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