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That is truly tragic! Both that the computers sat there for a year unopened and that they were then stolen…
Please ask Kurt and Kristi to email me with some information and maybe a photo or two of the local school and we will feature their ‘plea for help’ in our newsletter.
I don’t know if it will help but we can try …
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comWe do try…
I’m a Scotsman and the Scots are normally known for being ‘canny’ with their money so don’t worry about being ‘thrifty.’ Although must admit that we do live a somewhat lavish lifstyle here.
The problem with this and many other questions about where to find things is that often we know places where you can find used appliances (electrodomesticos usados) for example but 1. Directions are bloody complicated here so it’s not possible to say it’s a 39 Mulberry Street and 2. Like many Costa Rican businesses, they don’t have a presence online (They probably don’t have a computer.)
I know exactly where it is and could take you there in fifteen minutes but goodness knows how to explain that in an email however, I do have an appointment in town late this morning and will try and to drive past it with my handy dandy pocket recorder and get good directions for you.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comI can assure you that ‘Costa Developers’ and all companies I consider to be similar to them (200 of them) are blocked and have been blocked from all Google advertising on my website for a long time.
If anyone ever sees any advertisements from Costa Developers on this site, that would mean that they have created another website which is possible as many of these firms have half a dozen different sites. (And please email me with the details if you do…)
Please note that I do NOT choose which advertisements Google places on my site but I do spend many hours per week checking them out to make sure they are OK.
As for “doing it their way,” well that just shows how customer focused they are doesn’t it?
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comThe website is at
You can see genreal information in Spanish of course at
You can see the volume figures at
There are a very limited number of stock to invest in …
If you are a very experienced, sophisticated investor who understands Spanish perfectly and who fully understands the risks associated in investing in developing markets you may wish to see the a list of people authorized by the SUGEVAL at
If you are not a a very experienced, sophisticated investor, I would strongly encourage you NOT to invest in this or any other developing country market.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comAuthor of Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore and a Wall Sreet trained investment advisor with 20+ year’s experience.
.. and on the road that leads from the highway (MultiPlaza exit) towards Paco, after you pass Aliss about 200M frurther along on the left hand side is a big store that sells everything for pools and designs them too. I did visit them once to ask about prices …
Sorry I am not specific either.
Scott Oliver
I am amazed that I cannot find any Costa Rican ‘constructora de piscinas’ on the internet. I cannot find a single listing… Sorry!
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comFive years or so ago, I wrote a book called ‘Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore’ which you can see at and as a Wall Street trained international investment advisor for the past 20+ years, I was accustomed to (please note past tense) working with a few of the most knowledgeable US tax experts for international affairs and for the most part, US citizens can not invest offshore any more.
There are very few companies that will do business with US citizens (no matter where they reside) unless they have VERY large sums of money.
I can not do investment advisory business with US citizens or US residents and have never given US tax advice and, unfortunately can not recommend anyone here that does.
Why? Out of the nearly 1,000 offshore hedge funds my clients have access to, NONE of them will do business with US citizens? Zero! Not one!
There are a few international newsletters that ‘sell’ the idea that US citizens can invest offshore and achieve ‘financial privacy’ and have access to funds that they don’t have access to in the US but, it’s only true “if” you have A: US$1 million plus to invest and B: Significant monies to structure your affairs with the help of battalions of tax attorneys, CPAs and offshore insurance companies…
And even then, if they think the authorities don’t know they’re moving their money offshore, they’re fooling themselves! And remember that laws change and attorneys and accountants are regularly ‘persuaded’ to ‘share’ information that used to be considered ‘confidential.’
There is a stock exchange here with very limited amount of stocks listed and limited liquidity unfortunately there are no investment advisors or investment funds that I would recommend in Costa Rica. This is NOT a financially sophisticated place.
There were many ‘Brothers’ like investment programs, which we warned about in my investment book, in fact, when my book came out, someone claiming to be Enrique Villalobos actually telephoned me and we had an interesting chat.
Very few of those programs now exist (thankfully) but tragically 100% of the client ‘investments’ have been lost. I think that gives you enough information to make an educated decision if you are offered one of those “high-yield” programs – Run away!
My advice to my non-US investment clients is to keep six months worth of cash living expenses inside Costa Rica, the rest is safely invested ‘offshore’ in multi-currency investment accounts in London, Dublin, Hong Kong or Zurich.
Most of them have a serious amount of money invested in Costa Rica real estate which must factored into the equation when you look at your overall global asset allocation plan.
I love Costa Rica and it’s people but it’s still a small Central American country that some people call a Less Developed Country (LDC).
I would love to be able to work with US citizens but I can not. As you can see from the comments above, US citizens are already under serious restrictions when it comes to what they can do with their money, the government wants to know where you have stashed every single penny!
Whatever investments you look at here, just please make sure you are comparing apples with apples. A ‘AAA’ rated investment rated by a Costa Rican ratings firm, is NOT the same as a Standard & Poors ‘AAA’ rating..
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comThis is my fault for trying to keep up with every posting on the site to make sure we don’t have any ‘problems.’
This posting was partially in response to the another thread about how atrocious some Costa Rica attorneys (the blacklist posting) are and I was trying to point out that many people have problems with attorneys, excessive litigation etc but I did not post it in the right place….
Scott Oliver.
Never a dull moment eh?
Don’t suppose there’s anyway that you can tell us how you know this bradbard?
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comAgreed! Taxes is probably the #1 reason.
Like every vice, there is a dark side to gambling and of course ‘addicts’ can and do lose everything which not only affects them but their entire families
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comYou’re welcome…
I’ll be putting up a brief video interview with Henry Meltzer as well as a short video of the Valles de Mora project before Tuesday.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comFrom
“Sometimes Courts Lack Commonsense”
Frivolous lawsuits cost taxpayers and consumers millions of dollars each year and sometimes lead to absurd product warning labels. Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch last week awarded their top wacky labels for 2005. The winners:
“Not to be used as a hairdryer” on an industrial heat gun that produces temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees.
“Never try to catch a falling knife” on a kitchen knife set.
“Not to be used for navigation” on a Hilton Head Island , SC hotel’s cocktail napkin that shows a map of local waterways.
“Not for human consumption” on a bottle of dried bobcat urine used to keep pests away from garden plants.
The House last year passed several bills to block frivolous lawsuits, but most remain tied up in the U.S. Senate.We do need to make improvements here but let’s not forget that the USA is by far the most litigious place in the world where ‘frivolous lawsuits’ cost the tax payer hundreds of billions of dollars per year.
Staggering medical malpractise insurance rates are forcing many medical professionals to choose other careers and soaring product liability costs are an additional factor that is pushing many manufacturers ‘offshore’.
What was it Shakespeare said about attorneys? (Not applicable to Jose of course) 🙂
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comWe’re hoping that we are recommending a variety of professionals that will go the extra mile for our VIP Members, the majority of whom are ‘gringos.’
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comWell it’s certainly not a joke Diego and obviously can offer some protection to someone who may have been about to do business with an attorney with a ‘questionable’ background but, we appreciate the very constructive suggestions you have and can only hope that ‘someone’ out there is listening to you …
Would you like to expand on your story and how our VIP Members could learn from your experience and we can turn it into an article?
Please email me privately if you would like to do so …
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com
