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If you’re that intelligent, no wonder you think the advert is deceiving.
When searching for real estate in Costa Rica, one will indubitably encounter things like this throughout the whole country. I have seen it so many times that perhaps I am immune to it now and therefore think nothing of it. Never fear, you all are in good hands with Scott. I believe he is one of the few in Costa Rica that value the ethics that you may take for granted coming from other developed countries. However, if you ever decide to venture out on your own someday, you must learn to read the lines, whether they be written in Spanish or English to protect you from making any foolish financial mistakes. Keep up the good work Scott.
PS Watch out behind you! Flying iguana!
rebaragon, what have they lied about? They have copied and pasted two articles from the press and one from Scott, into their information “fact sheet” as it was referred to. All three sources clearly indicate that the airport is not built yet, that it is only in the planning stages. Where is the relative lie in this?
Is it deceiving to sell a property without electricity, but assure the buyer that the hookups are in the works and that ICE has promised it will be available in such and such amount of time?
History is history. There has been one corrupt administration after another the past decade or two. There’s no denying Arias is different and I have no reason to doubt that the airport will be built.
From a US legal point of view, there may be a case for it, but this is Costa Rica. Do you really think if someone bought land near the proposed airport location and years later the airport was never built, that the buyer would have a case against the seller for false advertising? Or, do you think that there would be a case today if someone were to complain about the advertising practices? I don’t think so in either case.
In the 90’s people were selling property all over Guanacaste by advertising the future international airport in Liberia. People have been doing the same thing for decades in regards to the new highway to Caldera. Scott even says that “any possible appreciation is already built into the price of the real estate that’s for sale along the route.” Was all this deceiving? If so, then there’s nothing wrong with it being deceiving in Costa Rica. I think that might be where we are seeing things differently. This sort of thing happens all the time in Costa Rica. Buyer beware means that the normal rules and ethics of real estate that you are accustomed to in your home country do not apply in Costa Rica.
If you really doubt that the airport in Palmar Sur will not be built, then you should complain against the press and the government for claiming otherwise. La Nacion has printed “El Gobierno prometió que la primera etapa del aeropuerto de la zona sur estará construida y funcionando a más tardar en el 2010.” – “The government has promised that the first phase of the southern zone airport will be constructed and functioning no later than 2010.”
http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2007/julio/15/pais1168088.html
Jon
Not me, I just suggested it. I don’t know if you have or not.
Well, everything needs a plan before commencing. The article in La Nacion is titled “El sur tendrá aeropuerto en el 2010”. There’s not too much that changes in the translation – “The South will have airport in 2010.”
The picture from the cut and paste job says “Hoy las fincas seleccionadas están cubiertas de maleza o decicados al cultiva de plátano.” Again, a straightforward translation – “Today the selected land is covered in weeds or dedicated to plantain cultivation.”
I don’t mind being in the minority.
I was referring to the “foolish” people, my choice of word for those foolish enough to buy without doing a bit of research or failing to realize that there is not an airport built yet.
All three articles (copy and pasted) indicate that it is not built yet. Have the bad guys contradicted that in their own words? If they have, then I missed that.
If you have complained to La Nacion and the Tico Times, what was their response?
I don’t think it’s deceptive. I think you are taking this too far. OK, they printed your article without your permission and then even omitted your opinions from it, those which you value to be very important on the matter, but if you don’t believe the whole idea of an airport, you should complain to the La Nacion and the Tico Times. After all, they are the ones who published the articles in the first place. And there is nothing deceptive in that article you are complaining about in regards to the airport not being built yet.
Even if one didn’t speak Spanish and didn’t hire a Spanish speaking lawyer to check things out and failed to appear on the site first and see for themselves that the airport doesn’t exist yet, I wouldn’t say that they were deceived. One would have to be very foolish to do that. Are these the people you’re trying to defend?
Sounds like I may be the first one then… That’s a pretty drastic change for permanent residents, the requirement changing from one visit (of any length) during the annual period to a new one of 6 total months during the annual period. If what you are saying is true, then it most likely will persuade some people to look at other countries for retirement.
Me, I would have to give up my job that I’ve held for 18 consecutive years in order to meet that requirement. I work a total of 6 months a year outside the country, add another 3 to 4 weeks in travel time, another few weeks of vacation time outside of Costa Rica and I’m not even in Costa Rica but say 4 months and a bit. It’s not going to happen, so like I said before, I’ll let everyone here know when I lose it.
Jon
No worries here, I could always be a tourist again 🙂 No problems at all meeting the 90 day thing. This is funny.Oh I see now. Yes it could be read like that too. I was seeing it the other way. If that’s the case then it’s not much different and certainly much more easier to comply with – not life changing. My apologies to Scott and Mr. Philps.
I’d have to agree with rancon on this. There are many different types of residencies, each with their own requirements.
I like this website and I think you’re doing a wondering thing here Scott, but this article in question could in some cases have a persuading effect upon someone’s decision to reside in Costa Rica. Not all of us, including myself, can be present for 6 months.
It’s one thing to say something like “It’s best if you always have at least 6 blank pages in your passport when traveling because each country has different requirements.” This matter only takes a few hours to resolve. When Rick is advising that all residents (all different types of both temporary and permanent) be present in Costa Rica for 6 months a year to avoid any “potential” legal problems, that’s not resolvable in a couple of hours. That’s a life changing event in some cases. Sorry if I’m sounding critical, but I was expecting a more definite answer to rancon’s post.
Jon,
I’ll be sure and let everyone here know if I lose my permanent residency for not being present 6 months in any residency period.Your welcome. When you mention you were “told to report my earnings and if they were under the set limits (back then) then, I didn’t have to worry about having to pay taxes based on those amounts”, it sounds like you are talking about the minimum amounts for filing. These amounts still exist and for 2006, ranged from $3,300 to $18,900 depending on your age and filing status. They can be found in chapter 1 of pub 54. I don’t know the history of these amounts over the years because I have always filed so I don’t know if anything has changed.
However, some people believe that the $80,000 (and change) exclusion amount is the threshold for determining whether they need to file or not. This is not the case.
BTW, the foreign earned income exclusion was nearly eliminated a couple of years ago. It narrowly survived the vote. There was however a significant change in that the amount that is earned in excess of the exclusion is now taxed in the same tax bracket as what it would have been in without taking the exclusion. This had devastating effects on some people, especially married couples with dual incomes, one foreign and one not. I know of one person that says his wife is basically working for nothing now because of that change. In other words, their take home pay would be the same whether she worked or not.
Jon
I’ll second Scott on what he said, but want to emphasize that it is an “exclusion”, not an “exemption”. In order to exclude foreign earned income, you must file at minimum the 1040 and 2555 forms. If your friend has been doing his/her own taxes, then the exclusion process shouldn’t be that difficult to learn especially with only $20,000 income. They would need to read publication 54 from the IRS. If they have always had someone else do their taxes, then any US tax accountant in Costa Rica should be familiar with the foreign earned income exclusion. There are several of them that advertise in the newspapers. Recently, there was an article in AMCostaRica about this, stating the reasons to file and why not doing so would be foolish.
Jon
Good point rebaragon, it can’t hurt to also carry the birth certificate especially if traveling to CR where they require their own underage citizens to have permission granted to leave the country, because in some situations it can be unclear exactly who this applies to. There are a number of various scenarios that exist such as foreign residents, CR citizens not residing in Costa Rica, tourists, etc. I have heard similar stories of foreigners having problems leaving Costa Rica with their own kids because of this law. Some stories I heard were settled with bribes. A lot of it depends on who you happen to run into at the airports at the time.
I’m US, wife is Tica, son was born in CR and has both passports. We live in CR and we needed permission from migracion (used to get this at PANI) in order for him to leave the country. We’ve traveled to the US 3 times and never been asked to show any proof there, only when leaving Costa Rica. One time we traveled with my wife’s nephew – Costa Rican living in CR – and he also needed proof of permission from both parents in order to travel with us.
Jon
Your son needs a passport too! There are NO exceptions. I’m really surprised that no one mentioned this here before now. When you have the passport, the birth certificate is not needed. Perhaps you read some information from a few years ago when a birth certificate would suffice?
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1093.html
http://www.costarica-embassy.org/consular/travel/documents.htm
Jon
The other day my wife withdrew US dollars from Cuscatlan and took them to BCR to make a deposit. BCR refused one of the $100 bills. She took it back to Cuscatlan and they exchanged it. Not too much of a problem with Cuscatlan, but a hassle nonetheless.
Jon
While on this subject, all US persons with foreign bank accounts amounting to an aggregate sum (add up the money in ALL your foreign accounts) of $10.000 or more at any time during the year might want to do a search on these letters and numbers:
TD F 90-22.1
Edited on Nov 26, 2007 12:19
My wife is Tica and some of her friends have needed blood in the past from the state run hospitals. Usually, there is not enough blood for voluntary and/or planned operations. either that or, they try to maintain the same amount in the bank at all times. So the hospital encourages the patient (or friends and relatives) to bring people in to donate what the patient will be requiring or has already taken. There is usually a set time and place for this and you donate “in the name of that patient” so that their debt (this is sounding harsher than reality) is paid off. In a way, it’s makes one feel better knowing that they are doing a good thing for a loved one and also makes more people aware of the process.
I assume you can donate voluntarily on a regular basis too.
