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How this topic changed from Intel in Costa Rica to Libya and killing innocents is beyond me. Hey I have an idea, lets just change the name of the website to “We Hate the USA”.
Sprite, I don’t know what happened in your life to cause you to be so bitter towards the USA but I hope you find the happiness your looking for here in Costa Rica.
I don’t feel the need to recite all the good the USA has done for both people within it’s borders and outside. I think that is obvious to any reasonable person.
Unlike a lot of people on this website, I don’t need to knock my home country to justify why I live in Costa Rica. I had a very good life there and I was able to provide well for my family but I just wanted to experience some change. I still go back to the states every 2 months or so and I enjoy it, especially the food!
[quote=”sprite”]It’s no mystery to me why US expats might want to meet here and discuss world events. Nor is it a mystery why someone with your point of view is bothered by posts which force you to face uncomfortable realities. If it is too uncomfortable for you, take the obvious option many others who think as you do take: don’t bother reading. And if you can’t help yourself and must read but have nothing pertinent to the theme to offer, don’t bother with personal critiques . There are so many[/quote]
Why dont you not bother reading sprite. I am entitled to voice my opinion here as are you and if it doesn’t agree with yours that doesn’t make it wrong. The “uncomfortable realties” you refer to don’t make me feel uncomfortable at all. I have no problem with the USA helping to take a evil dictator such as Gaddafi out and with Intel employing 1000’s of Costa Ricans and contributing to the GDP of Costa Rica.
Your attempts to silence discourse by telling people who disagree with you “they dont have a clue what they are talking about”are uncalled for and very petty.
You also misinterpeted my post. The casualties by NATO referred to casualties by NATO IN LIBYA and the are far outnumbered by Gaddafis 30 year plus reign of terror on his population.
You do a great job with this website and I respect you for that but I don’t think this is the forum to demonize the USA and you DO demonize the USA regardless how you try to deny it. Whatever mistakes we have made are outweighed by the good deeds we have done, hands down!
There are a lot worse places to live than in the USA in the world my friend. Lets all just focus on LOVING COSTA RICA and leave politics out of the forum.
Is this forum about costa rica or US foreign policy? Since you brought up the subject though, your USA bashing is so typical of the HATE AMERICA crowd and quite frankly is way off base.Why don’t you spend some time in the middle east, north korea,china,cuba,iran, africa, etc. and see how just and just those societies are. While I find deaths of innocents horrible, the casualties from NATO are minimal compared to the 30 plus years of casualties under Gaddafi.
Why do some people who have moved and live in costa rica find it neccesary to bad mouth the USA? OK,we get it, you don’t like the USA but lets try to keep this forum non political.You are the most cynical poster I have ever read and your chicken little mentality is comical. News flash- the world is not ending and unless you want to go back to the stone age, embrace corporations and banks.
[quote=”sprite”]Businesses look for ways to exploit people for profit. Businesses SHOULD be looking for ways to exploit profit for people. THAT is what an economy is for. But that is not how this crazy world economy has been designed. Inviting “investment” from abroad is inviting exploitation and it stifles a country’s efforts to progress on its own, unique terms at its own unique pace. Let Intel continue its search for the lowest common denominator work force, the one closest to abject wage slavery and abuse. Intel’s chief objective is profit, not the well being or advancement of Costa Rica.
International corporatism is quickly replacing nations as the organizational instrument for societies. Globalism is one term for this process and it means to eliminate the cultural diversity of our species. If you think this is a good thing, support it and sacrifice your country. Corporations have made wastelands out of every environment and culture into which they have moved. They only ever enrich the owners, the stock holders and all the politicians they can buy but they leave the workers in a state of dependency and eventual poverty as they drain the natural resources of the land and the energy of the people while corrupting thoroughly whatever political system is in place.[/quote]Costa Ricas government was corrupted long before Intel came to Costa Rica and it wasn’t by corporations but by individual greed. Be carefull when you blame corporations for all the evils in the world. Without Intel there would be a lot of unemployed Ticos and many other cooporations would not have invested in Costa Rica creating many more jobs. I really feel your post is overly dramatic, whats your alternative to corporations, negative growth? abject poverty? unemployment?
we just brought 3 dogs down in September from NY. 2 of the dogs were under 100 lbs. so my wife checked them in as baggage on American Airlines and there was a $150 charge. They need to have all the vaccinations and the certificate needed to be stamped by a USDA vet who was located at the JFK airport. The funny thing was when she was entering Costa Rica, the customs officers did not even check the paperwork. In doing my research, I found American Airlines has the most liberal policies regarding dogs.
The 3rd dog we shipped was 145 pound German Shepard and American would not fly him in checked baggage and there cargo rates were crazy expensive. We used Continental out of Newark and I had to get him a jumbo container which Continental sells for $250-$300. The transport costs an extra $650 which included an overnight in Houston and he arrived in San Jose since cargo dogs cannot come into Liberia. We had to pay a customs broker to take him out and also pay taxes which costs an additional $450 or so. It was $1100 total. The customs broker in San Jose must be contacted 2 days in advance of dogs arrival and you must provide a copy of vaccination certificate. Good LuckTake the advise of the posters and rent for at least 6 months to a year. You will not regret it. I also believe that it is more difficult to sell here in this current market due to a glut of inventory and few buyers. This will put you in a great position to bargain and find a good deal.Don’t be intimidated by some of the unrealistic prices here either, just offer what you think the property is worth. Good Luck!
it was comfort king or comfort air ( I bought them for studio condo units)which is made in Taiwan or China but most of them are made there and sold under brand names that you would recognize. The 2 year guarantee is what sold me.
I just purchased 6 – 9000 btu units for 165,000 colones each and it was 50,000 colones to install them. They also came with a 2 year gaurantee. I purchased them at Leaho in Guanacaste and the store was located on the right 300 meters before you make the right hand turn to Playas Del Coco as you are coming from Liberia. This was the best price I found and the units are decent and come with everything to install them.Good Luck.
Personally I don’t believe in paying any professional a % of the job cost because the cost can vary depending on who is building the project, materials, etc. I also feel that paying a % of the cost does not encourage the architect to value engineer the project, i.e. use economical building methods and materials. I haave built projects in CR and the USA and I have never paid an architect close to 10% of a project.Be wary of an architect who claims that he is charging the 10% because it is mandated. In this economy if you call and talk to enough architects you can get house plans with detail for $1k-$3k and you can than hire someone to get the required permits.Of course if you insist on going to English speaking professional who advertise in the Tico Times than you will get taken advantage of and pay all the money. What I like to do is to find a home style I like on houseplans.com or a similiar site (look for Florida style homes as they are built similiar to CR houses) and print off the floorplans and have an architect tweek them to my liking and put the palns in CAD format. I have used this in both the USA and here and I have NEVER spent more than $2500 for plans in fact my last project I speent less than $1000.
I have used PEX in many homes I built in New York and it is quickly making copper obsolete. It can be installed in less than 1/2 the time and is actually ideal for cold climates as it expands if exposed to cold weather unlike copper which will crack and cause a leak. There is still a couple of old school people who swear by copper but they are the minority.
The only problem I have with it is the tools used to crimp it are proprietary to the manufacturer so every brand of pex has its own crimping tool.good luck
johnDo yourself a favor and buy a Toyota down here in CR. Its cheaper than bringing one down and paying the taxes. The engine will be more economical because it will be a smaller motor than the ones sold in the states and if you can try to buy a vehicle equipped with a diesel engine as the fuel is cheaper and it gets better MPG and lasts longer than a gas motor. The Toyotas and other makes sold here at new car dealerships are made with engines that are generally not sold in the states because of emissions requirements. The irony concerning clean emissions in both automobiles and commercial trucks sold in the US is that they burn more fuel to meet these standards thus actually making them less economical. You will also find that certain parts for US model cars are not available here even though the dealer is selling the same model car. There are many differences in the parts provided to US models vs non US models.
well said Imxploring! I agree completely and Scott you too are correct about the lack of quality housing available and CR certainly needs more of that. I think people should buy now in CR not for investment, but because they really want to enjoy everything CR has to offer.If they shop, they should be able to get a good deal.
Scott, even your “experienced developers with a proven track record of delivering a quality product” are not immune from economic realities and sooner or later will have to lower there prices if they want to sell anything. There is little or no money being loaned in CR and the little that is available is expensive. There is also not a lot of the disposable income that people used in the past to buy vacation homes whuch in turn inflated prices due to large demand and small supply. Most of this disposable income was derived from peple using there houses in the USA as banks and that is now over. It is not just Costa Rica that will feel this pain but most of Latin america and the world. I do not need to substaniate this with MLS figures either, it is fact. Talk to ANY agent in Costa Rica and if they tell you business has not gone down they are lying. I own 2 large pieces of property in CR and I like you Scott love this country but I am not blind to economic reality either.
I think that now is a great time to start purchasing property in CR as there are many motivated sellers so I will be looking for bargains and making offers but at prices that are in line with the economic conditions.
