Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
As I understand it, the only way the IRS allows for using IRA funds for investments in real estate is if the property is managed by a third party (like REITs) in an arms-length transaction (i.e. you can’t have an ownership interest in the management firm). Turning around and renting it to an S.A. owned by the same person does sound interesting though. After all, there’s nothing wrong with purchasing products from a company that’s in your IRA portfolio. However, since there’s only one client, the managing firm might be accused of collusion&
The endless machinations people go through to find loopholes in the tax codes also lead to endless closing of loopholes by the IRS. The only ones who truly know are the tax attorneys that work with the IRS on a daily basis. Very gray, and certainly not simple.
I’ll take the fiery crash. Terciopelos – now those scare me! A giant snake with a mane! Over 50% of the deaths due to snake bites in CR are attributed to this serpent. It’s also referred to as Fer-De-Lance. I don’t know what they call it in English.
Still, snake bites are not at all common in the more traveled areas. I’ve never seen one in the wild. While building my house the workers did kill a green tree snake. They’re poisonous, but shy, and they keep the mouse population down.
Prior to my “initiation” into the Tico culture, I had a “gringo moment” myself at Más X Menos while returning glass bottles 20 years ago. They didn’t accept a few of them, so I asked if they could just take them off my hands for me, no deposit necessary. The girl simply said she couldn’t accept them. I asked if she could just throw them away for me, but she repeated that she couldn’t accept them. I got agitated, and transformed into the loud-mouthed, questioning ugly American. When that happens, you lose the argument, period. A Tico would have politely accepted her inability to throw away the bottles with appropriate resignation, and thanked her for her help.
Thank you very much for your comments! It’s one thing to talk in generalizations, but it’s much more informative to back them up with specific examples like you did.
One minor disagreement though, “Nicas” is a common Tico reference to Nicaraguans, male or female. “Nicos” is not used.
I’ve had good luck with Dollar.
It’s your call whether to drive of take the bus. Driving is very convenient and somewhat adventurous. Busing it is very cheap (if it’s not a tour), and much less convenient. The hot springs in Arenal will not be walking distance from your hotel, and Monteverde/Santa Elena is not that small geographically speaking. Unless you’re minimalists, I’d recommend the car rental, especially if you’re going with kids.
The Arenal Lodge is nice:
I’ve never been to the Tilihari Resort, though it’s a bit further away, but I’m told it’s very nice too.
Unless they’ve built a new hotel in the last few years, or I missed something, the many other places to stay there are very basic.
No trip to Costa Rica is complete without visiting the hot springs there. The Tabacón Resort is the place to go. They don’t have any rooms because they couldn’t get a license for it (too close to the action). Great restaurant there too.
Volcán Arenal is a long day trip from everywhere except San Carlos, so I would recommend an overnight stay, especially because Tabacón is better enjoyed at night. It’s cooler (hot springs under the sun in 85 degrees doesn’t appeal to me), and when it’s dark you can see the red glow of the rocks falling down the sides of the mountain.
Other absolutely fantastic places to visit while you’re in the area include Caño Negro and Monteverde. Then you might as well go to the beaches in Guanacaste after that, or Manuel Antonio&San Jose is not the best part of the country.
Keep in mind that construction techniques & materials can be very different in Costa Rica due to the climate and the earthquakes. I rehab buildings in the US, but in Costa Rica I let the locals do it because it’s so different. Example – you can always tell who the plumbers are, they walk around with a hammer & chisel (I don’t do cement).
I don’t know if a Home Depot would do well there. Gringos are very much do-it-yourselfers when it come to home repair. Labor is expensive in the US, and owning a lot of tools is almost a gringo right of passage. In CR tools are expensive, and labor is cheap, so most Ticos (not all) have contractors do it.
There was a “Do It Yourself” (That’s what the sign said – in English) hardware store in San Pedro a few years back, one where you could actually browse the isles and pick out what you want (rather than tell the clerk behind the counter what you want, then he goes and gets it for you). It closed down within months.
Also, plastic and concrete are the only two materials that last down there, especially on the coast and in the more humid environments. I put down “almendro” floors is my house. Drop-dead gorgeous, and very hard wood. Two years later there were mushrooms growing out of it. I had to rip it all out and replace it with ceramic. The environment eats at your tools quickly as well.
I second most of Scott’s comments. Believe me he’s not over blowing it. You may have good intentions, but not everyone else does. It’s not only the labor laws that’ll trip you up, but also the squatters’ rights. This is particularly true since it sounds like you’ll be away for extended periods of time.
Unless you live in a highly secure abode (like a inium complex), you cannot leave your home alone! This is one of the hardest things for foreigners to truly appreciate in Costa Rica. Hard because they don’t believe it at first, then hard because their living rooms windows are gone when they got back (sad but true – I was gone for 3 hours, and we hadn’t installed the bars yet).
Unless your house is empty (including your water heater!), and you leave your blinds open so anyone can see that, you MUST leave a caretaker there. This would be an employee relationship, meaning appropriately managing your books (must be handwritten in an official log stamped by the government with each page numbered&) paying la Caja monthly (social security), aguinaldo (double salary in December, and sesentía (severance pay, which increases with time on the job). Once you get to know it all, it’s not that bad. And if you need a gardener, handyman, cleaner, guard, you might as well hire somebody. Getting the right person (or couple), well, that’s another can of worms.
What Ticos say about Gringos behind closed doors:
The Good:
Honest
Fair
On time
Smart (they haven’t met the ones that never leave the U.S.)
Good bosses
Gringos treat women betterThe Bad:
Not romantic nor gentlemanly
Too direct. Ticos speak between the lines. Directness is insulting.
Gruff. Ticos are very diplomatic and cordial.
Sarcastic. Ticos don’t do sarcasm.The Ugly:
Gullible (as in “stupid”) “I’ll be right rack with your colones señor” (for that $100 bill you just handed over across the street from the Post Office in downtown San Jose)
Regarding Machismo, to tell you the truth I still can’t figure it out. Latin-Americans can strut like a rooster one minute (“I’m strong”), then croon their hearts out on the guitar the next (“I’m vulnerable”). While chauvinism is ebbing, especially among the younger set, many (not all) Latin-American men still place their women on a pedestal in public, then abuse them and limit their freedoms in private. This part is easier to understand, as Gringo men weren’t too different in previous generations.
Regarding work ethics, certainly many Ticos work long hours, but IN GENERAL they’re not nearly as ambitious as gringos. There are many more Gringo workaholics than Ticos. Consumerism has a much tighter grip on Gringos. We Gringos have had much greater access to commercial products for much longer than Ticos, making us much more dependant (read addicted) on these products. We also have a MUCH more advanced financial system, which results in cheap money (low interest rates, no money down&) which means we can become dependant much quicker. We have fewer holidays, take less vacation, and spend less time with our families than Ticos.
You’re absolutely right. Relative to the rest of Central America, Costa Rica IS much more Americanized. Maybe it’s that very closeness that makes it easier to compare the two cultures.
I don’t think that Ticos are loosing jobs to Gringos. Unless we’re married to a Costa Rican, we can’t get work permits. However, they are losing a lot of jobs to Nicaraguans (“Nicas”). It’s said that of the 4 million people in CR, 1 million are Nicas. The funny thing is that this situation almost exactly mirrors what’s happening in the U.S. with Hispanics. Their taking jobs, yes, but mostly jobs Ticos don’t want.
PS: You don’t offend me, and I hope I’m not offending you or anyone else either. It’s so easy to take things the wrong way in forums, since nonverbal cues are absent. Again, the purpose of the thread is to further understanding.
Edited on Jul 18, 2006 07:09
I think that, right or wrong, most foreigners from developed countries would be afraid to have their surgery done in an underdeveloped or developing country, especially when insurance is paying for it anyway.
However, Costa Rica does have a great reputation for its excellent doctors, many of who went to the best medical schools in the world. It’s a famous locale for plastic surgery already, but did you know they were doing heart transplants there in the 80’s? Even so, after 20 years people are still not flocking there for one.
Tin Jo Chinese, fine dining. This is the only one I know of that meets all of your criteria. There are plenty of restaurants in San Jose I haven’t been to.
Not taking wine lists, good service, cozy, and San Jose into account, here are my personal favorites. They may not all look good, but that’s where the best food is!
Chubascos Tico food, road to Poás Volcano.
El Barco de los Mariscos Seafood, Santa Barbara de Heredia. Looks like a big cafeteria, but incredibly good seafood at incredibly low prices. Had to move to a bigger place because they were always jammed up in the original restaurant by the Church.
Spoon Chain café, various locations try their Ensalada de Pollo
Las Chorreras Tico, Road to El Castillo, Heredia. Take fork to the left 1 mile before. Outdoors (under roof). Ma’ & Pa’, weekends only. Try their fajitas de pollo.
Maria’s Tico, Playa Flamingo. More expensive, but way worth it. Outdoors.
Mercado Central The most Tico – San Jose. Don’t wear your rolex, & keep your hands on your wallet.
Juberth’s Quepos, bring bug spray for the no-see-ums under the table. Incredible seafood.
La Cocina de Leña Centro Commercial el Pueblo. Priced for tourists, but excellent nonetheless.
Anyone know any good Mexican restaurants there? Neither Antojitos, nor the one with the orange & purple interior by la rotunda de Zapote does it for me.
Also, where’s a good place for rice and beans, Limón style with coconut?
I plead guilty. I’m from the northern US. Ohio is too hot for me. When I lived in CR it was at 7,000 feet. Perfect! The only problem was I had to come down to shop.
The best parts of Costa Rica are far from San Jose, but like Rome, all roads lead there. So it would be hard to live too far away, having to go back & forth all the time.
You can enter Costa Rica as a tourist with a 3 month “visa”, extendable for another 3 months. During that time you will have an address, and presumably access to a phone. With this you can apply for “residency” status, (as opposed to “tourist” status).
You’re only eligible for residency status under certain conditions though. This topic is covered extensively in other posts.
If you are eligible, it’s probably a lot easier to do it while you are a tourist there, rather than trying to get it done remotely from another country. However, there are a number of other documents you must present that you can only get from your home country, like a notarized statement from the police department where you live saying that you’re not a criminal.
First, check out the eligibility though to see if it’s even possible.
The 5 ways I know of are:
Pensionado status – must be of retirement age and have income in dollars.
Pensionado Rentista status – not of retirement age, but have a greater amount of dollars in income monthly.
Investor Status – any age, with gobs and gobs of money to invest there.
Marry a Tico or Tica – That works real good, but there are side effects…
Live as a tourist, renew after 3 months, leave the country for 72 hours every 6 months, then start all over. Lots of people do it.
Getting a job there is another issue though. You can get by teaching English, and you can legally work there if you’re married to a Costa Rican, but otherwise your chances for actual employment are nil. You can go into business for yourself, but that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.
There has to be some middle ground. Economics drives “progress”. What “progress” means is debatable, but Costa Ricans certainly want to get ahead in the world, and the tourism industry is their one of their tickets to the show. Sustainable tourism is a big issue there, and a vacation with an emphasis on sustainability doesn’t sound like a bad thing. As industries go, tourism is one of the cleaner ones. Since Costa Rican’s tourism is nature-based, it is providing them with real economic incentives, for the first time, to preserve their natural surroundings.
The other important advantage that Costa Rica has to offer tourists is the fact that you must get around to truly enjoy it, unlike Jamaica with it’s all inclusive resorts that you never step out of. (Never been to Jamaica – but that’s my understanding).
Most travelers to Costa Rica hop in their rental cars and go explore the country, opening up myriad opportunities for Tico ma’ & pa’ businesses catering to them. The tourism tide is raising a lot of boats, both big and small.
Do I miss the old, idealic Costa Rica of days gone by? Yes.
Can I stop time? No
Can I deny Costa Ricans the economic benefits enjoyed by the developed world? No.
Can they choose a more enlightened path towards development? There’s room for improvement, but they’re already doing much better than most.
I’ve never heard of Selvatura park, but it’s been a while since I’ve been to Monteverde – one of my favorite places on earth. It must be a private enterprise.
Santa Elena National Park is the public park, and Monteverde park is private, open to the public, started decades ago by the Quaker community which still thrives there. Now there are a lot of other private tour operations in the area as well.
You can’t just go to Costa Rica and get a job, unless it’s something like teaching English – there’s a lot of wiggle room for foreign language teachers. For anything else, you’re a foreigner without a work permit.
You might consider volunteering. There may be opportunities working with non-profit organizations there which might make your trip less costly, and more worthwhile.
