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What is wrong with you guys? Just answer the question!!!!
In my humble opinion, I think a 3/2 is better for resale. Most people have a need for a bedroom for themselves, a home office/computer/hobby room/work out room, and a guest room for all the people who will want to visit them now that they have moved to Costa Rica.
There was no blood and guts. I was simply noticing that the couple that had been killed in Jaco (La Nacion Sept 25th) were the same couple that had been interviewed on this website. I was simply stating it was a tragedy. Nothing more.
Thank you all. Optimally I would like her to follow the laws as to minimize the possibility of deportation. Not only to protect her investment, but also to protect the incomes of the people who depended on her for a job.
I bet both of you are right. Many people don’t follow the law and work their own business to some degree while on a tourist visa and never get caught because who really cares if they are answering the phone if they are paying taxes and employing local citizens. Where there might be trouble is if a competing business or someone who you’ve somehow ostrisized reports you then yes, you might get a little “visit”.I guess a last option would be to have my brother (who is a CR citizen) buy the business and then my daughter could “visit ” and “help out” (for free)to keep from “getting bored”.
Thanks for the advice. She has been to CR 12 times in the last 5 years. She just spent a couple months there most recently this summer. She is a recent college grad and since the job out look here is not that great she has decided she’d like to live abroad for a few years. She speaks SPanish-not fluently but enough to get by. She has worked in the industry but never owned her own. I thought it would be a great opportunity to live abroad and run your own business-what a great life experience. I guess we could always withdraw the balance of the $150k if she decided to move back or transfer it into our account. We are going back down in December. It would probably be a good idea to speak with an attorney again..I just wanted to see if I could get some feedback from the members.
Thanks again…all good points
He can not return for 10 years because he was found to be “working” the business or did he overstay his visa?
I see the problems with the tourist visa thing. Even if you intended to do no work, if someone did not show up, you would find yourself working and therefore illegally.
So, sounds like we have to wait until we can be there at least 4 months a year to apply for residency. Put up $150,0000 for myself and my husband and then another $150,000 for her.
If she wanted to go down first I would I guess have to gift her the $150,000k to apply for residency.
Now I know why some insects eat their young -ha ha
Thanks for your reply. The reason I asked is Attorney Rich Phillips article
“…In the ordinary course, in order to legally work, or carry-on a business enterprise in Costa Rica, a foreigner’s immigration status must become regularized in accordance the Immigration Laws of Costa Rica. In the first instance, it is illegal to work, or engage in any business enterprise, while merely possessing a Costa Rica tourist visa.A foreigner who is found-out by the Costa Rican Authorities to be engaging in such activity, is subject to immediate deportation, with a sanction of not being able to re-enter Costa Rica for a period of ten years.”
I understand your concern with having a property managed by another vs savings by buying now. This is the main reason we have not purchased before now. The other reason we would consider to buy now would be buying something that is available now but might not be available later. There are only a few properties that meet my needs in the area I am looking at.
Again, I was wondering how the above article related to my (and my daughters) situation. In my daughters case (she is 22 so she can’t go under our residency when we eventually do apply) will she be able to buy a small business to support herself ? I can’t see her being able to amass the kind of money ($150,000) to apply for residency but she has enough to buy a small business to support herself but not enough to be considered an “investor”.
Again, I appreciate your imput.
There is a company…Palmex thats sells “Durathatch” that has a rep in Costa Rica. Website is very informative. 96 sq feet in the U.S. was $516 (plus shipping)No idea what the cost is there…
http://www.palmex-international.comDoes this help?
http://www.arenal.net/arenal-costa-rica-map.htmI know there is a program in Dominical. I read about it in Surfer magazine. They are run by donations & fundraisers. Go to http://www.sellingcr.com/playa-dominical-lifeguard-program.html or http://dominical.biz/lifeguards/index.htm for contact info. They may be a good resource for other programs or can at least tell you what has and hasn’t worked since I read they have been doing this for like 10 years. BTW-the area they patrol is unfortunately very small (marked by flags), but hey-given the currents there-I am sure they have made a very big impact
This is a great show. They film all over. I don’t think they charge you…they rarely say anything more than mention the Realtor’s name-they are only looking for content. It would be a very positive exposure.
Dixon,
I have been away so I have just read this thread. In answer to your question, yes, people do have their passports stolen. Highly educated, successful, extremely well-traveled people get passports stolen. I have traveled all over the worl for work and for pleasure. I even haved lived in CR for 3 years and just booked my 7th & 8th trip (in the last 4 years) to CR so I am no stranger to the country. Last May we stopped for gas in Cartago before heading though the mountains towards Dominical. About 10 minutes later in the middle of the mountains we had a flat tire. Upon inspection, we noticed that the sidewall was slit (we had not “run over” anything). Whithin 3 minutes we had a truck of guys in addition to 3 guys on foot ascend upon us. Long story short, they ended up with my backpack with contained (among other things) our 4 passports. I’m guessing the gas station was in on it and we were followed. Some times bad (unavoidable) things just happen to good people. Smart people. Even when they are cautious.
WOW!!!
Please know that I did not mean to offend anyone or suggest that Scott is in any way misleading expats to come and buy in CR under false pretenses. To the contrary, I love CR and its people. My greatest concern is the escalation of violence. Monetary things can be replaced. Body parts and feelings of security-not so much. I don’t want to turn into an obsessive, compulsive, psychotic neurotic. ~smile
What I was wondering by my post was whether the people who were living there were not just AWARE of this trend, but ALARMED. And if there was something being suggested or done to reverse it (other than just hiding from it and pointing out that things are bad elsewhere).
I agree on the economics issue, but that would be IMPOSSIBLE to try to change (even over decades) unless they found a way to stop money from coming into the country and did a governmental Robin Hood (steal from the rich and give to the poor). I think a show of force (more and better equiped police) , punishment, and strict enforcement
will be the only way to help curb this trend on a short term basis. Not just to rid themselves of the actual criminal, but to send a STONG message to others that “if you steal (violently) you WILL be caught and PUNISHED SEVERELY.” Nobody wants to have to have more restrictions, but I have always felt that the only ones who need to worry about that are the criminals. If the locals don’t want to fund it-I agree that an increase in the exit tax, and/or an increase in the “resort tax” would go a long way to fund that. I know an extra 1 or 2% would not make a hill of beans difference to me on a hotel stay. The resorts, and tourist related attractions should be OUT OF THEIR MINDS with worry that tourism may drop off…although there is that “trickle-down theory of economics” these people will be hit the hardest and quickest.Again, this thread was not to start wide-spread paranoia, just looking for input on whether this is just a localized media scare, or the real McCoy.
Sprite, forgive me for asking, but are you going to Costa Rica, or are you going to prison? Beacause based on that description, I am not too sure…
I always found that a funny term. Crime “Watch”. The problem is all watch and no action-right? How about…Caution: You are now entering a criminal elimination area?” ~smile. The sign can be like the “watch for falling rocks” sign, but instead or rocks, they’ll be falling acid -right harlon? LOL
Thank you for your reprint of the article on crime statistics. Let me preface this point by saying I am in no way defending the U.S. Yes, I live here and love my country but I also recognize its problems and I (as all of you) yearn for a simpler life. I have lived in Costa Rica for 3 years (as a matter of fact, my brother is a Costa Rican citizen), however, I am not so naive to forget that living in the U.S. has provided me (and most of you) the OPPORTUNITY to afford this better life in Costa Rica-let’s not forget that folks.
The problem with stats is you can bend them and mold them in many ways to try and prove a point. The point you were trying to make was the capitol (San Jose) has 9.2 murders vs. 35.4 for the U.S. capitol of D.C. What you failed to mention in your article (please note your chart at the bottom) was that the NATIONAL MURDER RATES for Costa Rica and the U.S. are 7.8 and 5.6 respectively (you failed to point that out!). If you notice as well, the cities with the highest crime rates are largely areas where there is a lot of “minority on minority” crime and gang/inner-city related violence. It does not necessarily mean that if you are visiting L.A. you have a great chance of being murdered (although I would not suggest a sightseeing trip to the Compton area)…The point I am trying to make is these are not the average Joes getting murdered here-these people are killing themselves. I am not talking bad about Costa Rica I am just making the point that many of you are moving to Costa Rica to escape crime and violence, and guess what folks….IT IS FOLLOWING YOU. Unless something is done to nip this in the bud, CR will be no different than the U.S. As a matter of fact, I would expect that the rate would grow EXPONENTIALLY with no viable means of enforcement! If you want to talk statistics…that 212 this year alone A) may not be all inclusive (I am sure there were other areas that suffered invasions that were not reported to this particular agency and B) per 4 million residents (especially if you excluded the really remote) may just be statistically worse than other places (although I can’t locate stats on that). To make matters worse, there were 400 armed street robberies in San Jose alone LAST MONTH- 2,293 so far this year. Where is our statistician when we need him?
Unless someone makes some BIG changes-SOON-this is going to get UGLY. The “Ostrich Approach” (head in the sand) is not working.
