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A friend of mine got one here in Escazú for $10K. It’s a one bedroom, I don’t know the name of the guy doing them but that starts to sound like a deal. Tiny, uber tiny but in the right spot, who cares?
I’m wondering about the three years to permanent residency… will this go back to five years or stay at three? Anyone know?
Munky, do you live here? Would love to hear how your lifestyle is working for you. Please describe your scaled down “lifestyle to fit in” in detail. Does this include no hot water and no car? Are you talking middle class tico or wealthy tico? I hear remarks like yours often on the forums I read but no one ever really describes that lifestyle. I’d like a blow by blow, detailed instructions, see if I could hack it (probably not).
For this 53 year old freckle-faced gray-haired gringa, I’m afraid I will always look like a foreigner. Therefore rich and therefore a target. And I don’t want to live without hot water or without a car or without a dishwasher (two very hungry teens in the house)… sorry to disappoint but I like my lifestyle. We do volunteer work, my husband teaches English, we contribute. We have tico employees. Love my razor wire and my gun, my family, my dogs. And living in Costa Rica.
Ticos are the victims of theft, too. My maid was knocked down and robbed of her purse two weeks ago near her house. I know plenty of tico taxi drivers who carry a gun or pepper spray in the car, plenty who wear a gun on their hips. Weapons of self-defense are old as the hills. And a fact of life in the world we live in. Pura vida!
Hi blackjackds, please provide proof that “having guns to defend ourselves has increased violent crime rate in America.”
If money is not an issue, I’d go with the roaming – that’s the simplest. For any voip you need to be in a wireless zone. Easier in the central valley, almost impossible anywhere else. I’m not an expert in this – maybe you could rent a cell phone here and have your calls forwarded? We paid $800 in roaming charges for our first five days here in ’06… shocker!
We use our gun as a deterrent. We shoot it into the lawn once every couple of months. Nice loud noise. Everyone knows we have a gun. I’m not looking to shoot anyone, nor is my husband or two 6′ tall teen boys. But as someone pointed out, ladrones are basically lazy (or else they’d have productive lives) and want the path of least resistance. Our house, with the bars, razor wire, dogs, gun, lights, alarm (top of the line, wirelessly notifies the alarm company who has been very responsive) and the fact that we work at home and are there all day everyday… if anyone is watching the house, looking for a good time to rob us, they will move on to an easier target. We are just too much trouble. (knock wood)
Hi sprite, I was actually answering blackjackds’ query about “Is it cheaper to go through a realtor online or find someone in town when you get there?” At some point you do have to rely on others. I’m just suggesting that when that time comes, you’ve done your homework and chosen someone who has at the very least proven themselves to someone else, particularly in Costa Rica where there are no legal protections whatsoever against making a bad choice.
Even you “trust the people with whom I have had business dealings based on their behavior.” There’s some experience guiding your choices. That’s all I’m suggesting. Go with your gut, just don’t go on gut alone. Gather information first. Too many people have written me over the years lamenting having trusted the nice taxi driver or real estate person they met online (and sometimes communicated with for months) or at the bar… blah blah blah.
In Key West, I was a buyer’s agent for all of my 12 years actively working that market. With extremely rare exceptions, buying real estate is an emotional event. Even when buying for investment or speculation. Signals from the gut get messed up in the process. An unethical salesperson will use that to his or her advantage.
Blackjackds, you probably know this, but you will often find the same property listed several places for different prices. Since there is no MLS here and a seller can (and does) list his property with everyone wearing a “Hi, I sell Costa Rica real estate” cap, many sellers just say “here’s what I want, put your commission on top.” Some salespeople – I know this will be hard to believe – tack on exorbitant amounts… and they get it from uninformed buyers. Another of the reasons why, if you pick a salesperson by the seat of your pants “when you get into town”, you are likely to get burned.
To answer your questions: we live in a house, not gated, at the end of the road with almost no neighbors, in Escazú. We had a thwarted break-in which prompted us to get razor wire. The same day, my good friend in Key West had a break in at her house (where she is forbidden to have razor wire by the Hysterical, er, Historical Committee) and they stole everything. I was robbed in Los Angeles in the late ’70s and felt totally traumatized. But I got over it. You get over it eventually. Having someone poison my dogs would be VERY hard to get over, though.
We’re here, not going anywhere. If the right property came along, we would buy it. That’s how long we plan to be here. Pura vida!
Very interesting discussion. We’ve lived here 3 years in Escazú (gringolandia). Our house is a fortress: alarms, razor wire (which is beautiful to me now), heavy-duty bars, a gun (yes, I would shoot it no problem and no hesitation). I’ve been on the live-here-go-back merry-go-round plenty of times. We are staying. When it comes right down to it, our lives are better here than there, much better. The world is an uncertain place right now. I think the best thing to do is to make yourself as secure as possible, remember it’s only stuff and, except for a crazy drugged out person, they don’t really want to hurt you. They just want your stuff. I can live with this.
As far as the Caribbean side, it is very funky and laid-back. We lived in Key West for 30 years and PV (puerto viejo) is like Key West was in the ’70s. Hot as the dickens – we love the mountains of the central valley because it’s cool here! We couldn’t live in that heat again but we got to have our years living oceanside. I understand the allure! It’s a good idea to spend a few months traveling around if you can: visit an area for a few weeks, then try another area. I’m only four hours from PV now – I can go for a weekend. I’m two hours from Jacó, five hours from Uvita (my other favorite place here), two from Arenal (gorgeous). It’s all good.
As far as buying real estate, I wouldn’t do it without a recommended trustworthy knowledgeable experienced fluent salesperson at my side. I’m a real estate broker in the states, still managing property there. In the states you can do it alone, you have laws to protect you. Here you do not and there are a zillion people who will smile and be so friendly and let you sleep in their house and drive you around and take you for every penny you have. Unless you are really lucky, you’ll get taken. Take a recommendation. I would take Scott’s recommendation. I have never met crhomebuilder but I’ve been reading his threads here and on several other forums – I’d take his recommendation. Cuidado!
Great forum!
I have a child with terrible asthma, another of the delicious side effects of being inoculated with thimerisol-laced vaccines, as well as a cousin with such terrible autism he is incomunicado with the world.
Anyone who can easily and handily dismiss a possible connection between having mercury INJECTED into your 6 month old body and the advent of autism or asthma with no family history… well, you obviously haven’t been personally touched by it. You haven’t spent countless nights hovering over your child who cannot breathe, gasping like a fish out of water, rushing to the hospital, giving pills, breathing treatments, steroid shots. You haven’t lived this nightmare. Which is what leads one to do research you would NEVER do otherwise. The evidence is overwhelming, despite pharmaceutical companies’ efforts at sweeping it under the rug.
We have bought beautiful furniture from Brian Erickson at http://www.brieri.com. His shop is outside Guápiles and he delivers (he delivered to us in Esazú). You can see pictures and prices on his website.
