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Cancertom and Scott,
I do disagree with you regarding gated communitys with 60,000 dollar homes.
My brother in-laws do live in a gated community with a couple of gaurds in Tico homes. They live in Cartago area near the main highway right across from the big grocery store. This is a development that is on the way before coming into the city of Cartago.
In our neighborhood in Tres Rios, there is a new development that does seperate their development with a gate and gaurds and this is 100 percent ticos. These homes are around 40,000 to 80,000.
How ever don’t expect to beliving by any gringos! This is 100 percent tico homes small lots and a lot of concrete!
If you want a nice small home with a normal size yard you can find them in the city area of most towns. In Tres Rios we have many of them in town.
Many people blame it on the Ticos! Many people don’t understand that most of the crime is coming from Nicas that are living in CR or crime that is do from drug issues.
Most of the bank robberies that you see are Nicas and Panamanians.
Well it depends on what you want!
If you want food with incredible views you can find many resturants that are in the central valley that serve great food. One of the last resturants that my brother in-law showed us is called BaalBek. I had a great big steak and they had live music.
It is very interesting on the AM coverage of Robyn Wright, I don’t know this person and I am not trying to point fingers at the victim.
How ever is it true that she is part of a orgainization or is a advocate aginst child prostitution?I think when you read the article it makes it sound more like it was a incident that was a crime of robbery.
How ever Robyn wrote in a letter to the editor expanded more and we found out that there was a possiblity of a revenge crime.
Again I don’t think the victim should be blamed, how ever I do belive that we as guest of CR must realize that we are guests and need to accept how the system works. You can complain all you want about CR crime but you have to realize you are not a Tico and if you don’t like it you can always move back to LA, NY, Chicago or Kansas city.
Of course you would think that it is not broke if you were making the money.
What about if you have a large percent of the west cost of CR that is not owned by a tico?
Its like if 40 percent of the U.S. was owned by non U.S. Residence.
How do you think americans would feel?They are just having a huge problem with California being sold out.
Now I have a different opinion! This is because of my experiance as being married to a tica and spending my first experiance of Costa Rica in the heart of San Jose. There are many great places to find around and in San Jose. Clubs, Resesurants, Malls and many other things to see and do.
Many people are afraid of San Jose just because they don’t know the city and think it is not what they think is Costa Rica. They are diffently wrong! Some of the great areas are in central valley! I remember one of the most impressive hotels that looks like the and is named after the mansion in Gone with the Wind! (Tara). Incredible views and great food but very expensive!
What you need to do is go and experiance it for your self, hit the tourist areas first since that is what you will be. Then when you come back check out a differnt area.
you are right because most ticos don’t sign exclusive listing contacts. How ever my caution to you would be have a really good Tico friend or Tico realive do the deal for you.
Most ticos know that if a gringo comes to make a offer they will up the price because the gringo has the money!
Many times my wife will tell me to keep my mouth shut just so we get better deals.
I am sure that most of the gringos will agree but I remember one time when our car broke down. We blew two tires from a pot hole, we were lucky when a recker came by and picked up our car for us.
When we got into a town that had a station, I had to vamanos so that my wife could have the car fixed other wise it would have cost us double than what the ticos would have paid.I have to disagree with the mortgage issue, all of my brother in-laws or my wifes family members don’t have problems getting mortgages if they have jobs to prove they can repay.
Of course the average home is around 60,000 to 70,000 and the mortgage rates are much higher than 6 percent.
Scott, I would have to say that you have one tool that you have not mentioned and that is George!
If you really want to find propertys and developments that you can retire on SS than you must take a loot at George Lundquest tour. There are many developments in San Ramon that will not eat at your back pockts. These developments George will take you too and not try to up sell you like most realtors will.
I have to say though that this shows how some realtors are unprofessional and only see dollar signs in their eyes when they don’t listen to their clients. If this happens to you, you get out of their car and start looking for a realtor that will listen to you and what you want in price range.
So Do you blame them?
I would have to guess that if you did buy the farm, you would expect that it was worth more than you paid for it!
Many gringos come and buy the land and in a year turn around and sell it for double the price that they paid for it. Don’t you think the Ticos are wise people? Do you think they would like to get in on the money as well?
Seems to me as if you would like somthing for nothing?
Genn,
One of the issues that you might have brought up and that my wife has pointed out to me in the past is the term “third world country”. My wife has pointed out to me that this is a politicaly incorrect name for a country like Costa Rica. The U.N and OSA consider Costa Rica and counties like CR as devloping counties, thus the word developing countrys needs to be used. I belive a country like Somalia is more third world than CR.
The issue of being happy to hire a maid at one dollar a hours shows how a gringo can and dose abuse the Tico or most likly the Nica. Since I don’t know very many Ticos that would work for a Gringo at a dollar a hour. How ever I do know many of Ticos that would point out the reasons why issues like this are going to drive a wedge between the foreigners and the Ticos.
Yes you are right it is unfounded! In some of the areas where the consitration of gringos and foreigners you are right the prices have become staggering.
How ever I have to say there are still some good deals out there and some developers that are not taking advantage of people.
Recently I sent a client of mine to a devloper where they had bought around 7.5 acres of land for 100,000 dollars. This was the beggining of a development and it was 3 lots. My client was able to put down 20,000 and finance the rest over 3 years. These lots have incredible views of the pacific and if they were in California would go 10 times the price that he bought for them. My client is planning on selling two of the lots and that would pay off his lot and have some money left over with out price gouging! The homes in these developments are going for 160,000 to 200,000. I am very happy to say that there are some developers that want to make money but also not to over price and take advantage of the market.
How ever on the other side of the coin, I know of a developer in Punta Dominical that was able to get investors to invest in a land development. He is going to sell the lots for around 130,000 a piece! I thought this guy was crazy and since this was his first project in Costa Rica I think he will come across a lot of obsticals before it is finished! I personally would not send any of my clients his way!
Yes, but just taxing the foeigners is not enough! Just because you create revenue for schools and roads this will not curb the influx of people buying up the land and selling it at higher costs that the average tico can afford.
You can double the taxes but it still is much cheaper than in the States and is diffently cheaper than in the U.k! This will not deture people from moving down and taking advantage of the market.
I belive you have to put more efforts on curbing the emigration of wealthy foreigners. Preventing people from coming to CR and making a fast buck just because that is where the crowds are going and the people are friendly! This is what you call taking advantage of the Ticos. Like my wife says gringos like to come to CR and have cheap labor but they would never think about paying a house maid the same as what they would pay back in California! The smiles can only go so far and then the welcome mat might be pulled from under your feet.
Investment and corperation laws need to be changed as well, look at all of the dummy corperations that in this forum has created! People that want to live in CR but not have to pay taxes or are just getting around the laws for residency!
How ever I have to remind some people that all ticos are not poor. In Tres Rios there is a development of homes that are selling in the low millions that is all Ticos, also there are many developments where the homes are in the 200,000 and are considerd north american style and are all ticos as well.
One of the tools that is being used is the use of imigration laws. By cracking down on purpetural tourism this will send a message to would be buyers to become legal and slow down the market to a manageble level.
I am also married to a Tica and none of her family live in the U.S they are pure Ticos. This subject is a talk amongst the family and it is a concern.
