[upeCity]

Yes, I believe we agree the War on Drugs is a loss cause and demand for drugs is the problem…. I stated domestic use should be treated as a public health problem.

Yes, I would severly fine tourist (not jail)..
And yes, it would be a deterent. It won’t solve their drug problem, but they will think twice before coming back… Is this the kind of tourist you’d like to cater to. Should we burden the CR legal and health system with them… Should we/would we welcome Tico drug users in the US.

[upeCity]

I would guess most of those drugs ended up in tourist hands… With our dollars come bad habits… Were it not for tourist demands for drugs… there’d be very little CR drug trade and all the spinoff crime.

Prosecute a few tourist, fine them severly, let it be know CR will not tolerate recreational drug use. Then focus on domestic use as a public health issue…

Edited on Jul 23, 2007 08:49

[upeCity]

Brad, Hi…

Any stats comparing July 05′, July 06′ to July 2007….

[upeCity]

David,
We love you but… We need to stop making apologies, stop bringing up the same worn US crime stats… This is a CR problem that is not going away till more of us get off our butts and do something about it. I think we’re better served by the alarmist among us than the apologist. We all love Costa Rica, we all agree it’s a safe, tranquil paradise… But, no doubt there’s a dark cloud in the tea leaves….

You may be right… this may be an isolated incident, a statistical quirk. What if Alberto is right… What if, we wake up 5-10 years from now in the CR equivelent of Miami, LA, Caracass, Rio, Bogota, DF, etc.. What a sad day it would be…

We’re 11 steps short of a 12 step program… We owe it to ourselves, our kids, our host neighbors to, at the very least tell it like it is and stop making apologies… Admit we have a problem and do something about it, anything…

How can I help … What can we do….

Pardon my rant and thank you for you’re prolific posts.. I don’t always agree but I am a fan…

Cheers,
Rick Delgado

[upeCity]

I’ve only seen this in the context of beaches… “Bandera Azul” or Blue Flag beaches are designated ratings (A, AA, AAA, etc…).

This link explains the program and lists the “Blue Flag” awarded beaches

http://www.guiascostarica.com/bazul/

[upeCity]

Thank you Kurt..

I was curious, I’m not sure how a CR lender protects themselves in the event a borrower defaults. Do they protect themselves by requiring the equivalent of a “Quit Claim Deed” against your mortgaged property or do they have less draconian means.

Thanks again…

[upeCity]

cd,
In Grecia we’ve worked with:

Lic. Gilferd Banton Beckford
gbanton8@racsa.co.cr
896-7910
494-3493

Gilferd handled our SA and real estate closings. He’s English speaking, very honest, hard working and punctual…

Feel free to mention Rick and Margie…

[upeCity]

David,

Great info… Once our Arq. finalizes the plans we’ll get the ball rolling. I would prefer to leverage against my CR property vs my home in the US. This sounds promising..

Thanks again.

Rick.

[upeCity]

David,

Do you still have a contact with Stewart Title… Also, if you don’t mind me asking, did you go with a conventional loan or an equity loan against a US property…

Thanks,
Rick

[upeCity]

cd,
Thanks for the feedback… Sounds like costaRicaMortgage.com might be a no show… I knew going in a cr mortgage was a longshot. I’ll try mdmortgage..

Thanks again, please post back If your successful…I’ll do the same…

[upeCity]

Maravilla,

My jaw dropped when you said 1,300 US for an architect… I’m paying 7,500 US plus another 7,500 to manage my 300sq meter project in Grecia… I interviewed 3 local architects he was the most expensive but not by much… Did I pick the wrong 3 quotes… We’re still in the “ante proyecto” phase… Maybe I need to get more bids…

I’m also paying 470,000 colones for a ground study. Again it made sense at the time, now I’m feeling for my wallet…

Any thoughts on this…

I’ve built homes in Austin and the Florida Keys, this is my first in CR… sounds like your hitting on all cylinders….

[upeCity]

Hi, Scott.. Excellent list….

Quick question. Do you know of anyone living in the Grecia area that sends their kids to an SJ area school…??? There’s not much of a selection in bilingual Grecia schools.

thanks…

[upeCity]

Maravilla,

Your right on… Development without master planning is a recipe for disaster. Tamarindo’s gridlocked roads and emminent meltdown of water and sewer infrastructure is the result of no or poor planning… The burden of correcting the mess will end up with those who least profitted from the boom. The guilty will either be long gone or promoted… If only, I were king… (you can take the job nights and holidays)

[upeCity]

JohnLack,

I have a love hate relationship with many places… Miami, New York, Jaco, Key West, Tamarindo… Wonderfull places to visit and/or live seasonally, after a few weeks we morph into them (Not always a good thing). In the Keys we call it “Keys Disease” you loose your shoes and start riding a bike up and down the highway while balancing a cardboard box on the handle bars (content unknown). Jaco is such a place…

Great if taken for 90 days at a time and don’t bring the kids…

[upeCity]

We owned and worked for a closely held US “S Corp” contracting with a Venezuelan Company… No third parties.. and met the criteria as provided by Jerry …

[Author]

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