Costa Rica-Real Estate Condos for sale in Guanacaste

Still Wearing Green

Just like I told you on my previous post, I am still wearing my green clothes; as I am looking forward to enjoy the televised Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in NY City.

This year’s annual parade is dedicated to the proud Fighting 69th Infantry of the New York Army National Guard, which has lost nineteen members in Iraq.(May God bless their brave souls and they families.)

The festivities will begin with a blessing from Cardinal Edward M. Egan, who will celebrate Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral at 8:30 a.m. Other participants for the activity include NY current Mayor, Mr. Michael Bloomberg and also NY Fire Department commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. This year’s grand marshal will be none other than Raymond L. Flynn, former mayor of Boston and American ambassador to the Vatican

Now for those that want to know, the Saint Patrick’s parade begins at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue and then proceeds north to 86th Street.

As soon as this celebration is over I promise to go back to my usual activity guys, so keep reading as tomorrow I will bring you more important stuff.

This is one important date for my family, as we are originally from New York and as any New Yorker would say to you, St. Patrick’s Day is quite an important date for everybody in the city.

The St. Patrick’s Parade celebration turns to 247 years old this year, for the parade marched for the first time on March17, 1762 (That is fourteen years before the Declaration of Independence was adopted) and it is one of the largest parades in the world.

Now all of us know that the St. Patrick’s Parade date is on the 17^th of March; never the less I’m writing about it today as the official celebration was moved to March 14. The reason behind the date change on this celebration is basically that St. Patrick’s Day is too close to the Holy Week (the sacred 7 days preceding Easter) according to the Catholic Church representatives.

So basically that is why my family and a couple of my friends will start the celebration a little early this year,(Here in Costa Rica) and we got us a good menu as well:

For the more traditional palates:

Corned Beef and Cabbage - Corned Beef Cabbage Soup

For my Kids and the young ones:

A Reuben Sandwich recipe variation,(After the great taste from the recipe used on Reuben Restaurant on 58^th street. NY)

Everybody is wearing green today; and fortunately the kids are still young enough to play good old traditional games. (I’m not going to lye to you guys; I enjoy every minute they spend away from their video games.) I am told the St. Patrick’s NY Parade will remain the same (March 17^th) so I plan to enjoy it from afar with a hot mug of green tea in the company of my friends and family on Monday.

So from all of us here in Costa Rica, best of luck to you all and happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!!

This is quite a common question regarding real estate acquisition on Costa Rica; but let me tell you that it can be easily deal with, as all we need to do is make up a small priority list, and since it is small I am not going to give you all the “I know more than you” speech that you could get from 90% of the real estate agents. I am just going to point out some helping tips, and that is it.

First things first, decide if you are looking for a place to go to during your summer vacations/ business meetings; or if you want to settle down for a new start on Costa Rica.

Now think on what you really want vs. what you really need and try to make a balance between both, that way your search will be more precise and will also save you time.

Once that you have an specific amount of money to invest on your real estate property in Costa Rica, try not to go over it as you will need money for the lawyers to deal with the different legal paper work.

Try to contact an American real estate consultant in Costa Rica, the reason why is very simple, we know what we are used to and how we want things done, and even though is a different country, there are a lot of things that can be done in order to guarantee a nice lifestyle on your new property.

Now that we get past the basic stuff we can get a little closer to the point

The main advantage for beach properties in Costa Rica is without a doubt their privacy, especially in one of my favorite Guanacaste areas, Playa Avellanas. Here you can enjoy a marvelous beach, and also have the advantage of enjoying different tour possibilities.

Things to consider: The Liberia Airport offer nonstop flight services to the US, the main infrastructure is quite functional but you will move better in a 4×4 vehicle, the water is very clean and safe to drink, the school possibilities are very limited in the area but the bilingual schools are great.

The downtown area of Costa Rica offers a different gamma of possibilities, specially the area know as Villa Real, located in the beautiful Santa Ana Valley. Considered by many as one of the best opportunities in Costa Rica real estate (In the central Area) the Villa Real community has good offers on lots for those looking to build.

Things to consider: The Juan Santa Maria Airport is quite near, access to Hotels and Restaurants in the area, Private Hospital CIMA (Very good), functional shopping Malls, and a larger number of Bilingual schools options for the young ones.

There are quite a lot of advantages for real estate investors in Costa Rica, so if you are planning to buy/rent or build a house or a beach condo, make sure you do your “homework” first.

Since I first came to Costa Rica one of my main priorities have been contacting other ex-pats; for I believe it is important to get together once in a while for a friendly Poker session, or perhaps go in one of the many adventure tours the country has to offer.

There is however one activity I have not tried yet …fishing

I am not talking about your regular fishing (on a river or a lake) the kind of fishing that I am mentioning is “The Marlin Kind” and let me tell you that the tours and tournaments here in Costa Rica are always bursting with people.

Take for example the upcoming Los Sueños Billfish Tournament, the competition consist of two tournaments, the first was held in January from the 9-12 and the second starts on March 12- 15, the fishing tournament is for all species of marlin and Pacific sailfish, and as it is law in Costa Rica, all fishing is strictly catch and release.

How big is this fishing tournament in Costa Rica? As usual, let us see the numbers!

Let me start by saying that the event is going to be sanctioned by The World Billfish Series and IGFA (International Game Fish Association) 500 points are awarded for every each successful marlin release and 100 points per sailfish. The entry fee is currently $7000 per boat, or $10.000 for the entire series. The cash prize will be determined as usual by the number of boats in the fishing tournament and the payout structure will be of: 50% to the 1st place, 30% to the second, 30% to the 3rd.

Now this fishing tournament thing gets even better on March 28- 29, as Hall of Famer Wade Boggs will be joining other sports legends like, Mark Cooper and Gary Dunn in an event organized by Boomer Eiason the Classic Billfish Tournament. This would be a charity event to raise funds for the Boomer Eiason Foundation, a nonprofit entity that assists cystic fibrosis patients and collects funds for CF research.

After finding all that out I am finally buying some fishing gear to practice during the weekend, and if I don’t succeed on acquiring Mr. Chopra’s signature (Previous post) I can definitely try my luck with Boggs.

When I found out that the author of: The 7 Laws of success, The Ten Commitments and Return to Wholeness was coming to Costa Rica; I wanted to know why, when, and where?

It turns out that Mr. Deepak Chopra (Author of the books I mention before) is the head of a group called Alliance for a New Humanity ANH, and they are having a huge activity in Costa Rica named The Human Forum.

An event that can not go unnoticed, The Human Forum has been an ongoing project that has taken place every year since 2003, it has been host to Nobel Prize winners the likes of Al gore and current President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias, noted writers like Sergio Ramirez and Antonio Skarmeta, entertainment personalities, famous economist, social workers, corporate leaders, environmentalists like Ashok Khosla, and inspired journalists like Ignacio Ramonet Director of Le Monde Diplomatique.

The President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias and the President of the Alliance Deepak Chopra will inaugurate the activity on the evening of the 11th at the National Museum of Costa Rica, where in 1949 the abolition of the army of Costa Rica took place. The 12th and 13th, the activity will continue at the Real Intercontinental Hotel in Ezcazu; and will be structured around interactive conversations.

These interactive dialogs will be led by panels formed by Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra; Malaysian consumer protection and environmental leader Anwar Fazal, historian and philosopher Richard Tarnas, social and environmentally responsible investment leader Alisa Gravitz, and many others.

Even though the Human Forum meeting will end officially on the 13^th, activities will continue on the 14^th for a little follow up from the participants, and also that day, The Club Of Rome and the World Political Forum will be pursuing a round table of how best to integrate these international movements.

I on the other hand will be pursuing my goal to obtain a signature on any of my Deepak Chopra books; and will be giving a little study to this Human Forum movement

One of the growing opportunities for developers in Costa Rica hides on the docks of “Puerto Limon.” As I mention before in my previous post, many German companies like DSD Noell and Siemens are already looking forward to invest on this important seaport.

It is no surprise to see more and more business investors looking at the docks; for with the upcoming CAFTA approval, and the many new projects in the area, the docks will become quite busy pretty soon.

That is the reason as to why different shipping companies are updating their catalog with new services for the docks.

Just a couple of weeks ago, MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) announced a new service for Central America, that consist on a starting a weekly direct service from Port Everglades to Puerto Santo Tomas De Castilla in Guatemala, Puerto Cortes in Honduras, and Puerto Limon in Costa Rica.

Let’s find out a bit more about MSC

The Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. (MSC) is currently the second-largest container shipping line in the world. The line operates 318 vessels and has a TEU (20 foot equivalent unit) capacity of 1,215,000. Services are operated to all major ports of the world.

The new service will commence mid-March utilizing two MSC vessels.

“This new service will give MSC shippers even more capacity and service frequency to and from key Central American ports via Port Everglades, plus access to these ports from all USA ports service via our Freeport, Bahamas hub,” said Allen Clifford, executive vice president commercial.

The new service will feature a fixed-day schedule with a Friday cutoff day in Port Everglades for Central America-bound freight. The MSC vessel will call Puerto Santo Tomas on Tuesdays, Puerto Cortes on Thursdays and Puerto Limon on Sundays. MSC will connect with other U.S. ports through its hub in Freeport, Bahamas, and will also offer on-carriage to destinations in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

More and more doors keep opening for business developers and real estate enthusiasts in Costa Rica; there are a lot of ideas for facilities and services that can still be “put in motion” in the country.

On one of my previous post I mention an important activity soon to take place in Costa Rica (The GCBF), and this type of events will certainly continue to happen as the professionals in the country keep developing their skills even more.

You know my point regarding business relocation in Costa Rica, and as I have previously said in other posts, one of the 2 major factors for International Corporate relocation are of course infrastructure (Land and facilities), and access to high educated individuals.

Costa Rica has both, and even more factors to add.

Take for example the fact that more than 70 different companies that operate in Latin America area gather this week in Costa Rica in a huge job fair event. This activity was set in motion thanks to INCAE, the leading business school in Latin America, and one of the world best 100 business schools.

INCAE has students from more than 20 different countries, (Including USA and India) their Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development, is one of the leading research centers in Latin America; and from 1500 applications that are received through the year, only an average of 170 students are admitted within the famous business school.

So now that we know a little more about them, let’s take a look at these numbers.

The event had the presence of professionals from 15 different countries; there were 72 international companies, and more than 700 different interviews were performed in one of the biggest job fairs in Costa Rica.

The importance of having the right people for the right job (And having them first!) is one of the key elements for the correct development of any company. That is why more people is starting to put attention to this Central American Jewel, and why it would be wise to make the right move now that we still have time to choose.

Hewlett Packard began its operations in Costa Rica on 2003, since then the international company has been constantly and steadily growing; and in just a couple of years since its arrival in the Central American country, the performance from the crew in Costa Rica has make its mark on the company records.

The HP directors know they struck gold with Costa Rica, and they are more than ready to keep upgrading the mine.

That is exactly what the company is currently doing with a new initiative that seeks to train 5000 technicians in the next 2 years. The official announcement came yesterday, as Hewlett Packard teamed up with The National Learning Institute (INA), signing an agreement in which INA guarantee to graduate 3000 agents on conversational English, and 2000 on different Software and Hardware specialties.

Hewlett Packard will be providing the INA instructors with the latest training material and programs they currently have, and they would take care of the necessary equipment to include on the 4 new laboratories for the project.

“We are looking forward to stimulate the student’s potential and help them to increase their chances to find a good job, making our contribution on intellectual competitive development towards the sustainability, attraction and retention of HP presence on the country” said Martin Castillo, General Manager for HP Central America.

It is quite obvious that this investment will show successful in more ways than one, as it will help not only HP to recruit better agents; but will definitely give a big jolt to the general development of new professionals in the country.

Once again the Central American country will be the host to an important event, the 2008 Global Conferences on Business and Finance (GCBF) this will be held at the Ramada Plaza Herradura, San Jose Costa Rica from the 28-31 May 2008.

Here several companies will present their findings in different business areas such as: finance, marketing, management, accounting, MIS, public administration, economics, tourism, entrepreneurship, statistics, business education, teaching and learning.

So yes a lot of business men are coming Costa Rica to share their knowledge; but what about those that can not make the trip to Central America?

That is one of my favorite parts about this activity, for the organization has also make available different internet meeting sessions so participants can interact remotely with their peers in Costa Rica, from their own offices.

Some of the benefits of attending this activity include: To “network” with other professionals, to present your research at an international conference, to receive feedback on your research; and also to compete for awards like The Outstanding Research Award, or The Best Paper in Session Award.

The GCBF is affiliated with four peer-reviewed journals: The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, International Journal of Management and Marketing Research and Global Journal of Business Research.

There is still some time to submit your work as the deadline for Abstracts or Manuscript submission is March 21 2008, here is their email guys: submissions@theIBFR.com

Attendance to this activity is certainly a must for business developers, and taken into consideration the fact that you can access the conference via internet, there are few reasons as to why one should miss this learning opportunity.

One of the best things about Costa Rica is without a doubt its coffee, believe me as I am telling you that I have tasted coffee from a lot of places; yet this is the one coffee I like the most.

And apparently I am not the only one on this one.

I still remember when the Starbucks Coffee Agronomy Company opened its gates in San Jose back on 2004. The purpose of this office was basically to help ensure the future supply of High quality, sustainable green coffee from existing and potential sources in the Central America area.

“Improving coffee quality is directly linked to improving the livelihoods of coffee farmers. Our agronomy office will help farmers improve the quality of their crops through better growing and conservation techniques.” said Orin Smith, president and ceo of Starbucks Coffee Company.

The Star Bucks Agronomy Office manage Starbucks Coffee Trading Company’s coffee sourcing guidelines and preferred supplier program, oversees regional social programs, and also engage with local governments on sustainability issues. The company will have a team of agronomist, cuppers and off course sustainability experts to ensure the future availability of high quality, sustainable coffee in Central America.

Now the world’s largest coffee chain is giving everybody in the Middle East a chance to experience a brand new range of coffee flavors from Peru and Costa Rica. Never the less they also mentioned that it will be available for a limited period; but then again according to an official spokesman, these spring flavors are among the best of brews Starbucks usually offers to its customer in the region.

Peru is known for the enchanting aroma of its coffee, grown in the fertile and biologically diverse stretches between the Pacific Ocean, Andes Mountains and the Amazon River. As for Costa Rica Coffee, one can say that the taste definitely lingers in the palate, and also that its mild flavor hides traces of additional citric elements such as pineapple, cinnamon, or strawberries.

Despite its size, beautiful Costa Rica is one of the top ten coffee-producing countries in the world, and is also currently ranked as the second-largest coffee supplier for Starbucks worldwide.

With new incentives like this the customers have a chance to taste one of the finest coffees in the world; and business developers may find an interesting panorama linked to that hot mug of coffee in their hands.