Costa Rica-Real Estate Condos for sale in Guanacaste

According to some studies and researches I have read, the financial crisis in Costa Rica will not be so bad during 2009. Apparently people in Costa Rica have been very clever about saving money and it has been a prove during these holidays where sales were not as good as other years, people are really saving cash preventing an awful monetary crisis.

In Guanacaste, hotels are packed but definitely not as much as last year, and Ticos are avoiding paying hotel rates and renting villas or cabins which is a lot cheaper than a regular hotel room. Guanacaste beaches have received a lot of visitors as usual, that is why I know people are just going for cheaper stays.

Another good thing is that starting tomorrow, private companies in Costa Rica will provide a salary increase to their employees and the Free Trade agreement with the US begins operations, so there will be more jobs available for Costa Rica professionals.

There are many reasons to feel safe during to 2009 money wise as you can see; even banks will be providing more housing loans and real estate investments in Costa Rica are expected to get back on track by mid-2009.

I will be back with my articles on Costa Rica real estate, news, living in Guanacaste and more on January 2^nd, right now I am off to prepare new years dinner for family and friends. Happy New Year to everyone and God Bless!!!!

So yesterday we spent the day at Tamarindo beach. Guanacaste has incredible beaches, this one in particular is very well developed and has many awesome hotels in the surroundings, there is even a Golf course nearby, massage parlors, souvenir shops and stores, restaurants and a couple of beachfront bars.

There were a lot of people enjoying the day: surfing, sunbathing, doing exercise there were even people trying to fly kites, it was quite nice to see whole families having fun and enjoying the day. I do own a small lot in Tamarindo, I am not so sure what to do with it but some real estate investors in Guanacaste have contacted me to develop villas for rent. Costa Rica has many of these types of villas for rent in most beaches; people seem to prefer these because of the privacy and the price, which is definitely lower than staying at a hotel.

Tamarindo beach in particular is a bit crowded for my taste, there are several other beaches in Costa Rica a lot more secluded and way more peaceful, but we decided to spend the day here because of the easy access to commerce, grocery stores and because I had to check on my property in Tamarindo. I am going to give it a thought about the Villas for rent idea, who knows, it might be an interesting business after all. I wouldn’t move to Tamarindo just because I like my house where it is, but the drive is quick and I could just hire someone to take care of the property for me.

After sightseeing through Guanacaste beaches with the in laws and actually driving all the way to San Jose, so they could get a glimpse of the city life in Costa Rica, there are a few thoughts that cross my mind.  What I first noticed was that the new traffic law in Costa Rica is definitely working: we stayed there one night and people are definitely afraid of taking the car out, even on the news you can see a lot less car accidents than usual. People are going out for sure; they are just being a lot more responsible about it.

I did see a few properties in Guanacaste and in San Jose that sound like an awesome deal, but the real estate market in Costa Rica is on vacations these days, anymore research will have to be done after New Year’s. Apparently buying properties in Costa Rica during the holidays is near to impossible since both realtors and property owners are gone until next year. I didn’t waste my time though; I got pictures of beach properties and lovely houses in nice neighborhoods in San Jose, got the realtors information and left messages to everyone involved with the properties I fancied.

The family had a blast: we saw butterfly gardens, the national theatre; we went to at La Fiesta del Maiz, which can basically become my favorite fast food joint ever: they serve fresh sweet corn and chorreadas with sour cream, the best you can find, at ridiculously low prices. The only place I wished I had time to take them but couldn’t was the rain forest, they went back home with a smile on their faces anyways and I have to admit, I have become a great Costa Rica tourist guide, I should start a tour company at least in Guanacaste.

According to recent stats published by the “Latin Business Chronicle” this week, Costa Rica comes in the second place among the most globally developed countries in Latin America, while Panama keeps its number one position.

The director in chief of the newspaper, Joachim Bamrud, stated: “We defined globalization as the link a country has with the rest of the world… in general, Costa Rica has a very big view worldwide and it needs to be taken advantage of”. This is completely true, most foreigners think that Costa Rica is jungle, some even think that it is an island and that couldn’t be further from the truth: every business in Costa Rica: real estate, tourism and exports are huge and technology is way more developed than the rest of Latin America.

Guanacaste real estate for example is becoming as important as the tourism businesses in the area and it is definitely becoming a huge city very fast. Watching a city grow and become nice developed and cultural venue is definitely interesting and I am happy to se that Costa Rica gets recognize in such important matters, in a few years we may certainly get to the first place since Panama is only beating Costa Rica on this list because of the Panama Canal, while tourism here is increasing more and more each year. Economy in Costa Rica is expected to experience a few lows at the beginning of the year but nothing to be scared about, we just need to keep saving money and we should be ok.

With the new Traffic law in Costa Rica made official a couple of days ago one of the worst drunk driving records was broken just hours after it was made public: a middle aged man was found early in the morning with 3.5 scale of alcohol in his blood, the could hardly stand up by himself and even tried to get away in his car after the policemen took his keys. The Costa Rica man was processed and the estate took his car for good, his license was suspended and he has to do community work; another 4 men were stopped and are waiting to be prosecuted in the next hours.

In Costa Rica, drunk driving is now being penalized pretty strong and people can even go to jail if found driving recklessly or drunk, so pretty much this guy was lucky. People are now afraid of the new traffic law in Costa Rica and of course that is exactly what the government was looking to achieve.

I have stated before that Costa Rica is indeed a wonderful place to live, on of the reasons are the people themselves: In Costa Rica people are joyful ad funny, they like to celebrate a lot, they even have a hymn to alcohol (or guaro as they call it) so they definitely needed this type of laws implemented as soon as possible. Here in Guanacaste people are having fun and enjoying the wonderful weather and so far I haven’t heard of any big issue during the holidays. It makes me happy that people are learning to have fun responsibly.

In my case, I will take my family sightseeing through Guanacaste beaches today and tomorrow but I will try to take a chance and keep you posted on any important information, especially if I find any nice real estate bargain.

This week I couldn’t help to notice that all the local Guanacaste companies are throwing several Christmas parties for the children in the area: all week long I have seen children passing by with gifts and party goodies wearing their new outfits and having fun.

It is really nice to see them since most of the kids here in Guanacaste come from low income families, their little faces are worth to enjoy for a while, Children in Costa Rica do enjoy things a lot differently than we do in the States, but for some reason I think they are having more fun.

Christmas in Costa Rica has been quite a ride and me and my family have enjoyed it a lot, my parents arrived last night and will stay until Tuesday so this weekend we will have some fun riding around the Guanacaste beaches and sightseeing.

I was interested in purchasing a small lot near Tamarindo beach, this past week I saw several real estate listings in Guanacaste and apparently Tamarindo is offering nice property deals, unfortunately any business in real estate will have to wait until January since everyone has gone in vacations right now, for the moment I am planning on resting and enjoying with my family.

I hope you all enjoy a nice Christmas dinner tonight with your loved ones and like they say here in Costa Rica (and perfecting my Spanish): Feliz Navidad!!! Drive safely and although is time of celebration try not to drink too much, eat lots of tamales and God Bless!

Remember how in the 1980’s lots of people made incredible profits out of business tips given through out the world? One of those tips was given by International Living an international magazine specialized in providing tips and guidance to people who want to live overseas. The tip provided by the magazine in the 1980’s was to purchase cheap properties in the northern side of Costa Rica, specifically in Guanacaste since it was a raising paradisiacal area in one of the most impressive tropical locations in the world; those who followed the advice earn big profits over the years.

Now the time has come to make great real estate business in Costa Rica again, with the current financial crisis, properties in Guanacaste are now costing less than they did two years ago, but it is estimated that the prices will go back up in a year or two, meaning that the profit in real estate in Costa Rica is just waiting to become a huge deal.

Actually lots of housing projects in Guanacaste are for sale right now and there are also lots and ocean view properties available. Other good locations for real estate investments in Costa Rica are Puntarenas and San Jose, which, although has no ocean sighting nearby, the access to every other location in the country is a lot easier from San Jose. Costa Rica real estate is definitely one of the best investments in real estate because of the beauty, the variety and the low prices available.

In Costa Rica, traffic law instates a certain day for specific car plate numbers to drive through San Jose, Capital of the country. This driving restriction was set as a solution for the excessive traffic jams seen everywhere in down town San Jose. One a day a week cars with specific car plate’s numbers are not allowed to drive through down town streets for 24 hours.

This restriction will removed for the next couple of weeks son people can go and do their Christmas shopping, visit their relatives and enjoy the holidays peacefully without any problem at all. In Costa Rica there is an excessive amount of cars and the streets in most places are certainly not built for them, excessive traffic jams are seen everyday in San Jose, Heredia and Alajuela due to this.

The restriction was removed because during the holidays lots of people go on vacation and traffic are lesser than usual, also the people in Costa Rica who don’t have vacations need to drive freely through San Jose so they can run regular Christmas errands, visit their families and enjoy the traditional Christmas celebrations all over Costa Rica.

Here in Guanacaste, Costa Rica traffic restrictions are not valid given the fact that this is mostly a tourist area and well, it would be a bit difficult for people to enjoy or plan their vacation around their traffic restrictions. While I sit here and enjoy a nice cold agua dulce and prepare for a day a the beach I am happy to see so many people truly enjoying the holidays in the Guanacaste beaches, Ticos sure know how to take advantage of their beautiful sceneries.

It is amazing how the financial crisis is really hurting everyone’s pockets even during Christmas. Lots of stores in Costa Rica are actually cutting down prices before Christmas Eve, when usually this happens right after Christmas. It is sad somehow that all these economic problems affect the industry so much, especially since in Costa Rica some stores are owned by families and they count on their holiday sales.

People in Costa Rica have cut out most expenses due to the terrible financial situation the world is going through and some companies even had to cancel their Christmas parties and bonuses for employees, but this does not bring down the energetic and spirit of the Costa Rica Christmas traditions and people just try not spend as much, yet having all the things they usually need for the rompope, tamales and pierna e’ chancho. Maybe the plates will be a bit smaller this year, but it doesn’t mean that there is not going to be a celebration.

Holidays in Costa Rica are celebrated with the family and friends, there is always a place to go, In Guanacaste, hotels are in some cases offering a Christmas dinner for tourists and ex-pats, but in my case, I am having a few friends over from the area.

Well, Ticos have already entered the Holiday mode and people are finally going crazy in the stores supermarkets all over Costa Rica, I guess aguinaldos were finally given away. Yesterday, I went to Liberia to run some errands and I have to say I haven’t seen so much people in town since I came here: buying food and doing Christmas shopping.

Another good thing is that a 12:00 pm yesterday the 2 million visitors arrived: a nice New Jersey family of seven came for two weeks to enjoy the a lovely Costa Rica holiday and now they will have twice as much fun visiting amazing Costa Rica locations for free: swimming with dolphins, going to great hotels and restaurants, traveling through Costa Rica for free has to be 3 times better.

It is very nice to see how neighbors are going strong with Costa Rica traditional holiday foods: I have eaten 3 different types of tamales so far and they have all been very good. Another thing that caught my attention is that everyone cooks pork for Christmas, but only the leg (pierna e’ chancho is how they call it) and I did get a chance to taste it a couple of days ago, it was juicy and delightful. In Guanacaste people also make tamal de elote and chorreadas which are great with sour cream.

Once you live in Costa Rica for a while you tend to get excited about the details, like a well baked home made bread or a good fresh ceviche, and before I forget, if you are visiting the Guanacaste beaches these days, make sure you have a glass of agua dulce, it just can’t get any better than that.