Costa Rica-Real Estate Condos for sale in Guanacaste

I have some good updates about the progress of my housing project in Guanacaste that I would like to share with you:

The architects have been hired and are currently working on the designs possible for the land that I bought, we had a meeting last weekend in San Jose, architects are funny people, they seem all serious at first but once they get excited about a project they go crazy, I like to see that kind of drive in a professional. They are going to help hire construction workers and everything and although they have not told me anything about the designs they are thinking about, I know they are up to something good.

In Costa Rica, Guanacaste is one of the driest places and working here in construction must be terrible, I admire all those construction workers everyday doing hard work under the sun. This whole adventure as a real estate investor in Guanacaste has really opened up my eyes to many things I didn’t consider before and I have to say I am learning so much and getting so much feedback from every single move I make on this housing project that, if everything goes well, I might go into another property search sooner that expected.

According to my plans, I will have workers already building things in a month or month and a half, hopefully I am not mistaken, and I really want them to start when the temperatures are not as warm but not in the rainy season, since things might get delayed. Right now, I am off to one of the nearby Guanacaste beaches for a lunch date with the wife. Happy Valentine’s everyone. 

The first major Hollywood production filmed in Costa Rica was Jurassic park many years ago, after that there were several small films that used Costa Rica beaches as filming locations, mostly action movies and low budget films. Costa Rica production in movies was low and had a very poor quality, survived mostly on sponsorships so the entire movie was a huge publicity poster for big companies.

Today the view is way different: there are actually production schools and Hollywood itself has accepted Costa Rica as a viable option to film high budgeted movies: Sylvester Stallone, the Italian Stallion himself is filming his most recent movie in a location in a beach in Costa Rica and now, another action movies legend: Steven Seagal is meeting with the president of Costa Rica and has told him that he wants to help with the filmmaking industry because of the dramatic landscapes and use them in big Hollywood films.

That is actually something great for the newcomers such as Miguel Gomez and his Cielo Rojo movie, in my opinion the best movie made so far in Costa Rica. Hernan Jimenez is releasing his own movie this year and judging from his trailer, it appears to be a very good and touching movie, Costa Rica is actually taking advantage of its resources, and Hollywood has noticed, they want a piece of the action for sure.

Guanacaste beaches and jungles are also in the spotlight for several projects, Costa Rica is beautiful, there are very well trained professionals and it is a cheaper destination that other tropical locations, If you ask me, it took them long to realize all these.

I know that sometimes I advertise Costa Rica like I am getting paid to do it but you need to understand that living here has been the best thing that happened to me and my family, yet because it was a good thing for me it doesn’t mean it will be a good thing for you. Costa Rica is wonderful and Guanacaste, where I live in is heaven to me, but I am not so sure this peaceful life is for everyone.

Living in Guanacaste I have learned that big hectic highways and shopping malls are a thing of my past and only if necessary they can be part of my future, it is better to go have a nice day put in the farmer’s market in Liberia and enjoy a nice agua dulce while at it. That fancy restaurants only make my family uncomfortable and over dressed and that my kids enjoy the Guanacaste beaches a lot more than long drives to expensive amusement parks.

I have also learned that I, a middle class retired man can afford living like a king because the real estate market in Costa Rica is way cheaper than it is in USA and that maintaining a nice luxury home is three times cheaper in Costa Rica. Having a packed fridge costs much less and because of these I can become a real estate developer in Costa Rica y not a boring retired middle aged man.

Guanacaste has brought back my excitement for life and that peaceful feeling I used to have when I graduated college years ago. My home in Guanacaste has become the home of my children I hope it also becomes the home of my grand children and so forth. Yes were used to the city life and running and going crazy everyday, but that was because we didn’t know better and here in Guanacaste my life has improved, my health has improved and the way I see things has improved.

After living in Costa Rica for a while now I have noticed that ICE and the telecommunications subject always has material to talk about, to be honest I have never seen a services company so unprofessional and yes childish is the word I find to describe it: the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad is like that misbehaved child every parent fears to raise.

The good thing is that with the implementation of the TLC (free trade agreement with USA) Costa Rica will have the monopoly and “reign of fear” set up by ICE removed and citizens will now be able to chose which telecommunications services company they want to work with: Hurray Costa Rica!

So far there are a total of 6 companies looking for a spot to compete with ICE: Ticom, Amnet, ICANN, WorldCOM, InterTel Worldwide and R&H Internacional Telecom these companies sent their offers to be reviewed by SUTEL a few months ago and now all of Costa Rica is patiently waiting to see what kind of changes they are going to experience with this. The ICE spokesperson has declared that they trust de fidelity of the Costa Rica people and believe that at least 90% of the current users will stay with ICE.

To be honest, I hear Costa Rica citizens so tired of putting up with ICE’s tantrums that I wouldn’t be so optimistic with those numbers, specially when they raise rates without any type of approval from the Costa Rica government and intimidate people with black outs and what not if they don’t get what they want.

Guanacaste for example could use a better offer of telecommunication services, the one we have right now is kind of mediocre and to be honest I know companies that would benefit a lot just offering better telecommunication services in Guanacaste alone. 

Taking advantage of my weekend in San Jose, I bought tickets to enjoy a motocross show taking place on Saturday night: X-Knights. We arrive a little early and had great seats, the adrenaline was rising up and we were hoping to enjoy a very extreme show, and the heck we did.

Only a few minutes after the X-Knights show began the famous motocross driver Jeremy Lusk had a terrible accident and after flying up on his motorcycle he fell on the ground right on his head and was rushed to the hospital immediately. This was not the first time the X-Knights visited Costa Rica and although every safety measure was taken, extreme sports are called extreme for a reason.

Reading the newspapers I now find out that the motocross driver is still in the hospital, in coma and according to official statements from his publicist: -Lusk, of Temecula, is in Calderon Guardia Hospital in San Jose, in stable but critical condition with swelling of the brain. His coma was medically induced.-

It is really disturbing to see an athlete fall extreme sports in Costa Rica are very common and that is probably one of the reason the X-Knights show is so successful here, our prayers go to Lusk’s family and we hope he gets better in no time. Back in Guanacaste my kids are still talking about the accident, we did stay for the whole show; yet seeing such a moment live has them a bit altered.

Regarding my housing development project, business went great and all I have to do for now is wait and try to remove Lusk’ image falling from my head.

It has been the two worst days of the year weather wise, I am in San José right now running some errands and the temperature is so cold I regret leaving the other jacket back home. As I explained yesterday Costa Rica is right now going through a very cold stage and although in Guanacaste all we felt was a chilly breeze other provinces of Costa Rica are really having a rough time.

In Alajuela, Costa Rica just suffered a terrible earthquake and all the refugees that are living tents are having a terrible time due to the strong cold winds. A lot of help is needed there.  As per the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, weather has brought strong rains and so far there is known that some towns are flooded.

San Jose and some downtown areas are experiencing temperatures below 15 degrees and strong winds. Some friends I have in San José were telling me that last night winds were so strong they thought their rooftops were going to fly off; so far there hasn’t been any news about such situations anywhere in Costa Rica.

I have to spend the weekend in San Jose; Costa Rica is such a lovely place but definitely has the weirdest weather I have seen in my life. I am off to buy a warmer coat and run my errands, I am meeting with the real estate finance people today to continue the process for my housing project in Guanacaste, have a lovely weekend everyone.

Yep…bad weather hits Costa Rica once again and in February nonetheless. It is not raining or anything but very strong winds and cold temperatures are striking most Costa Rica areas since Tuesday. People in Costa Rica were forced to take out their winter clothes once again due to extreme cold winds.

Here in Guanacaste weather has been a bit chilly but we are still experiencing nice sunny days, which are great for all the tourists visiting, it makes it less warm and easier to enjoy all the fun activities in the area, however the people from Alajuela living in the refuges after the earthquake Costa Rica experienced a few weeks ago are not having such good luck since the strong winds have been dismantling their tends and their children are getting sick because of the low temperatures.

Apparently this bad weather will stop this weekend, but so far, all I can say is that if you are going to be in San Jose during the next three days, remember to bring a warm jacket and do not try to walk around just wearing sandals. Costa Rica is definitely a paradise like location but since it is located in the middle of the tropics, Costa Rica is bound to experience sudden temperature changes all the time.

As for and my family, we are getting ready to go have a nice lunch in on of the nearby Guanacaste beaches and run some errands.

People who like to invest in properties take their time and carefully pick their ventures, no matter where the business is located: as long as it is profitable, we are good to go. Some people though strive to look for a specific place where they can run their real estate investments and also have a comfortable, that is where Costa Rica becomes a golden opportunity.

The main reason I personally chose this location was because of the beauty of the place of course: Guanacaste beaches are extremely amazing and after coming to Costa Rica on vacations I just fell in love with the place and the very peaceful and comfortable lifestyle. Guanacaste properties offered a great variety of choices and the entire place is so amazing that I know for a fact that people would love to live here.

Another reason why I chose Guanacaste real estate as a business for me and my family was the fact that I could get better and bigger properties in Costa Rica for less money than I would in USA, not to mention that after retirement the least thing I wanted to do was deal with the hectic life in North America.

Getting to know the place is easy and managing the real estate in Guanacaste is actually a walk in the park, neighbors are nice and workers are trustable, education in Costa Rica is even better that in better developed countries and the culture itself is very rich and impressive. There was no way to go wrong with this decision.

The first property in Costa Rica I bought was my own home and after learning how much vacationers wanted a place like mine to enjoy their holidays and how many people are moving to Liberia for business I knew which path to choose: create a housing project for normal people, a place where people could move into and enjoy Guanacaste at its best.

Major international pizza franchise Domino’s Pizza has pulled a very low blow to its employees in Costa Rica and the Work Ministry as well leaving 135 employees out of work without previous notice and under very false excuses.

It all began last Friday during closing time, all employees with keys to all 9 Domino’s Pizza restaurants in Costa Rica were asked to leave the keys to all facilities with the excuse that personnel from the Health Ministry will be arriving early in the morning to run some check ups due to costumer complains. The employees came back to their work places on Saturday morning to find the restaurants dismantled and no one to give them any reason why. All the 135 Domino’s Pizza employees were out of work, without any excuse whatsoever.

Early Monday morning they were supposed to meet with Domino’s Pizza managers to see about the vacations money, aguinaldos and all the law guarantees they are supposed to receive but again no one from Domino’s Costa Rica showed up to the meeting they planned for the employees. These types of situations are not very common in Costa Rica, given the fact that the work law is quite dependable and detailed, yet it some textile companies left hundreds of employees hanging in the past decades.

As for the Domino’s Pizza ex-employees, they are now getting advice on how to sue the company and prevent them from taking any work materials such as ovens, freezers and machinery out of Costa Rica since the sale of those items might mean they will get the money they deserve. If anyone knows a way to help these Costa Rica workers please feel free to leave a comment.

It is good to find out how Costa Rica is not letting the financial crisis get to them and finds different ways to keep their business and economy working regardless the situation. Not only have they been creating a plan to explode de European tourism market but also they have opened import markets that were previously closed due to several undisclosed issues, like tomato imports to the United States and Europe.

And it is probably because Costa Rica traditional markets are conformed by products and services that people need no matter what: tomatoes, flowers, bananas and well, Costa Rica tourism is one of the most important destinations in America. As I explained in previous posts, the real estate market in Costa Rica is keeping high number due to renting properties and not so much selling real estate.

Guanacaste is still a good place to run a business and the economy of the place has pretty much remain the same. Actually, besides Guanacaste tourism, another great business source of the area is cattle and the most important Costa Rica farms are settled here. Good meat is sold throughout the country and some is even imported to several locations in America due to its high quality.

My point with all of these babbling is that Costa Rica economy is completely safe…at the least for the moment, though I don’t really foresee much changes anytime soon and people should just continue with their lifestyle in peace. The country is dealing with the crisis better than bigger counterparts are and that should really help with our peace of mind as Costa Rica citizens.