Costa Rica-Real Estate Condos for sale in Guanacaste

When I finally made the decision of relocating to a environment my main goal was to find peace, although I was never looking to get away from learning new exciting things. Costa Rica caught my attention when I friend of my brought pictures of his last vacation: there peaceful sceneries as well as great variety of fun things to do, so I began my research about all the possible locations I might like in Costa Rica. Guanacaste was of course the winner.

I fell in love with the views: Guanacaste Mountains seemed like another dimension to me, being so close to the ocean, the way the colors looked and that calm sensation was priceless. I first came to Costa Rica to get an idea of what it may feel like to live in such place and it was exactly what I wanted. Then I visited possible areas in Guanacaste: Flamingo beach was nice, but the nightlife was a bit overwhelming for an old guy like me; I liked the marina, so I knew I did not want to be too far away from it. Next stop was Tamarindo: great for youngsters and surfers, my children would enjoy it and it was a pretty neat town, although I was not a fan of the tourists (ironic, isn’t it). Playa Panama was so beautiful I honestly thought it was the place, until I realized I was going to be too far away from commercial places like supermarkets and drugstores. One of the most impressive beaches in Costa Rica is Carrillo it has one of the top ten sunsets in the world but again, not so close to urban areas.

Yes, this could be your everyday sunset for the rest of your life…

It was a hard search and it took a lot of work to finally come to the conclusion that if I was going to enjoy Costa Rica, Liberia was the best choice: every single place I loved was close driving wouldn’t take me more than an hour in most cases and it had every single service and facility necessary to live comfortable. Costa Rica was exactly what I was looking for.

In Costa Rica, luxury villas a lot cheaper than they would be in the US, and a lot more luxurious if I may add: a four bedroom, 2 bathroom villa with air conditioning, nice size swimming pool and a very decent piece of land could cost from $225000 to maybe $900.000 and that doesn’t even count the incredible views, weather and variety of activities. Guanacaste also has many residential projects and a condo can be purchase a very fair price anywhere in Costa Rica. Schools are available anywhere and the most prestigious private schools have branches in Guanacaste as well, so if you have children, no matter if they are in elementary school or college, education is nearby and accessible.

As you can see, there was really no reason to hesitate on my decision. My only recommendation is to be completely sure of what kind of property in Costa Rica will work best for you and you half way there.

This information really makes proud about choosing to move to Costa Rica. Reading the news yesterday I found a little piece of history that supports my idea of how wonderful a world without an army (like Costa Rica has lived in for over 50 years) could be better.

Since 1980, Costa Rica, the first country in the modern world to abolish its army, was chosen to become head quarters of a very important institution: Established by the United Nations, University of Peace is an independent university for postgraduate studies. From Costa Rica, University collaborators have been establishing programs in Africa, Central Asia, the Asia Pacific region, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and North America where they aimed to teach inhabitants to do things based on the UN Charter, the Declaration of Human Rights.

One of the main reason why Costa Rica has become a top destination for both vacationing or relocation is the fact that the way of life in this country is based under a “peace comes first” ideal and this view of the world has catapulted Costa Rica destinations to be part of the most important in the world.

The University of Peace was established in Costa Rica because of that view and because that view is exactly what they want to portray and teach the world. From Costa Rica, they have managed to expand missions defending peace and human right all over the world. At this moment, John J. Maresca, the Rector of UPeace is beginning the expansion of the University to take detailed care on Human Rights issues that may have been neglected in the past. Graduates of the University of Peace are now leaving Costa Rica to become spokes persons for peace and the respect of human rights all over the world.

Now, this reassures me that relocating to Costa Rica was a great idea. Sometimes, real estate in Costa Rica focuses too much in the cold areas of property selling and forgets that buying a property in Costa Rica not only includes a piece of land, but also includes learning to live a place where guns or fights have never had the last word.

The old Costa Rica National Stadium is gone for good

Apparently not only the Costa Rica athletes are working hard back in Beijing Olympic Games: The National Olympic Committee of Costa Rica (CON) has confirmed that on Thursday they finished up negotiations to receive help from the Chinese government to create and developed sports medicine clinic plans to exchange efforts to train athletes and coaches.

The help was requested by the president of the CON Mr. Roberto Verdecia and the idea of a sports clinic in Costa Rica has been projected by the CON since this pat June. The project was supported by the National Counsel of Sports and the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (CCSS), entity in charge of health issues in Costa Rica. The idea was proposed on a meeting between Mr. Verdecia and the deputy head of the General Administration of Sports Mr. Feng Jianzhong, who agreed to provide all the requested help.

The government of China has been helping Costa Rica developments for a while now, including the reconstruction and remodeling of the Costa Rica National Stadium in San Jose. The sports clinic will be an addition to the current support the Chinese nation is providing to Costa Rica athletes, encouraging young people to practice sports and find better ways to live and  be successful.

The good thing about these projects is not only the wonderful upgrades made to the stadium and the very necessary addition to the clinic, but the fact that China is caring for the status of sports figures and athletes in Costa Rica. The country itself has been so grateful with the Chinese nation that plans of building a little “China town” in San Jose is being developed by San Jose’s mayor Johnny Araya to pay tribute to all the given help China has provided.

As you probably already know, there are only two airports in Costa Rica: Juan Santamaria in Alajuela and Daniel Oduber in Guanacaste. The Daniel Oduber airport was built only a few years ago to comply with the high increase in incoming visitors to the area and to help with the huge load of work the Alajuela airport was receiving. Since a big percentage of visitors were actually coming to Guanacaste, it was a great addition.

The Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism (CATURGUA) is estimating an average of 530,000 tourists will be expected to arrive in Costa Rica via Liberia’s Daniel Oduber International Airport by 2010. There has been quite an increase in arrivals between 2001 and last December, when the number of visitors showed a big 574% increase rate. Although the numbers of these projections will call for urgent expansion plans, yet estimated changes won’t be occurring until 2010. 

According to The National Concessions Council an international public bidding packet, No. 01-2007 was published for this project. This bidding packet establishes public infrastructure concession terms for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the new Daniel Oduber Airport. Guanacaste can expect big changes, yet it will have to wait a little bit to see them happen. 

In Costa Rica, Guanacaste is one of the most chosen destinations for tourism, mostly because of the beautiful, pristine beaches and natural reservations: volcanoes, forests and amazing sites. Also Costa Rica real estate market includes many properties in the Guanacaste area, vacation villas, hotels and residential properties are always at the top of the list. Costa Rica has been promoting their ecotourism everywhere and people like me, that have moved to the country looking for a better, healthier and more peaceful lifestyle are also encouraging others to do the same. Soon, Costa Rica will need to make even more changes to comply with the high demand.

If you have heard about Costa Rica, you know that it is known no only because of the natural beauties, rainforests and beaches, but also because in Costa Rica peace is one of the most important treasures of the country. They constantly thrive to keep violence away and one of their methods is not having an army at all. The last time Costa Rica had an army was in 1948 when the last civil war took place, after that battle army was permanently removed until this date.

A few years ago the current president of Costa Rica won the Nobel Prize for Peace, because of his strong efforts to keep violence and fighting away from Central America. Children are often brought up to believe in peace and keep Costa Rica life as simple as possible. It may be harder nowadays, yet there are still many efforts being made to keep it as peaceful as possible.

At this moment, Costa Rica is joining Brazil signing into law a ban on child abuse by parents and guardians. This law is looking to eradicate violence as a punishment and clearly states that they want to change the “Rights of children and adolescents for discipline without corporal punishment and humiliation”. This law has been part of the U.S code of conduct for years now, yet in Latin America it has not been instated until now. With this law, the Costa Rica government plans to teach parents to discipline their children by setting up examples, getting to know them, negotiate and avoid using physical and humiliating punishment.

According to a study conducted by IDESPO 2003, in Costa Rica homes, 65.3% of parents beat, kick and pinch and 74.2% yell and verbally abuse their children. This comes from generations and generations and it is part of Latin American traditions. Also, these changes are part of the struggle people in Costa Rica are making to diminish violent behavior among youngsters, since it has been quite clear that crime rate and violence related issues have been increasing in the past few years and Costa Rica homes, families and mostly children deserve to have a society without violence.

While searching for properties one should always keep a detailed list of basic needs: land size, location, facilities required, construction age, and type of property, price range and such important details. Costa Rica land sales, real estate and property market is quite big and has and extensive variety, therefore, one needs to be wise before jumping into a business. Different type of locations includes different types of perks or issues. Most of the information is in fact available on the real estate listings; Costa Rica is in fact quite clear regarding property investments.

Dealing with companies may be a bit more expensive than dealing with the property owner, yet Costa Rica laws regarding real estate businesses with foreigners tend to be a bit confusing and realtors might be quite handy: requirements, partners, paperwork, all of those very annoying steps to follow might be easier to bear having someone who has certain experience on the field. From my own experience, Costa Rica realtors are very knowledgeable and helpful.

In Guanacaste, Costa Rica has an impressive variety of properties: condos, villas, apartments, lots, farms and many different opportunities. A luxury villa may sound pricy at first; yet, once you see the market potential and beauty, not to mention the unique locations, prices just become the smallest problem. Now, if you happen to find a lot while searching Costa Rica properties, building prices are actually cheap, as well as decorations, details and labor.

Regarding areas, I am afraid I have to repeat myself: be clever and investigate! Some places may sound incredible and the price may sound fair but, since Costa Rica is such a small country, an incredibly beautiful location may be surrounded by dangerous or crappy places and you will be losing money, no matter how amazing the property is built and finished. Costa Rica real estate blogs and forums are great places to find information, so check them and do not be afraid to ask any questions.

At this moment, several parties are discussing whether the new housing projects developing in Guanacaste are destroying natural resources in Costa Rica or not. As I have previously informed a few ago, Costa Rica tourism is one of the most important economic activities in the country and it has been set clear that all the projects were carefully studied before hand to prevent any kind of issue or problem with the natural environment on every area.

A prove of this is an official list created by Ethical Traveler which honors, in their own words, countries that consider and preserve environmental protection, social welfare and human rights in the world’s developing nations. In alphabetical order, these are the countries that made the top 10 of that list: Argentina, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Estonia, Namibia, Nicaragua, and South Africa. As you can see, Costa Rica thrives to increase and preserve their natural treasures and the developments approved on the different areas do not translate into a threat to either the environment or ay natural resource. Costa Rica, maybe a small country yet, it not blinded by money, they are still aware of what the true richness is and will compromise it that easily.

The resources used to create this list include big international entities such as Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy and Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network; progress made by countries in reducing infant mortality rates as measured by UNICEF; and reports on civil liberties and human rights from sources like Amnesty International and Freedom House.

So, if you have Costa Rica properties in mind as part of your investments, do not be hesitant about their commitment with the environment. Costa Rica real estate agencies also conduct detailed studies on the properties they offer in the case they seem fishy. Acquiring property in Costa Rica is in fact an investment worth to make, not an adventure in creepy places. 

Because of its location on the map, Costa Rica goes through several weather changes not only throughout the year, but also it varies from location to location. The weather you feel in the Caribbean coasts is definitely no the same you will see in Heredia or Cartago; Costa Rica actually takes advantage of all these differences and uses the natural resources as they have developed in each area. When you are checking real estate, Costa Rica weather must be on your check list as a priority, so I have come up with a small explanation about the different types of weather you may find depending on the location.

North Side: Limon and the Caribbean: The weather on this specific area of Costa Rica is very humid, most of the rain forests are located on the surroundings and it rains a lot in the area. The humid weather type is stronger the closest you get to the coast, since the sea breeze merges with the rainy ambience.

East Side: Guanacaste area: This area I am beginning to know like the back of my hand. One of the most impressive things about weather in Costa Rica is that it does change very drastically from one place to the other. Costa Rica rainy areas are only a few miles away from Guanacaste and yet, this is the driest place in the country. The weather in Guanacaste during the summer can be compared to dessert hot and the scenery resembles this accurately.

South Side: Puntarenas: This is where it all comes together. Although the temperature is mostly warm, Puntarenas does get a bit humid, especially on the rainy season. Some areas do experience dry weather depending on the altitude and believe it or not, Monteverde is extremely rainy and cold. Let’s say it has something for everyone taste.

West Side: On the west side of Costa Rica there are different parts of both Limon and Puntarenas, yet the weather is very much humid, like in the Caribbean side of the country.

Middle Side: As I have explained before, Costa Rica weather changes depending on the location. The middle area of the country changes its temperature depending on how high o below sea level each location is. Heredia has a quite fresh sunny weather, while Cartago is cold and rainy, Alajuela has awesome temperatures and San Jose tends to be a mixture of everything.

Everyone is familiar with the phenomenon American Idol has been over the years and I am pretty sure that some of you have even follow at least one contestant at one point. In Latin America, they also have their own version of the show and at this moment Costa Rica has a very talented contestant participating. She is a very lovely 17 year old girl named Maria Jose Castillo from Heredia. Costa Rica has had two other contestants in previous editions of the show yet; it was not possible for the fans to vote since the telecommunications in Costa Rica were not compatible to the ones used for voting.

The girl is quite talented and I decided to make a small space here for her in case you are in Costa Rica lands next week. She will be featured on the show next Wednesday and voting will be enabled as soon as the show ends that same day. All of Costa Rica will be cheering for the teenager, if want to get a glimpse of her performance, be my guest, this was her audition:

YouTube - LATIN AMERICAN IDOL 2008: Maria Jose Castillo TOP 30

This is Costa Rica’s little idol

As you can see, there are even more Costa Rica treasures besides properties, beaches and rainforests. Although Maria Jose is the only Costa Rican participating she can definitely brighten a room with her voice. In Costa Rica, music has always been a big deal and you can actually feel it: lots of the most important compositors and musicians were born in Guanacaste; real estate wasn’t the most important thing after all.

If you liked Maria Jose’s audition, don’t miss her performance next Wednesday and if did like her and want to cheer for the little Costa Rica idol, voting will be enable after the show and you can access it sending the word MARIA to the number 43657.

A few years ago I decide that I was no longer going to put up with the crazy lifestyle of the U.S and decided to look for a place to rest and spend my golden years. After much research I found what I call now my home: a nice Costa Rica Villa in Guanacaste. I didn’t know being here was my dream until I actually came in the front door.  When I first heard of Guanacaste, Costa Rica seemed like a huge rain forest to me and I honestly thought I will not be able to find good real estate. Costa Rica seemed like a dark hole with lovely beaches, but not a place to actually live in, wasn’t I wrong.

At this moment I can tell you that there are many housing projects in all of Costa Rica: San Jose is being remodeled, sort of speak, and tall apartment buildings are being developed in La Sabana surroundings, providing lovely housing arrangements downtown. Also, if you take a quick look to real estate listings, Costa Rica is including more and more residential projects on the Alajuela and Heredia provinces. Cartago, especially Tres Rios, has been developing lovely residential areas for the past ten years and getting a big house near malls and offices is no longer a dream for anyone.

This could be your backyard….

But in Guanacaste, real estate choices are better, cheaper and so much nicer: A villa, like the one I live in, has beautiful sceneries surrounding the property, trees, palm trees, the ocean; fun loving animals of the area are part of your neighborhood and everyday life. The peaceful breeze and the fresh sea water smell cannot be compared to anything. Getting relocated can be quite stressful, but once you see that Costa Rica is in fact that dreamland you had always on your mind, you will see the effort paying up. Right now, there is a boom in Guanacaste, housing projects are all over the place and the prices are worth to look at. Most of these properties are built due to the fast development of the Liberia area, and since the industry is cleverly locating properties where the natural resources are not affected, you can be at peace and still enjoy Costa Rica nature close to your new home.