You might wonder what the main difference is between living an entire life in the big city where technology is everywhere and development is part of the day of everybody and what is like to leave all that behind and relocate to a completely different country, such as Costa Rica, the main difference is that actually there are a whole bunch of differences.
At the beginning all my friends thought I went senile: Relocating to Costa Rica? Moving the whole family? Yes, but not because I was senile, I just got tired of the stress and the insanity of the big city. Costa Rica offered me everything I secretly desired: peace, a normal life, less dependency to a whole bunch of gadgets that became expensive and unnecessary and most importantly: PEACE.
Finding my home in Costa Rica was not easy of course, but finding a home anywhere is hard nowadays. The first thing was learning about Costa Rica: people for example are very different than US people: They are happier, the care less about the stupid mundane things, yet they are proud and well educated. Women are the ones that impress me the most. Costa Rica women are very liberal, they don’t put up with anything at all and they don’t really need a man in their lives, they just happened to liked being married, but in many cases they even work harder or make more money than the husbands.
In the US people are not so close to their roots, properties in Costa Rica are not only investments but treasures: Soil is rich, the views are stunning and the entire ambiance is filled with a very peaceful feeling. Land in Costa Rica Is very well taken care of and it has many uses: cultivating and constructions are not the only two choices. If you take a chance to do some research in real estate, make sure you try and find everything there is about the place where you are moving in Costa Rica: mountain side, rain forest, beach side or event down town.
Although it appears that some of the big development projects in Guanacaste were put on hold for while, it appears that there actually nothing to worry about. For a moment a lot of realtors and investors in Costa Rica were a little bit frustrated and worried, yet the hold was set with the best interest.
Due to the terrible weather conditions that the Guanacaste area suffered in the past month, a lot of emergency alerts were set and most of the projects that ere put on hold just needed to be either checked for security and some because of their proximity to the affected areas.
The weather has now cleared a whole lot and some of the holds were removed already, some properties in Guanacaste still need to go through a detailed check up but everything seems to moving smoothly and quick.
Guanacaste real estate is also changing due to the fact that people are really getting tired of the ridiculous high prices and even some real estate agents in Costa Rica have started to do something about it, refusing to deal properties that don’t comply with their standards. It is ok that a huge property located in the middle of an impressive Guanacaste beach to be expensive, but no one was really checking if the prices were fair or not.
The sunny days in Guanacaste beaches and forests are only a few weeks away and people are definitely getting ready to spend a well deserved vacation during the holidays. If you are planning to do the same, make sure you get your reservations quickly since most vacation properties in Guanacaste might get rented before you know it.
Is it to hard to live in a trailer? Talking to some people about how really expensive real estate in Costa Rica has become for Ticos (yes, I know I am becoming annoying with this, but trust me I have a good point) One the locals introduced me to a new a very useful way to build a home: Containers!
Apparently, in some other locations worldwide, building a home inside one or several containers has become one of the easiest and cheapest ways to own a home and not spend ridiculous high amounts of money. In Costa Rica, container homes have not been used so far, but I hear that it is a topic under study.
Finished Container Home: A Solution for Costa Rica Homes?
These container homes can be built in only 4 weeks and they can be as big as you want them, even have multiple floors. The very well known FortBragg in the US Army is already using one of these constructions as an administrative command center.
Costa Rica is a wonderful, place and if these container homes project is taking into further consideration maybe the issue of unaffordable prices in real estate will be fixed. These homes can a nice solution in Guanacaste for example where the climate is too hot to work a property for several months or in Limon where it rains most of the year. So far, this container home conversation was only in our table but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Costa Rica government or even the people start testing these container homes.
It would be a lot easier to provide housing projects for families with low incomes; young professionals might be able to finally afford their Costa Rica home and stop wasting money on rent; space can be used wiser in the residential areas located near the National Parks in Costa Rica, definitely a win/win situation.
The final steps to begin working with the approved TLC (Free Trade Agreement) Costa Ricaworked with the US government will be put on hold until November 6th, 2008 according to recent resolution between the Costa Rica government and the US. On that date a delegation that will be headed by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Carlos Gutiérrez, and the United States Trade Representative, Susan Schwab will arrive in Costa Rica to check on final details and operations required to start moving on with the proposal and the process and advances of approving the last of the 13 “complimentary” laws that are required to accompany the trade deal.
Costa Rica agreed with the TLC last year after several years of discussions and even and entire referendum to make sure that the agreement was a decision made by the majority of citizens, as the their democratic laws and government type requires. Costa Ricais much firmed on their democratic and peaceful way of living and decisions are often made taking into account the opinion of the people first.
Even development projects in Guanacaste, Puntarenas, Limon or any other province where natural reservations may be around have to be approved by a board or commission before hand. Properties in Costa Rica located in the surrounding areas of beaches, rain forests, volcanoes and rivers are carefully checked to make sure they comply with all protection requirements.
Regarding the Free Trade Agreement (TLC), Costa Rica has been the hardest country to sign, and now with this delay some countries that have already moved forward will stay on stand by until the agreement is finalized.
If you ask me, I am actually proud that this country work so fair with their people, laws and the government is actually handle by the word of the citizens. Costa Rica government model should be used as an example of democracy and taken into consideration for other countries, even the US government.
Reading the news today I found a very nice and interesting article: The cure for the mosquito transmitted disease Malaria might inside the Costa Rica rain forests!
Every year an estimated 1-3 million people die from Malaria all over the world and although Malaria is not a common disease in Costa Rica at all, there are so many different types of plants hidden inside the rainforests, scientists and doctors have been collecting samples of the wide diversity available and so far 50 of them seem very promising and two of them actually appear to be medicinal candidates are from the Asteraceae and Meliaceae families. The Asteraceae family includes flowers like asters, daisies and sunflowers. This means that Costa Rica forests will not only be used to preserve species and run ecological tours nut also to save millions of lives around the world.
The plants from the Meliaceae family have been used as natural cures for fevers in some parts of the world and herbal remedies like the plant Echinacea are also found in the Asteraceae family. Costa Rica lands are known to be quite rich and the discovery of these potential remedies is a huge step forward in contemporary medicine, not only in Costa Rica, but all over the world.
Costa Rica products include bananas, coffee, some medicinal plants and homeopathic treatments for several diseases, flowers, rice and of course, tourism and of course my favorite: Costa Rica real estate. The variety of business as you can see as somehow related to the richness in Costa Rica natural resources, something every country should start paying more attention to. In the United States we have lost over half our mountains, forests and beaches, which is extremely sad since technology will cannot replace living in a paradise of natural beauties such as Costa Rica.
For someone who has lived in Guanacaste for several months I think I have managed to get to know how businesses in the Costa Rica real estate market works; I have learned so much I think I would actually like to become a realtor in my spare time. Properties, hotels, apartments, lots, villas, houses and even mansions are part of the every day real estate listings in Costa Rica and like in any other place there is people who like doing fair business and those who like to scam foreigners to see how much money they can get.
The best places are of course usually handled by the most serious companies. Yet there are some awesome Costa Rica properties that are used only for rentals and purchasing prices can be insane. Other just build and design these wonderful beach side villas especially for sale and those are the ones a regular John can afford.One of the most common real estate deals, especially downtown is to get either a lot or a very old house and deign your own home from scratch. Costa Rica has very beautiful contemporary architecture designs and some of the newest buildings are also inspired on those designs, also building a home in Costa Rica is not as expensive as it is in the United States or Europe.
Finding a place that meets all your needs takes patience, requires a lot of research and detail. Costa Rica is one of the most desirable locations to purchase real estate not only because of the accessible prices compared to other locations in the world, but also because of the beauty of the place, the variety of sceneries, the people, the culture and the business opportunities. In Costa Rica, real estate is not only well developed but meets both luxury and accessibility.
Doing some checking on this blog, I noticed I haven’ made a post on one of the most important things to know about Costa Rica: banks. I feel it is very important for everyone to know how banking works in this country not only for common knowledge, Costa Rica economy tends to work different than what we are used to so all we foreigners need to be on our toes.
There are two types of banking entities in Costa Rica: estate banks and private banks. The main bank is Banco Central de Costa Rica and they handle everything related with economy neutrally: nothing goes by unless it is approved by Banco Central first. This bank is located in San Jose. Costa Rica does not have any branch of this bank anywhere else in the country.
Banco Central de Costa Rica, San Jose.
The other estate banks are Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BNCR), Banco de Costa Rica (BCR), Banco Popular and Banco Credito Agricola de Cartago. The BNCR is one of the oldest estate banks, their main offices are located right next to Banco Central in down town San Jose and they own the tallest building in Costa Rica; these two are the most trusted banks when it comes to personal use and business negotiations. Banco Popular was created to help middle low class and low class citizens achieve their goals providing them with helpful loans and helping them with their businesses. Last but not least Banco Credito Agrícola de Cartago is also an estate entity focused on helping agriculture expand, especially in the Cartago area.
Private banking is also very common in Costa Rica. BAC San Jose could be considered the biggest one and they handled one of the most important credit card companies in Costa Rica: Credomatic (as well as American Express). Scotia Bank has branches all over the world and in Costa Rica they are well known because they provide financing choices for middle class to high class citizens for business, housing and even car purchases. Other very important private banking entities are HSBC, Banco Cuscatlan, Banca Promerica and Grupo Uno, which provide regular banking services such as savings accounts, loans, credit cards and investment opportunities, yet they don’t handle businesses as big as the other private banks.
If you have ever lived in New York or know someone who does you are probably familiar with the apartment rental problem and how rent controlled apartments work. People go crazy whenever someone is leaving one of these apartments; they wait years for someone to actually die to get one. Costa Rica rentals, at least permanent rentals, are becoming just as hard to get.
Young ticos, all they can do is dream…
Young people in Costa Rica who are starting their independent lives, are going through quite a ride trying to get a place to move in near their schools and work places: rent is way high for a person that studies and works, so they have to figure out a way to be able to afford rent and avoid wasting money on gas (if they are luck y to own a car), transportation and food. Costa Rica has very low salaries compared to the costs of food every necessities, affordable apartments or homes that work for them are very few and hard to get, normally those apartments tend to cost as much as their salaries or more, so whenever normal priced apartment shows up they will do anything to get it. As I have explained before, real estate in Costa Rica has taken a very bad turn for Ticos: prices on the real estate listings have become affordable only to foreigners, especially “gringos”.
Young professionals do try to make ends meet by having 2 jobs or freelancing while having a regular 9 to 5 job. Costa Rica has one of the highest literacy rates in the world, meaning that young professionals are actually a majority and affordable apartments are not. Costa Rica business panorama is more and more focus on getting international businesses interested, which is great for us, yet the locals are the ones that have to pay for it.
Today I am very happy to announce that I have compelling prove that al the beauties I speak about Costa Rica have, in some part been validated by a world known entity: The Punta Islita Hotel in Nicoya, Guanacaste has been chosen 9th among the most beautiful hotels in Latin America and number 94th in the world by the travel magazine “Travel+Leisure”.
Punta Islita is located in a tropical dry forest and is one of many beaches you can find in Guanacaste, it is located right on the Peninsula de Nicoya and it is one of the most peaceful and pristine beaches of Costa Rica: seclude peaceful areas, wonderful forest trails and long beaches all around can be easily compared to heaven. Guanacaste is of course known for its paradisiacal views, mountains, beaches and natural reserves, as well as volcanoes and a variety of activities and Punta Islita is of course part of this wonderful place.
Also the Punta Islita Hotel is one of the few hotels in Latin America that practices “responsible tourism” meaning that they have compromised to do business without compromising any of the natural resources in the area and actually taking care of the environmental treasures that surround it, helping the Guanacaste, Costa Rica community and even holding an Art museum in their premises.
It is very important for Costa Rica tourism that all these wonderful places are recognize worldwide, since actually tourism is one of the most important economic activities of the country. Also, it is important that people interested in Costa Rica real estate opportunities are aware that most of the developments in the area do care for the ecological resources and that no harm is being made to Costa Rica treasures at all.
Living in Costa Rica is my dream come true, it is really funny how you imagine your retirement to be peaceful and fun; the places where you see yourself resting, the views everything, you never know there is actually a place like the one you imagine until you set foot in Costa Rica.
Guanacaste is my home, it is the place I worked so hard to enjoy and I love it, but I have to admit that there are so many wonderful places here, I might move around a little more and I have learned so much about Costa Rica real estate, I know now exactly what to look for in most of the places I am interested in: construction, architecture, services, location, prices and little details that a year ago I would have missed.
This town is guarded by a powerful volcano in Costa Rica
Guanacaste properties for example are usually quite big: one of the perks of living on the pacific side is that big properties can be taken advantage of with nice fruity trees or big pools, so that is a plus right there. Another good thing is that the weather during the summer time is not humid at all, but very dry instead, so cruising around from beach to beach is one of the most fun activities. Costa Ricahas also the advantage of having both: great rainforests and beaches and either one is accessible through Guanacaste.
Now the San Jose area is well known, greatly developed and although traffic can be torture, Costa Rica shows a very cosmopolitan side on this area: theaters, shows, art galleries, awesome restaurants, beautiful buildings and access to every other province is a lot easier from San Jose. Costa Rica can be an awesome destination and the Capital can be a nice place to start getting to know the culture and prepare your schedule during your vacation.
Alajuela, Cartago and Heredia are very peaceful: amazing volcanoes, impressive sightseeing and fun activities can take you on a trip through out Costa Rica history and ecological treasures, if you don’t really like to live by the ocean per se; these are good choices since these towns still keep the peace of the Costa Rica yesteryears.
