Costa Rica-Real Estate Condos for sale in Guanacaste

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.

Economic Airline JetBlue will begin operations to fly to Costa Rica next March, 2009; this route will be the first one the airline opens for Central America. The airline will set 100-seat Embraer E190 jets to provide a daily route between San Jose, Costa Rica and Orlando Florida, this route will be JetBlue’s 22nd nonstop route from Orlando, while it continues opening their Latin American market which by the way will begin operations in January 29^th from Bogota, Colombia in South America to Orlando, Florida.

People who interested in experiencing this new JetBlue route to Costa Rica can start making reservations although flights are set to start in March, the company has some nice introduction offers with tickets priced below $100 in some cases, meaning that a Costa Rica vacation is now even closer than ever.

Another good thing about this new flights to Costa Rica is that by the time JetBlue begins operations summer time in Costa Rica is at its best, so you can now sit an enjoy in a lovely Guanacaste Beach for way less than you would right now, also the prices in hotels a way cheaper during these days because of the green season in Costa Rica.

These cheap flights to Costa Rica are also a good opportunity for those foreigners investing in real estate since it would cost less to come and check on properties in Costa Rica or keep an eye on any development project you may have.

Apparently, building a home in Costa Rica is going to become a lot easier now when the Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y Arquitectos (CFIA) implements a new tool that will allow people to request their construction permits online through their website www.cfia.org. Right now the tool is working only for three towns in Costa Rica: Curridabat, Grecia y San Carlos but it is expected that throughout 2009 the tool will be implemented for at the main towns Alajuela, Belén, Escazú, Garabito, Goicoechea, Heredia, Nicoya.

Hopefully Nicoya can be one of the next towns to be included in the program since there are lots of projects not only there but in the entire Guanacaste area waiting to be approved. Among these housing projects in Guanacaste, I have heard of condos, villas a even hotels waiting to receive and “approved stamp” to begin the construction of the project.

In Costa Rica, housing projects and any other type of structure building need to be approved by the CFIA first and later by the municipality of the location where the project is supposed to built, with this new tool the entire permit can be requested in one small step which will make things work faster for developers in Costa Rica. The people from CFIA hope that all 66 municipalities in Costa Rica can be integrated into the system in less than 2 years.

As I was telling you guys yesterday this is definitely not a good time to visit the Costa Rica Caribbean. At this moment even US helicopters are helping with the flood emergencies in the area and besides them Costa Rica help crews have been collecting all sorts of donations: from food to clothes and even money to provide all the required assistance.

Right now there is actually lovely weather in Costa Rica, Limon and the adjacent cities are experiencing not so good conditions and a lot of damages have been caused due to the floods. We just went through the same problems here in the Guanacaste area a month ago. I do however have a couple of questions: if the people from Limon and Guanacaste already know there are going to be terrible rainy seasons, why do they continue building homes so low or close to the ground? A few months ago I did visit the Costa Rica Caribbean and some homes are built above ground to prevent flood issues, why don’t they all build their homes like that?

Costa Rica real estate in the Caribbean side is not something I have explored much, probably because the drive between Limon and Guanacaste is too long. Costa Rica has the most amazing rain forests in this area and visitors come from all over the world to experience living in the jungle for a couple of days all the time. Most of the properties in the Caribbean side are owned big banana companies but there are a few nice deals in the real estate market. Maybe I will take a look at the offer on properties in the Caribbean once it stops raining.

A lot of people are taking advantage of the low exchange rate in Costa Rica and decided to include a short visit to this wonderful location. I know this for a fact since the last couple of days have been quite hectic here in Guanacaste. Costa Rica is right now getting the warm weather back and people are enjoying it as much as possible.

So, since we are now having such nice weather in Costa Rica and visitors will definitely take advantage of this to drop by and relax or check out real estate properties in Costa Rica, I decided to share some pieces of advice to those who will coming down here:

San Jose is experiencing nice sunny days yet a cold breeze can be felt, so pack up a jacket and a scarf if you are going to be in San Jose, even for a couple of days. Guanacaste is now having warm temperatures, yet there were a couple of dark clouds surrounding us a little, nothing to worry about. The Costa Rica Caribbean is not a good place to visit right now, it is raining dogs and cats as we speak so try to plan your visit towards the Guanacaste area or maybe the south east beaches where the weather is better these days.

In the next couple of weeks there will be nice things to do in San Jose: Festival de la Luz will take place in down town San Jose and it is a fun carnival of lights, masquerades, cimarronas and more. Also the upcoming weekend the University of Costa Rica will hold the craftsmen fair and lots of souvenirs and Costa Rica hand made products will be on display, so people visiting Costa Rica can take advantage of this to buy nice and original Christmas gifts.

Also, the common traditional activities in Costa Rica like surfing, canopying and sightseeing are available to everyone.

One of the most damaging activities has been banned in Costa Rica: logging to develop building projects. A government decree authorizing the logging of coastal forests for eco-tourism projects in Costa Rica was approved in 2004 allegedly to benefit a hot shot entrepreneur who needed to remove a partial piece of forest to build a hotel.

According to Alvaro Sagot, an environmental law professor: “The decree had a first and last name…It was made for someone in particular that needed to cut down forest to build hotels”, yet he would not name names since his main concern is not to look for people responsible but to take care of Costa Rica forests.

The decree was set by the Environment, Energy and Telecommunications Ministry (MINAE) back in April 2004 and basically what it stated was a regulation for eco-tourism, calling these projects “tourism developments that simultaneously promote environmental education in Costa Rica, the conservation of natural resources, the socioeconomic development of the inhabitants that reflect an environmental conscience and identity”. The decree also limits definition to coastal projects that fell within the first 200 meters inland from the ocean, which is state-owned land known as the maritime zone.

Lately a lot of people around the world have been saying that Costa Rica natural resources were disappearing because of several development projects, yet the problem was not really there until this decree was found, and now completely annulled to prevent any damage to Costa Rica forests and other natural reservations.

The decree was actually a terrible decision made the government back then since it was signed by former Costa Rica environment minister Carlos Manuel Rodriguez and former President Abel Pacheco. The decree allowed so called “eco-tourism” projects to get concessions on forested property in Costa Rica and build over as much as 15% of old growth or primary forest, and 25% if the forest is second growth.

While doing some browsing in Guanacaste real estate listings something odd came to my attention: A lot of vacation villas are being built for sale! Vacation villas in Guanacaste are often one of the most wonderful properties in Costa Rica one can get.

The gorgeous scenery of Guanacaste! Costa Rica has the best beaches in this area and most of them are accessible in a short 40 minute drive from Liberia, which the most developed city in Guanacaste. Vacation villas are just called that way because some entrepreneurs buy them to rent them out to tourists, but a lot of people, including myself, buy these Costa Rica properties to use as permanent residency.

 In Guanacaste, vacation villas are design to provide comfort, peace and in most cases luxury is one of the most important details of the construction. The main idea is giving a sense of relaxation and easiness given the fact that Guanacaste is already a peaceful location, luxury villas are just the cherry on the ice cream if you know what I mean.

 In the real estate ads in Guanacaste, the owners or brokers often provide all the proper information of the property: bedrooms, bathrooms, swimming pool access, the possibility of air conditioning and all those aspects people usually look for.

Homes in Guanacaste are of course not limited to vacation villas, in Guanacaste you can also purchase land, apartments, condos and fincas. Searching through real estate listings in Costa Rica might require a bit of patience but great offers and prices are sure to be found. I can tell you for sure I am a happy property buyer and I have been investing in Costa Rica properties for a while now and have received nothing but good news and great businesses.

One thing I haven’t giving much though about regarding real estate choices are homes for sale that need upgrading or a few renovations, those homes that we in the United States call fixer uppers. Today, reading some random tabloid, I noticed that some of the most gorgeous Victorian homes that I have seen in San Jose are actually used as hostels or bed and breakfasts and that the owners in some cases have actually renovated themselves, not messing up with the detailed designs of the constructions making their Costa Rica old hotels part of the beauty of San Jose City. 

Also, I noticed that on the real estate listings in Costa Rica some old homes are sold for ridiculous prices, one can just go ahead and update the home, add some contemporary designs to the structure and have and lovely piece of art work as home. Costa Rica properties in old neighbors are sometimes pricier that homes in other urban areas, but a business mind can easily take advantage of them. That is the case of Mr. Eldon Cook, a Canadian Missionary that fell in love with the country so much he bought and old Victorian home in down town San Jose, Costa Rica best example of beautiful architecture, and transformed it into Hotel Grano de Oro, where not only you can enjoy the amazing Victorian design but also has one of the best restaurants in Costa Rica.

Making these changes might be a lot of work, but once you see the final outcome, everything will be worth it. Costa Rica has amazing history and part of that are the lovely constructions of yesteryear. Check out some Costa Rica real estate listings and see what is out there, maybe the best place is just waiting for the right visionary to come along and transform it into a piece of art.

Since November 1^st and until yesterday Costa Rica tourism choices were on display in Argentina at the Latin American International Tourism Fair (FIT). During this fair, Latin American countries are able to offer their tourism services: hotels, car rentals in Costa Rica, activities and must see places in the country. The main idea of the fair is to draw the attention of international wholesalers and travel agencies. Costa Rica of course has way too much to offer and for the past 12 years attending this fair, the outcome has always been successful.

Among the many beautiful and important places to vacation in Costa Rica are several pristine beaches, where, depending of the location you can practice professional surfing or just relax in the sand next to a clear watered peaceful beach. Also Costa Rica volcanoes are another lovely location to consider. Natural reservoirs and rainforests in Costa Rica are also part of the equation.

This type of fairs are incredibly important for Costa Rica tourism since this industry is one of the most important income resource in the country and the publicity provided along with fair business to promote Costa Rica vacations as a choice for people can help improve the industry and the economic status of the country. Also, is through tourism that  a lot of people get know the country and end up moving to Costa Rica for good after getting a small taste of the peaceful, easy and accessible lifestyle. Meaning that not only the tourism business gets exposed but also good things come to the Costa Rica real estate business as well. I certainly hope that nice deals took place during the Latin American International Tourism Fair this year, especially since I have grown to love this country as mine and started some small real estate business in Costa Rica myself.

There is definitely something very colorful about Costa Rica buildings: some may be one of the most fashionable buildings with impressive taste and modern architecture while a small room built on cardboard and old pieces of wood will be standing right behind it. Unfortunately, like in many other countries this is the reality, Costa Rica is being bought by big companies and enterprises that built amazing structures without giving one moment of consideration about the surroundings. 

It is not uncommon to see old wooden houses almost falling apart in one block, and a huge luxury home in the next property. Costa Rica is still feeling the huge changes of crazy real estate all over the place and the local families can’t seem to be able to keep up with these building developments so their small homes become the awful side of an area full of luxury. Costa Rica is showing its two faces and given the fact the prices in the real estate listings in Costa Rica have gone way up high and are completely not affordable for a regular middle class Costa Rica family, foreigners with higher access to dollars and euros are buying the country in small pieces.

Huge examples are the apartment buildings that are being developed in the Sabana surroundings, these tall, luxury buildings were created to be sold for over $100 000 or rented for over $1500 a month. In Costa Rica, a middle class professional hardly makes $1000 in the best case scenario, meaning that all those apartments are just not accessible unless you are a foreigner. Real estate in Costa Rica needs to be regulated as soon as possible, maybe all these prices are low for us, but this country also has locals, who work hard and dream of owning a home. In my opinion is just not fair.