Costa Rica-Real Estate Condos for sale in Guanacaste

After 8 sad years of having a man who hardly knew where he stood as a president, I see my country smiling with brand new hopes for a better future. Barack Obama starts fresh today in his new charge as the president of the United States of America and I just want to wish him the best.

Although I may be living in Costa Rica, but I can see how all the mistake made by the previous so called president reflects all over the over and Costa Rica is no different. Small countries are affected by the actions of big countries all the time and Costa Rica was definitely feeling the pain all the bad decision making from the past government was generating.

I am happy and hopeful like any other gringo will be and here in Guanacaste the American community was happy to watch Obama take over, we feel sorry that he has come and pick up the pieces to what once was a trusted country, but we know he can do the job well and nicely.

As for me, I have a long day ahead of me getting documentation and plans together to continue with my project of housing development; Guanacaste beaches are crowded today since the weather is definitely the best in the past few months and people are enjoying it as much as they can, I would too. Now any other development project is finally getting back on track and Guanacaste is again the city in progress I am used to see.

Apparently the tragedy is still not over in Costa Rica: yesterday a new tectonic failure appeared triggered by the terrible earthquake Costa Rica had just 6 days ago and new tremors have been felt since yesterday.

People are terribly scared and more and more areas are being evacuated due to the damage and danger. Costa Rica has many volcanoes and due to this it is common that a small tremor occurs from time to time, yet the issues the big earthquake is bringing not only to the Alajuela and Poas areas but to the people in general. In Guanacaste, the earthquake was not such a big deal and tourism and business go on as usual.

If you are interested in helping, there are several ways to assist:

The CNE (National Emergency Commission) of Costa Rica has come up with a list of important items necessary for the refugees:

1. Camping tents for 4-6 occupants

2. Sleeping bags and blankets

3. Food for 3-4 days. Including: Pasta, coffee, milk (not powder milk since it is harder to prepare with racionate water), water (preferably 5 gallon bottles), canned goods, batteries, matches, candles, emergency lights.

4. Capes for the rain

5. Personal higiene products such as maxi pads, toilet paper, diapers, etc.

All of these items can be delivered to any Red Cross Costa Rica station, Mega Super or given the Costa Rica Boy Scouts all over the country. Also if you want to volunteer to go help you can subscribe at the Red Cross stations as well.

For more information on how to help Costa Rica refugees after the earthquake, please call: 2210 – 2723 / 2210 – 2725 / 2210 – 2763 / 2210 – 2764.

Rumor has it that famous super model Gisele Bundchen is planning to marry her boyfriend, NFL superstar Tom Brady very soon and apparently have decided to have a Costa Rica wedding like many other celebrities.

Costa Rica is known to be a paradise like location and many celebrities own a home in Costa Rica including famous actors such as Mel Gibson and David Hasselhoff, even the super model herself, bought a nice Costa Rica beach villa for herself not long ago.

Although the Costa Rica wedding has not been confirmed yet, it seems that the Guanacaste beaches are the first choice on the couple’s list. It has been a known fact that many celebrities have visited Costa Rica on vacations before and rocks star Pink was one of the celebrities that chose a hotel in Costa Rica for her wedding to famous motocross racer Carey Hart back in 2006.  

The Model-Football player couple is of course keeping the entire details top secret and because of this, I do believe that the Costa Rica wedding rumor might be true: lots of celebrities also use Costa Rica beaches as a hiding spot to relax and get pampered.

According to insider sources “The couple is discussing a huge fashionista event in the spring or a more intimate and quicker ceremony in Costa Rica” I really like the idea of having a beach wedding, they can actually enjoy their wedding and a pre-honeymoon in paradise by doing this and the media will not bother them as much.

The wedding will be held in March and neither Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen has made an official release of the news. As a NFL fan I certainly will love to get a glimpse on this wedding, not to mention that Gisele Bundchen is one of the most beautiful women in the world.

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!!!!

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.

As I advertised a few weeks ago, Costa Rica will be receiving their lucky 2 000 000 visitor this week and the ICT (Instituto Costarricense de Turismo) has arranged a warm welcome to the tourist that walks in and hits the mark.

The lucky Costa Rica vacation will be sponsored by several tourism companies and what they want is to celebrate the record set by giving the visitor the best Costa Rica experience possible: tours, free hotels, transportation, meals at well known restaurants and much more freebies to make this experience the best one for the lucky 2 000 000 Costa Rica visitor.

According to some statistics, the lucky 2 000 000 Costa Rica tourist is schedule to arrive tomorrow December 17^th at the Juan Santamaria Airport where personnel from ICT will be expecting him or her since early in the morning, so if you have and schedule flight to Costa Rica for tomorrow you might be the expected winner and will be able to enjoy the best Costa Rica vacation one can experience, all for free!

Another good thing is that if you are flying to Costa Rica, the weather could not be better meaning that you will be able to actually enjoy every tour and trip available in the area, not to mention the great holiday traditional activities in Costa Rica: El tope, the carnival, Zapote and all the cultural activities Costa Rica usually plans for these days. 

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.

Right now, the Costa Rica president Oscar Arias is in Singapore to start talks on a bilateral free trade agreement between the two countries. This should be a very positive step for both countries since either one has something valuable to offer to the other.

Singapore is known for having great free trade agreements with other Latin American countries such as Chile, Peru and Panama and they seem to be very interested in dealing with Costa Rica as well after witnessing the great business Costa Rica and China have developed, it appears that there is a bright future between Costa Rica and Asian countries.  

While in one hand Singapore is a lot more developed than Costa Rica, the country is smaller and Costa Rica can offer a wider market of opportunities, also the president of Costa Rica is hoping that this free trade agreement will encourage Singapore to invest in and develop Costa Rica Caribbean ports.

It is also known that in 2007, Costa Rica exports to Singapore were a total of $31.5 million and imports reached $26.4 million meaning that an agreement for business between the countries is set to be a successful venture.

Negotiations are just taking place right now, meaning that at the moment Costa Rica is just offering Singapore a deal, which will be reviewed by Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loon in the upcoming weeks.

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.