Costa Rica-Real Estate Condos for sale in Guanacaste

As I promised I collected a lot more information about the Transitarte, the art fair taking place in San Jose, Costa Rica this weekend. Their idea is to bring arts to the people on the street and create an activity where everyone can enjoy everything from shows, performances and music during those two days and learn more about the talent in Costa Rica.

The activity will take place in the main city parks in down town San Jose: Parque Morazan, Parque España, Parque Nacional and El Jardin de Paz. All the activities will be taking place starting today at 10:00 am but the official ceremony will take place at 6:00 pm this evening. The official schedule for all the activities can be found on these files: http://www.vueltaenu.co.cr/docs/programa%20arte%20retiro.jpg and http://www.vueltaenu.co.cr/docs/programacion%20arte.jpg .

If you are going to be in San Jose during this weekend, this is your opportunity to enjoy a lot more than Costa Rica sight seeing and catch really good performances, buy nice Costa Rica souvenirs and learn more about the culture for free. From hip hop performers to stand up comedians and sports showcases, Transitarte has really become one of the most expected summer activities in Costa Rica and people seem to really like it.

Yesterday was a very scary day in Costa Rica: new earthquakes were felt in the southern coasts, Cartago and San Jose during the afternoon hours, scaring people all over the country. Just two months ago Costa Rica suffered one of the worst earthquakes in history in the province of Alajuela where hundreds of people lost their homes, one of the most impressive Costa Rica national parks were buried and several people were found dead.

The three main earthquakes showed Richter scale of 6, 5.2 and 5 degrees all located near the Golfito area in Puntarenas on the southern region of Costa Rica very near to Panama. So far no great damages have been reported besides from some stuff that fell to the ground from shelves and no people injured at all. Costa Rica earthquakes have very common because of the many volcanoes found in the country; locals are mostly used to having a few shakes however big earthquakes like these really make people jumpy.

These specific earthquakes were not felt in Guanacaste whatsoever, so everything is pretty much normal on this side of Costa Rica. Tourism has raised a lot since the cold temperatures are finally gone and as far as my Guanacaste housing project everything seems to be going right on schedule. I couldn’t ask for more.

If you are in San Jose this weekend make room for several shows and presentations that will be taking place in the main parks down town with the Costa Rica arts fair “Transitarte” which will be going on all weekend with belly dancers, bands, boxing matches and souvenirs sales among many other activities, all in San Jose down town. Tomorrow I will make sure I bring some more information about it.

Yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine who is visiting and she was telling me about her job as a human resources manager. She was telling me about the many curriculums she receives everyday from people from North America looking for a job in Costa Rica and how her company doesn’t really hire any foreigners at all, of course I asked her why…

Apparently the government in Costa Rica is very clear about hiring people without permits and since it is not so easy to get a job these days if people find out you are hiring someone without proper documentation the company may be punished and in some cases closed, these means that companies in Costa Rica are not really willing to sacrifice business for this.

If you are planning on relocating to Costa Rica you need to make sure you are going to be able to get work permits or if the company offering the job in Costa Rica will be willing to help you relocate somehow, otherwise, you are pretty much lost.

So my advice is this: if you want to start relocating to Costa Rica, make sure you are going to have the proper documentation or that the companies in Costa Rica willing to hire you will be providing you with relocation assistance before hand, otherwise you are going to have several issues getting a jog, might sound redundant but it is better to know that get an awful surprise.

The Costa Rica Zoo Africa Mia, located in the beautiful province of Guanacaste is celebrating a first in Latin America: Roxi, a giraffe weighing 50 kilos and standing 4.9 feet tall, was born at Africa Mia Animal Park. This is the first giraffe to ever be born in Central America. As you probably know tourism in Guanacaste is one of the main businesses in the area and the fact that the animals brought into the Zoo are reproducing marvelously has everyone excited.

Both Roxi, who was born this past Sunday and her mother Adriana the giraffe are doing well and recovering perfectly. Africa Mia can now move on to have more and more species reproducing and help these animal species continue their legacy. Guanacaste’s weather somehow resembles the weather in Africa with a few minor differences and the animals seem to be doing really good there.

Park officials have also said that Roxi could soon have company since another female giraffe, Amapola, is pregnant. Animal species in Costa Rica are always taken care of since the whole country strives to maintain and ecological friendly atmosphere. If you are interested in visiting Africa Mia, you can arrive either at the Liberia Airport and the Zoo is located only 20 minutes away; if you arrive at Juan Santa Maria Airport, Africa Mia is located in the Pacific coast province of Guanacaste, 124 miles west of San Jose.

Either way this is a trip worth doing, since all animals are let to run free in the Zoo and people can just appreciate them by riding in Hummer trucks and walking through the several trails inside the property. Guanacaste has many other ecological reservations and national parks that are open to the public all year long.

I remember years ago while I was watching a movie with my family and most of the scenes were filmed in a jungle like location according to the titles in the film. That location was supposed to be San Jose, Costa Rica. Although these images were far from the truth I did get curious about this place.

Hollywood has exploited Costa Rica beaches, jungles and several other locations many times, however the picture they have portrayed of the place was usually a set up…nowadays the story has changed and I have to say that makes me happy.

In this season of the very popular show “The Office” one of the characters will be resigning his position to move to Costa Rica and they mention several times that he is moving here because he wants to live in paradise; Guanacaste seems to be the place of choice, mostly because of the descriptions.

Then I have noticed they mention Costa Rica a lot more often these days in different movies and TV shows. People are acknowledging the existence of this beautiful place and they are seeing it for what it really is: heaven on earth. Costa Rica real estate is definitely growing and although properties in Guanacaste are still priced too high for locals, profit can be made through fair businesses. Adventuring on an investment in Costa Rica real estate can be the first step to make things better.

In my case, I plan on really making a difference on how rentals in properties in Guanacaste work, greedy business men make money at first but sooner or later their cover is blown.

Today I will browse around for construction materials, one of the architects is here in Guanacaste to assist me and I have to admit I am pretty excited about it. Although the final blueprints are not entirely done, I wanted to check out materials, tiles, finishing touches and details available to start working on the look I would like to portray in the housing project. Guanacaste is also having the best weather right now.

Real estate agents in Guanacaste have also started contacting me to see exactly what is it that I am going to be offering but I am not sure I want to start giving away information so fast. The real estate market in Guanacaste is very much in demand so brokers are always on top of every single business that comes up. Costa Rica is indeed a paradise for real estate investors: cheap properties with luxury materials and awesome design in a heavenly location could only profit.

Actually thinking further into it I think I would like to handle this business by myself and not with a real estate company, might be harder and might take up much of my time, but it might be worth it. Any ways it is only a thought, at the end real estate agents know the business way better and I am just a newbie in the subject. Guanacaste real estate is in fact a huge market and maybe I can really used some else’s expertise.

There is so much to learn about dealing with real estate in Guanacaste I never thought I would be so busy. Through a some of my friends that have moved to Costa Rica and some of my neighbors I have collected several copies of different property rentals contracts, I wanted to study the rental laws in Costa Rica before I have my own contract done for the Guanacaste housing project.

After a while of reviewing some of these contracts, an entry I placed a few days ago came to mind: there is really no one supervising real estate in Costa Rica, landlords and property owners really do pretty much whatever they want. Some property rental contracts for real estate in Guanacaste were not even modified when the home was rented for a long term and they still use the vacation rental contract as the real deal.

Some rental contracts are a little more professional and are basically what any normal home or apartment rental agreement would say, stating of course a few details included depending in the type of property offered. Real estate in Costa Rica is need of solid entity that regulates all of these negotiations no matter what: a friend of mine is paying half as much as another friend for the same kind of rental property in the exact same location.

Is a real estate law such a crazy idea? All businesses need to have regulation of some sort, that is how the world works and that should be standard in all businesses. Real estate in Guanacaste is extremely profitable as it is, I cannot think of an excuse to fool and scam people just because of their lack of information. Houses for rent and tenancy not regulated are part of the reason why the real estate business is so scary for most people, including me.

The very well known HGTV show House Hunters will be showing some chapters filmed in Costa Rica in the next few weeks, another good prove that the real estate market in Costa Rica is top notch international material.

In the show people from all over the world get together with a real estate agent who shows them three choices for them to check out and at the end they choose one of the properties for sale to buy according to their necessities and requirements.

This season House Hunters will be airing shows from different sides of the world including London and Asia, as well as Costa Rica. Properties offered in the show will be from very common places in Costa Rica where real estate is in high demand including Santa Ana in San Jose and probably some beach locations. So far I have no received information on whether or not Guanacaste real estate will be featured on these shows or not.

To be honest, I am really happy that Costa Rica real estate is being featured in such an important TV Network as HGTV the show House Hunters is one of the most watched of the cable network and this will show the lovely side of real estate in Costa Rica I am actually working on. I certainly hope a lot of people watch it and enjoy it.

I do know that in one of the episodes, they will featured some Santa Ana properties in San Jose, it is a very nice place to live, has lovely weather and is close to both down town and some beautiful coastal areas of Costa Rica.

Sasha Campbell is a well known singer and performer here in Costa Rica who has worked hard to launch her career and a few months ago moved to USA to continue looking for the fame and recognition she deserves.

With a sweet and lovely voice the young performer took a chance and sent all her material to the very well known Irish band U2 and her efforts paid up: Sasha Campbell will be performing with the band during their 2009-2010 world tour in 250 concerts in many different locations such as Ireland, Brazil and Asia. To the exciting news all she could do was scream and jump.

In Costa Rica, arts locally are not taken so seriously and although there is a small group of people who follow them and support them it is really hard to see a Costa Rica performer go that far. Sasha Campbell does have the talent to that talent in Costa Rica is serious and impressive. Other great performers from who had made international appearances are the MTV Latino winners Le Pop, the metal band Sight of Emptiness who played in Europe and Gandhi who has been part of the music scene for over 12 years now.

It is very rewarding to see a Costa Rica performer prove that there is more than tourism here and put the name of the country out there, I really hope she has a blast during this tour with U2 and other bands and artists in Costa Rica work as hard as her to make their dreams come true, after all how many people can say they were chosen by Bono himself to perform in a world tour with U2?

UPDATE: The Costa Rica artist was scammed by a false publicist who actually has several issues with U2’s label. Sasha Campbell will not be performing with U2 at least for the moment.

Yesterday I watched a documentary on what exactly caused the financial crisis and how it affects the real estate market. Costa Rica has begun a slow transition into these recession times which has been as good as it gets, yet people have started to get worried.

Apparently the whole credit crisis not only is affecting everyone, since home owners and investors made terrible financial choices: in one hand the real estate investors want more money ad the banks need mortgages to buy and sell so they just gave home loans to people who were not really the capacity of paying their debt, therefore their properties are foreclosed. When a bank or financial entity has too many foreclosures and not so many paying customers there is really nothing they can do, so other investors leave them hanging with undervalued properties in foreclosure that are not really good for anything.

People no longer own their homes, banks are not receiving money, investors are not seeing their investments work therefore there is really nothing beneficial to anyone going on. Costa Rica real estate did not see that issue coming as big as it is since banks were usually very careful about home loans and mortgages, but not anymore. In Guanacaste for instance, getting a home loan for a local is close to impossible, since it translates into several trips to San Jose and loads of paper work, most people just rather deal with private investors and companies to make things easier for them, although the price is much higher.

As you can see, not only the real estate market in Costa Rica is having it rough, this same credit crisis is the one affecting the United States and all the little countries that are under its wings as well. I just wanted to share some financial knowledge with all of you, hope it helps.