Should you worry about squatters in Costa Rica or not? If you own a property in Costa Rica and you have abandoned it, yes you should worry about squatting. Try leaving your car on a street in downtown Los Angeles, Amsterdam, or New York for a month and try to recover tires, radio, and whatever…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Do the home improvements you would like to make to your home make sense? You bought your house in Costa Rica 10 years ago, time for a change. Living in the same house, day after day, can get boring, especially if you are retired and spend full time in it.…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Property hunting is fun, but the property hunting process in Costa Rica is quite different from what you’re used to. Planning to purchase a house, a vacation home, a retirement home, or an investment property in Costa Rica? Before you start looking, get to know the market, know what you…
“Hi, my name is Ann I saw this one-acre rental property in Santa Ana online and would like to see it”. Me: “yes Ann thanks for your call. We would love to show you this property at your convenience. Do you have pets?” “Oh yes, I have pets. That’s why I want to rent a one-acre…
Estimated Reading Time: 9 Minutes Did you know that the standards in Costa Rican construction are probably different from the ones you are used to? The successful construction of housing in Costa Rica depends on the efforts of hundreds of tradesmen and thousands of building materials all assembled at the right time in the right…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes Will you be in trouble paying for expensive public and private healthcare as soon as you retire? Ivo Henfling of the American-European Real Estate Group gets loads of daily emails. Clients always ask for more information on healthcare in Costa Rica, so he asked me to help with this. Good…
Ever heard of Playa Hermosa Villas in Uvita? Of course not, but it is my job to tell you why the Playa Hermosa Luxury Villas are so interesting that I decided to write a blog about it.
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Costa Rica has earned a worldwide reputation for being environmentally conscious, so it was time to show you some green updates. If you own an older house in Costa Rica, you can start investing in green updates now that will live up to that reputation and pay off when you…
Almost ready to retire and enjoy your retirement? Is there any retirement community in Costa Rica? Is Costa Rica a good place to retire? If you are an active adult, if you like to re-invent yourself and you are ready for the next adventure, if you’re full of energy, if you’re a nature lover, if you…
“Living Costa Rica IS Expensive – So What “. This is what I hear all the time, “we thought it would be much cheaper in Costa Rica compared to where we live…” My response always is “Really? What gave you that impression?” The first clue should be when you book your flights and see that tickets…
Are you reading this on your cell phone or iPad? If you are, you will see that our MLS is fully mobile friendly. You will still be able to use your desktop or laptop computer to look for real estate and read our articles. Google has been warning website owners that the growing percentage of mobile…
Does the property you purchase have a water easement? When you purchase a property in Costa Rica, for sure you want to check if the property has water or access to water and if the water is legally connected. You know why? In many countries, the water connection on a property is a very simple…
Is it a good idea for a buyer to make repairs prior to closing or not? In Costa Rica real estate, it is customary to buy a home for sale “as is”, but should you negotiate this or not? It is easy to include a home inspection contingency into your offer, which is not always…
Did you know that the sleepy surf town of Nosara is now a most desirable spot? Recently the Costa Rican grapevine has been awash with stories regarding renewable energy. The country has been powered solely by renewable energy for the past 75 days. This represents yet another victory in a long line of accolades bestowed…
Most sellers in Costa Rica want to set their own listing price. Even if every real estate agent in town tells them they’re wrong about setting the listing price. Should your realtor appraise your property before listing it or the other way around? It’s like the dilemma of the chicken and the egg. When going…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Johnny P. emailed the following question “We are planning a small remodel. We want to update our kitchen, bathroom, floor tiles, and windows in our 20-year-old condo. We are not planning any structural changes. Do we need a permit from the municipality for such a small remodel?” Don’t we all…