I love following Irina and Jim Just’s blog, called “Just Costa Rica, living la pura vida” because they both always have interesting things to say in their blog.  In all my years selling Costa Rica real estate, I hardly ever saw a couple retire in Costa Rica one day and feel totally comfortable with their new home country the next day. Few expats are able to “mingle” so easily in their new environment as Irina and Jim and I’d like you to learn from them.

With Irina Just’s permission, I am publishing her last blog about the Blooms in Costa Rica, another way Irina found to meet new people and to enjoy her retirement in Costa Rica. FYI, Blooms is not an old ladies club, they’re just a bunch of women enjoying themselves. Thanks Irina for allowing me to use your blog to show newcomers another way of mingling and enjoy living in Costa Rica.

by guest blogger Ticonuevo

November-April is high season—or the dry season or tourist season. In my opinion, it is more-accurately called high season because of the higher prices of getting to or arriving at tourist destinations or that “high” relates to high occupancy at hotels, resorts, and B&Bs. May-October, has historically been considered the “green season” or rainy season here in Costa Rica. However, weather worldwide is changing and we had rain on the day we arrived at the end of February—unheard of we were told.

We’ve had rain in March and a significant amount in April. Add to that the fact that Costa Rica suffered a drought in 2012. (It was severe enough that several communities are currently out of water and having it trucked in.)

by guest blogger Ticonuevo

Now that we are in country, we are scrambling to learn the language. If you can find the time before you leave North America or wherever your home country is, learn some Latin American Spanish. Latin American Spanish, and more specifically Costa Rican Spanish, is not the King’s Castilian Spanish as spoken in Spain. Local Spanish is full of country-specific colloquialisms.

But not to completely despair, virtually all communities in Costa Rica where ex-pats hang out offer courses, individual lessons or immersion groups dedicated to helping you learn Spanish as a second language. And, take the advice of everyone we know--jump in and try.

by guestblogger Ticonuevo

Once you are committed to moving to Costa Rica, there is a huge amount of information to read and absorb. So, my advice again: be detailed, be methodical (even if it’s hard for you to do). I can’t emphasize strongly enough how important and helpful it proved to be to have built a database of Costa Rican resources, research and contacts.

Your vacation visit(s) will give you a snapshot of Costa Rica. Just remember you’re seeing the country in its most-perfect light, as a tourist. It’s different than actually living in Costa Rica day after day and dealing with the mundane issues of daily life and the bureaucracy. Your research will help to fill in the blanks and demystify Costa Rica. So, it’s very important to build contacts, read (discriminatingly) and record and file the details you collect from your visit and online.  

by Ivo Henfling

Every week, “El Polaco” visits a poor neighborhood of Costa Rica, with a car full of merchandise. The Polaco is a department store on wheels and he sells on credit. He offers mainly clothing, women’s, men’s and children’s. But he also sells coffeemakers, shoes, perfume, ceiling fans and anything his clients might need. And if he doesn’t carry it, he will get it for them.

It is a pity that so much of the flavor of Costa Rica (and other countries) is disappearing with corporate business. I remember well when we would just walk to the pulperia to get our fresh bread and milk every morning. We had 4 pulperias on our street and they all made a living.

by Ticonuevo

The object of recounting specifics of our family communication is not to bore you with details that don’t relate to your planned move to Costa Rica. My purpose is show that there are possible surprises and unknowns harbored by all parties involved in your move. The success of your move to Costa Rica will be measured by how well you have openly addressed all of the inner details and emotions involved. It’s incumbent upon you, your partner and other individuals that are part of your decision to come clean and their discuss concerns and desires.

Upon our return from our due diligence trip to Costa Rica, my wife and I agreed to remain silent for a few days about any decisions or inclinations we may have formed independently of the other during or after our working vacation. I recommend a “phase 1 cooling off period” allowing time for the euphoria of your dream vacation to wear off before you discuss what could easily be the biggest decision of a lifetime.

by Ivo Henfling

Jay Brodell, editor of AM Costa Rica, published an article last April titled “What do expats want? Well, here are suggestions”.  Jay is a great journalist and probably one of the best informed gringos living in Costa Rica, never afraid of publishing anything that might not be received well by either the expat community in Costa Rica or the Costarican government. The suggestions are some great ones though I'm not sure the Costarican government will listen to the suggestions.

Since our company sells and rents Costa Rica real estate, I am of course all for the idea of having thousands of foreigners move to Costa Rica, but that's beside the point here. Jays’ article proposes some ideas of what needs to be done for the expat community in Costa Rica to improve their conditions as foreign residents of Costa Rica.

First, the Costarican government doesn’t seem to be interested at all in promoting foreign retirement in Costa Rica like they do with business investment tourism or medical tourism.

by Ivo Henfling

In the past, I have had people question if the testimonials on my websites are for real or invented. All our agents always ask both buyers and sellers to write a testimonial and some do and others don’t.

Most don’t want their email address posted because they don’t want to be bothered. You can check our testimonial page and see it’s a mile long, not something I could easily invent.

I just received a testimonial from the owners of a building lot in Escazu that I closed a couple of weeks ago and I thought it would make up a good story. Below the testimonial, I will explain a bit more about this special Escazu building lot, why the sellers were so happy we sold it for them and what was wrong with it in the first place. This is a textbook example of how NOT to purchase Costa Rica real estate.

by guest blogger TicoNuevo

Here’s something to think about: a significant number of all of the expats attempting to settle in Costa Rica return home within one year. I have some ideas about why this happens, and how to avoid becoming a statistic. I’ll discuss the most prominent reasons for failure here.

A big reason influencing an early departure, I think, is a lack of preparation before potential expats arrive. Changing your country of residence requires an enormous, well-coordinated effort—lots of pre-planning. Unless you have changed countries of residence before, you have no concept of the volume and benefit of pre-planning your move.

by Ivo Henfling

Since 2012, the Costarican government has been advertising about the mandatory change of all Costa Rica vehicle license plates or vehicle registration plates. The local newspapers have been writing about it since they approved the law in April 2011 and as usual, the dates of expiration kept changing.

Newspapers write about it all the time but the information is never clear or incomplete. My Costa Rica real estate readership has been asking for the information for quite a while. Not until now, in April 2013, are we finally able to find out what is going on, how it works and how it doesn’t work.

I never do this kind of stuff myself; I don’t have the patience to do errands like this. I’d be knocking government workers over the head and never get anything done. So to save time, I sent my son Andres, who is Tico and doesn’t get treated like a gringo. But he also got the run-around, just like everybody else. But now we can tell you all about it and hopefully you can go through the due diligence without any setbacks.

by Ivo Henfling

In the beginning of the 80’s, I heard this great story that helped me understand the mindset of the Costaricans and adjust better to the culture and the way of life in Costa Rica. I was curious if I could find the original writer of this story on Google. I found a certain Mark Albion who claims to have written the story that he calls “The businessman and the fisherman” in 1999. His story is a North American version to the tropical version that I heard in the 80’s.  

I also found a reference to a short story written by Heinrich Böll in 1963 with the title “Anecdote concerning the Lowering of Productivity”. Heinrich Böll, I’m sure, has never been on a beach in Costa Rica but he understood the tropics as well as George Orwell knew in 1949 how the world would look like after 1984. I’d like to share this great story with you and give you another reason to move to Costa Rica soon.

by guest blogger TicoNuevo

When we returned from our Costa Rican exploratory vacation and due diligence trip in February of 2012, the work really began and things started to get pretty interesting. But that starts with next week’s blog installment.

So first before we head home from our vacation, let me pass along a few bits and pieces that I haven’t already covered or that require reinforcement.

Patience

As I’ve said before, but need to emphasize again, things are constantly evolving in Costa Rica, or if you don’t like it today just wait until manana. These are two polite ways to say, “laws and policies are constantly changing here as are the ways existing laws and policies are enforced.” If you come here, bring patience and tolerance. All of you Type A personalities out there better be prepared to “cool it,” at least, while you are visiting or living in Costa Rica.

by Ivo Henfling

Costa Rica retirement vacation properties and bird watching go together well, the reason so many have decided to retire or buy a vacation home in Costa Rica. When you retire to a country like Costa Rica, you must love nature and in particular birds. If you don’t, why even bother moving to Costa Rica. The best part is that no matter if you buy your Costa Rica retirement or vacation property in a town like Atenas, you get the birding for free. Just make sure you bring a camera that can take high resolution photos just like our client Peter Boyer did and you’re up for a good time and a better lifestyle than you had ever imagened.

Thanks Peter, for finding such a great hobby and sharing it with us. Your photos say so much more about the beauty of Costa Rica than any text that I can write. Just like you and your wife Edie took the decision of buying your retirement home just outside Atenas, many others can now get a much better feel what it must be like to crawl through the grass of your neighborhood to take these awesome photos.

by guest blogger TicoNuevo

While the country isn’t renowned for its own cuisine (there are some really great exceptions), you will find a multitude of international restaurants in addition to well-known restaurant chains (if you yearn for a taste of home, but then, why bother coming to Costa Rica in the first place). In our estimate during our visit last year, my wife and I had three of the very best meals we have ever eaten.

One was lunch at an Argentinean-themed establishment, one a seafood meal at a restaurant run by an American expat and one, admittedly, at a Costa Rican-style outdoor restaurant catering to the tourist trade. We had the meals in three different areas of the country. The costs of these three incredible meals were not “cheap” by our standards, but less than what we would have expected to pay in the States for the same quality. In the two weeks we were in country, we ate out lunches and dinners probably 15 times. We never had a bad meal.

by Ivo Henfling

Some might think otherwise but there is great music and entertainment in Costa Rica. A client told me he met a gringo in the hotel who was complaining there was nothing to do in San Jose and he was bored to death. In less than half an hour, I showed the client at least 20 places where there is plenty to do. No need to get bored in Costa Rica, of course depending on what you are looking for.

If you enjoy classical music, you can go to the philharmonic orchestra in the National Theatre several times a month but today I am going to tell you about the Jazz Café Costa Rica. The 3 owners started Jazz café in San Pedro in 1999 and the Jazz café in Escazu was started in 2008. If you have any questions or reservations, you can call them directly at 2253-8933 in San Pedro (next to Banco Popular) and 2288-4740 (across from CIMA hospital on the other side of the highway). Find both Jazz Cafe's by going to this Google map.

by Ivo Henfling

Once you move to Costa Rica and you drive your own car, you will have to find a place to park it, no matter where you go. Unless you find a public parking lot where you have to pay to park your car, you will probably park the car anywhere on the street. When you want to leave, a guy will walk up to you, help you get out of your parking spot and will hold up his hand. You didn’t know it, but he was there watching your car while you were away, so it didn’t get stolen or broken into. We call them a guachiman, watchiman or cuidacarros.

In Costa Rica, a guachiman is an informal security guard and I’m sure the word was invented by a Tico who didn’t know how to pronounce the English word watchman. Los Guachimanes (not guachimen) are informal guards and to the mindset of a 1st world citizen they are part of an unorganized mafia of ripping people off while parking their vehicle out on the public street.

by Ivo Henfling

“I am sorry sir, if you want me to show you Costa Rica real estate on Friday, I cannot pick you up at your hotel. I can meet you anywhere outside the beltway; you will have to get a taxi to get out of San Jose. Friday is my tag day.”

Most people who are planning to move to Costa Rica have no idea what tag day is and for those living in the Central Valley it is hard to figure our where you can drive on tag day. It is a restriction that all cars in Costa Rica have: your car cannot go into San Jose 1 day a week on certain hours. The restriction is regulated by the last number of your number plate and was invented by the Costarican transport authorities (MOPT) to reduce the amount of traffic going into San Jose as well as to save gas. I am sure nobody has measured the amount of gas wasted by cars seeking alternate routes to get around San Jose.

By Guest Blogger TicoNuevo

Costa Rica is a beautiful country. This relatively small nation has more than its share national parks, outdoor activities, beaches, wildlife, laidback lifestyles as well as many cultural activities.

You should be aware that driving times and speed limits are slower than you are used to in North America, but even so, most destinations within Costa Rica, except the most remote spots, are a half-day’s drive from the Central Valley.

This is a good thing, because Costa Rica has the highest fuel prices of any nation in Central America.

by Ivo Henfling

Who is responsible for the security of your car while shopping at the mall or while staying in your hotel in Costa Rica? Last week, my clients were staying at the Best Western Irazu Hotel and while waiting for them I parked my car on the parking lot that belongs to the hotel.

My eye fell on this sign posted on the fence that said “user assumes all risk” in Spanish and English, not even very readable at a little distance. It is customary for most grocery stores, malls, hotels and many other public places that offer parking for their clients, to post signs like this. Not only driving in Costa Rica is different, parking is too.

by Guest Blogger TicoNuevo

Suicide Showers, Surfer Hotels and Other Things to Avoid on Your First Trip to Costa Rica

In this blog, I’m trying to cover things you may not hear or read before you leave to visit Costa Rica for the first time. Since we’ve travelled plenty, but had been to Costa Rica only once, there are some things that struck us as unique or, at least, a bit unusual. The first of the two items mentioned in my headline above you may find at economy accommodations anywhere in the country, but particularly along the coasts.

The suicide shower as it is called, is an invention triggered by some engineer’s warped sense of practicality.  Many, if not most, Tico homes do not have hot water—hot water is generally seen by the native Costa Ricans in this warm clime as unnecessary and/or too expensive. This invention—an electrically heated shower head—is a way to provide hot water in the shower without having to invest in a hot water heater and hot water plumbing.