Last week, our realtor Rudy Matthews wrote an interesting blog about shopping in Costa Rica and Walmart Costa Rica. Sandor, one of our readers, sent me a link to another article that shows that when you shop at Walmart, you better be aware and on the top of your toes when you shop there. CBS Sacramento, in California, put an investigation in place, the Kurtis Investigation, that shows for Walmart in different locations being caught shortchanging their customers on Gift receipts. This investigation is in some US Walmart stores, but it wouldn't surprise me that shortly the northern winds will bring this gift to Costa Rica. I will show you the article, published in CBS online news on May 12th 2011.

By Brooke Bishop

The Costa Rica real estate market has been slow but steady during the last couple of years, at least in the Central Valley area.  Prices have remained pretty firm though in spite of the world economic crisis.  I have had many clients here looking for fire sales, and while there are some, they are not nearly as common as in the US, and some people have been disappointed that prices didn’t crash to get it on paradise for a bottom line price.

This absolutely gorgeous home in Naranjo was built in 2009 and offers 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and huge balconies to enjoy the stunning views.  Designed to enjoy life, this prime prioperty is located in El Rosario de Naranjo, the climate is gorgeous, and many tropical plants thrive here. There is space to build an apartment or a bedroom suite connected to the house. There is also plenty of room for a guest house, pool, and ranch. 

By Ivo Henfling

Today, I showed some Costa Rica real estate to a client and I found the perfect seller, probably for the first time in my real estate career. My buyer is looking to buy a property in Costa Rica that offers views and security and I listed this incredibly nice condo in Escazu that looks like a house on the outside but is really a penthouse, even though its on streetlevel. Weird eh, check it out.

But today I really don´t want to talk to you about how nice and how cheap this penthouse is, though it really is, but to tell you how anybody who wants to sell their home should behave. The situation in this case is really special because the seller used to be a realtor in the US before they moved to Costa Rica, so he and his family know this inside out. Allow me to tell you how refreshing this was to me, the listing agent, and to my buyer in particular. I hope every seller in Costa Rica from now, until I die, will read this blog.......

By Ivo Henfling

I have seen hundreds of homes in my Costa Rica real estate career but not every often I see one with a heart and a soul. Twelve years ago, an old client asked me to go see this home she owned in a small gated community in the Alto de las Palomas in Escazu, right on  the western city limits between Escazu and Santa Ana. She wanted me to help her rent it as it became available. This home used to be her old family home and when the kids grew up, they divided the large lot in 4 and built 3 more homes, one for each kid. When her husband passed away in a car accident, she moved on to Santa Ana and the kid´s homes were first rented out and then sold to other people. When I walked in to the house, I knew I had to buy it. I asked her if she would sell it and said she would think about it. I called my wife Dany, she came, walked into the home and saw the bones, the heart and the soul of it. We bought it a week later, totally remodeled it and 7 years ago sold it to someone who came a very dear friend.

By Rudy Matthews

Walmart has been in Costa Rica for some years now -Hiper-Mas etc but somehow seeing the actual sign up makes one aware that Walmart is here to stay and now may be taking a more aggressive place in the market here. There are pros and cons. In the states it is hard to find better prices than Walmart even though Target is now giving some valid competition. Walmart offers one stop shopping in Costa Rica for many items and that is convenience.

The Walmart here in Heredia has been completely re-done and looks more like an American Walmart. There are more goods from America and the reality is Walmart knows the business- their success is not a fluke. They are advertising lower prices and value.

By Ivo Henfling and Mr. Z.

Just a couple of days ago, I wrote a blog about immigration in Costa Rica and a friend, Mr. Z,  just sent me a great sample of Costarican bureaucracy and what happened to him while trying to get his Costarican residency papers renewed. I am sure that some day, it will all work well, but this is a huge task for the Costarican bureaucrats.

The Costa Rican Central government has been working hard to digitalize their services so they will become more user friendly and step by step they are trying to make the long lines at the govenmental office shorter and shorter. I think it was the government of don Oscar Arias who first installed a Minister of Competitiveness and that started certain services in the INS (Insurance company), CCSS (Social Security system) and today, there are 7 governmental institutions that offer digital services.

By Ivo Henfling

Few Costa Rica golf communities in Costa Rica can boast the option of such a complete amenity in their community. Ciudad Cariari and Los Arcos, two small communities located just off the highway between the International airport Juan Santa Maria and San Jose, and very close to Belen, offer great homes for sale for those who like the quiet of the suburbs and the services of the city.

Ciudad Cariari and Los Arcos, both master planned subdivisions and very secure communities, where created by visionary developers in the 1970’s offer beautiful boulevards with trees and green areas everywhere. Both communities border the Cariari golf course and club so when you live in Cariari or in Los Arcos, you can walk to the club.

By Ivo Henfling

You should definitely get residency in Costa Rica when you plan to live here permanently. The law indicates that if you are a permanent resident as a pensionado or rentista (two different types of retiree), you should be in Costa Rica 4 months out of the year as a minimum. Many of you are snowbirds and will live in Costa Rica only for a certain amount of time and others live here permanently. Many of you do the 72 hour trip out of the country every 3 months to renew their tourist visa, so yo become a perpetual tourist. And that’s what I want to talk to you about today.

By Ivo Henfling

You might say that I come up with these crazy topics, but I can assure you they’re not as crazy as you might think. I am talking about the well known Bougainvillea, a beautiful plant with different flowers and spines, but later about that. Lets talk first about security. When you read websites from Costa Rica realtors, you will almost always see phrases like “gated communities”, “condominiums”, “secured access” and other things that show that it is important to take notice that you should live in a secure community but nobody tells you why.

By Ivo Henfling

A long lost package due to laziness of postal workers gave me the idea of writing your this week about using the public company Correos de Costa Rica, the Costa Rica Post Office, or look for the various options private enterprise offers today. I guess it depends a lot on how important your package is to you and the receiver and how much financial effort you want to make to pay for it and get the necesary satisfaction for the service. So many very competitive companies nowadays offer express deliveries, courier and shipping services and if you shop online, this issue will be important to you.

Let me tell you about some of the experiences I have with my P.O. Box and Correos de Costa Rica’s services.

By Ivo Henfling

Today, Friday May 13th at 4:45 pm, we had one of those earthquakes that scared the heck out of everyone. In 30 years, I have been through quite a few. Most, by the time you realize it’s shaking, is over again. Most last only a couple of seconds although they feel like a couple of minutes. Some ripple and some just shake. Friday the 13th?

Why would your real estate agent in Costa Rica want to write about earthquakes and scare his clients off? I do because I think you, my dear client should know about the good and the bad Costa Rica has to offer. Some countries have hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunami and snow tires. We have earthquakes and earth shakes. But we also have very good quality construction, designed to withstand these earthquakes. We don’t have the incredible damages some other countries suffer, like the 5.1 on the scale of Richter that just happened in Lorca, Murcia in Spain or the one in Hamakoa, Japan.  

Real estate in the immediate areas of the new highway San Jose - Caldera is of course affected. For 30 years, everyone in Costa Rica has been talking about the famous new highway San Jose - Caldera. Many governments during those 30 years started doing something on the highway and ran out of money. An old 3rd world problem: money. During the Miguel Angel Rodriguez administration (1998 - 2002) some bridges were built but during the next administration whatever could be demolished and stolen just disappeared.

Originally, this highway was designed as a two-lane road and by the time the Arias administration decided to go ahead and try to finish the famous highway, the amount of traffic had risen tremendously.

By Ivo Henfling

Can I trust your home inspector to do a good job when I buy a home in Costa Rica, or will he be on your side, was a question that hit me like a truck at 100 miles and hour and left me speechless for a while.

I know she is reading this blog and I want her to know this was a great question, as it gives me an opportunity to write this blog. Here we go.

When I started selling real estate in Costa Rica, every time I sold a home, I was like praying nothing would happen to the house, at least for a while. Anything can go wrong, right? The roof can blow off, you can have termites in the rafters, the septic system clogs up and another hundred odd things can happen after closing. Landslides and many other things can happen to the land because of bad drainage for example.

By Ivo Henfling

Most emails I get have the important question "do I bring my furniture with me when I move to Costa Rica or should I buy new when I arrive there"? When you relocate to Costa Rica or buy a home in Costa Rica, you’ll find that sometimes the sellers don’t want to take their furniture with them as that would mean shipping and sometimes paying import duties and insurance on their old furniture. You, when you move to Costa Rica, will be doing the exact same thing.

When looking at Costa Rica real estate, you should look in the description of each property as it will tell you if the seller will either sell the house "turn key", including everything that you see or without. On another day, I will write more about turnkey homes. The purchase or import of appliances is another issue that we will leave for another day.

By Ivo Henfling

Most of us have gotten to know what a “pushy realtor” is when buying Costa Rica real estate with a realtor. Now, that the market is much slower worldwide, there are fewer buyers around and it’s now, in these tough times, that you will recognize the professional realtors and separate them from the taxi drivers and those who say they are a realtor. You sure want a realtor who works hard for you, who is not a lazy person expecting to make an easy buck nor a pushy person who is only interested in getting a commission check.

Every trade has its pushy people and hustlers. Touristy places like Cancun are full of them. Some of these hustlers do almost anything to get a client.

By Ivo Henfling

Most people, when looking at condos for sale in Costa Rica, they look at how well the condominium is located to their needs, what amenities the condominium has to offer and how good the security of the community is. But many buyers of condominiums in Costa Rica forget how important all the legal issues are. And by legal issues, I don't mean the things that your attorney takes care of at closing.

I'm talking about many other issues that most don't think of when they are ready to buy a townhouse or an apartment, especially if the property is offered by the developer of the condominium or their sales people. Let me tell you a bit about all these pros and cons you should look at before you purchase a property in a condominium, no matter if it is a home site, a town house or an apartment.

By Ivo Henfling

Many of you might not know about the renewed traffic restriction/prohibition into San Jose as part of a new Costa Rica traffic law. You can read all about this in this AM Costa Rica article  but to give you a short answer, all vehicles, have a one day prohibition, by license plate number, into San Jose. With the renewed restriction though, passenger cars with 4 persons, to promote car pooling, will be able to drive from 6 - 8 am and from 4 - 7 pm. A Tico solution to a worlwide problem. And why not re-invent the wheel and copy other proven plans by cities 20 times bigger than San Jose? Don't we love to invent our own solutions here?