By Ivo Henfling

Find out if Atenas or Escazu - Santa Ana is the lifestyle you are looking for. I have lived in Escazu and Santa Ana for most of my life in Costa Rica, which 30 years ago were small towns and most of us did their shopping in San Jose. There were no malls and no traffic at the time and life in Costa Rica was a lot easier back then, you didn’t need much to live well here.

Growth of Escazu in the 90’s and of Santa Ana in the year 2,000, have turned both into one big city almost, not much different from any small city in the US. Before that, most of the well to do Ticos and foreigners were used to travel at least once or twice a year to Miami. Some would even keep an apartment on or around Biscayne Bay for those shopping trips or those visits to the doctor.

Costa Rica has grown up and is no more this little Central American country that is mentioned in movies and adventure books as the place where those that robbed a bank would end up and live in quiet wealth until death. San Jose used to be a place were real people lived. Those people that abhorred the traffic, the busy life style and the fact that all their neighbors’ homes were turning commercial, moved first to Rohrmoser and Pavas, then more west to Escazu and Santa Ana and nowadays in 2,011, to Ciudad Colon and Atenas.

The growth of Atenas.

About 8 years ago, a couple of French Canadian builders were building homes in a community in Atenas, called Vista Atenas. Back then, from Escazu, it would take me one hour to get there, since the new highway from San Jose to Caldera did not exist.  At the time, I realized that there were more and more retirees moving to Costa Rica who did not have the need of living around the corner of a mall, nor being very picky about the restaurants that were accessible to them.

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The pioneers of Atenas.

In 2003, I sold a home to a client who meanwhile moved to Omaha because of a teaching job, but still owns the house. That’s when I realy saw the real estate growth potential of Atenas. I lucked out and found Isabelle Jones willing to go through agent training and become a GoDutch Realty agent for the area of Atenas.  Isabelle and her family live in Atenas themselves and she has had her share of putting Atenas on the map and given all those who bought a property in Atenas through us all the extra services GoDutch Realty gives to its clients.

Who would say this is in a gated community?

GoDutch Realty was the second Costa Rica real estate office to get started in Atenas and now there are too many of them. Atenas has grown but still offers a laid back life to its residents as it has the low density zoning that Escazu doesn’t have.  Atenas offers gated communities like Roca Verde, Lomas del Paraiso, Hacienda Atenas and others for secure living and being able to lock up your home and travel that offer beautiful one story homes with incredible views and most with a swimming pool due to the great year round weather that Atenas has.  Atenas offers all the services and amenities you need if you plan to move to a laid back lifestyle of having your dinner parties at home, play cards with your friends, read all those books you never had a chance to read and where dressing up is not important anymore. The shopping malls in Escazu and Santa Ana are really only 30 minutes on the new highway.

Who cannot live with this view every day

But Escazu might be an option.

If you long to retire to a more city lifestyle with dressing up to go out for dinner to a wide range of restaurants, have easy access to plenty of shopping malls, go to the movies often and go to the World gym and other comparable amenities, Escazu and Santa Ana are for you.

GoDutch Realty has agents in diferent areas and we can help you find the right area for you, depending on your life style. We even offer you the services of Rudy Matthews, our Costa Rica home specialist, who will help you relocate without the head aches that immigration brings with it. Check out our website with hundreds of properties for sale.

By Ivo Henfling, your Escazu realtor who also likes Atenas a lot but when it’s his turn to retire.

Ivo offers condos in Escazu and single family homes in Santa Ana but if you are looking for a ranch home in Atenas or some incredible building lots in Atenas, you need to contact Isabelle Jones.