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 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.

Easter week starts today, Palm Sunday, and is an important week in Costa Rica as part of this week the whole country shuts down and your life could be influenced by some of the customs in our beautiful country. Most people in the Central Valley took off for the beaches as early as yesterday morning and as late as next Wednesday. If you like your beer, whiskey or rum 'n coke, make sure you stock up, because you will find the liquor stores and liquor departments in the grocery stores closed as of Wednesday.

Even in the tourism industry, restaurants and hotels will not be able to serve any liquor, though there are always some who will try to keep their business going by serving under the counter. So if you plan to go our for dinner, a vacation or a night out and you cannot live without your glass of wine, make sure you get a colored jug in the store, fill it up with your favorite booze and cheers!

by Ivo Henfling

Thanks to Liz & Tony, I got to know the best Asian restaurant in Escazu - Costa Rica, right across the street from where I live……..yes, it was right there and I didn’t see it. They say “see further than the end of your nose” and I have a big nose. The name of the restaurant is Banzai, a traditional Japanese exclamation meaning "ten thousand years". I hope they will be there at least as long as I live.

Their Sushi is bigger than it is anywhere else and the best Nigiri, Sashimi and Maki. Unlike most Sushi places, their Japanese food is also out of this world and at incredible prices. If you are a fan of Asian food, you really need to visit Banzai and be attended by owners Cassius and William and their staff. Cassius takes care of the Oriental cooking like Indonesian, Japanese, Thai, Malaysian and Vietnamese, and William does the Sushi.

by Ivo Henfling

When you come visit us in Costa Rica, no matter if you will be buying, renting Costa Rica real estate or coming to spend your holidays, be sure to be a guest at La Casa de las Tias Boutique hotel in Escazu. You will be happy and love the special attention you will get from Pilar, originally from Colombia and Xavier, originally from New Mexico, as well as their small staff. And just last week, on January the 5th, it was their 20th anniversary and they are still going strong.

When I have new clients coming to see homes for sale in Escazu, I usually ask them if they have already made hotel reservations because they might stay in the wrong places. And that is why I always recommend they stay at the Casa de las Tias Hotel in Escazu and stay out of San Jose. The first impression of your new home city is important to me, so you will have a good start.

by Ivo Henfling

In the last couple of weeks we had some new culinary experiences and I’d like to share one of these with you. Every time we go for lunch or dinner somewhere I am surprised how well the local economy seems to do because every restaurant we go to is packed when we are there. I must admit, I am writing only about the restaurants where the food as well as the service is outstanding. If not, why even write a blog about it.

To my opinion, the huge choice of restaurants in Escazu is one of the benefits of living in Escazu and surrounding areas. If you have traveled a lot, for sure you will enjoy the options for wining and dining you have in Escazu and Santa Ana, as well as great burgers & pizza. This time I'd like to take you to Asia.

By Ivo Henfling

I remember the times we had cows and horses in the streets of Escazu and you could build anything in real estate in Escazu you felt like and those are long gone now. There were no controls, building permits were not important and zoning did not exist. The 4 year Costa Rica real estate boom changed all that and suddenly we had quite a few 7 story condos. That was more or less the only thing the engineering department of the city of Escazu controlled, no more than 7 floors, due to the seismic code.

Not only traffic in Escazu has gotten worse, it is the same thing throughout the Central Valley and the entire world. When I grew up, we had only 1 car at home. My Escazu neighbor’s family has 6 cars now. The Municipality of Escazu has always been a little slow on things but in the last 2 years, things have accelerated.

By Ivo Henfling

Working in shorts and on flip flops in Costa Rica

I just received some very cold looking photos of snowcovered roads full and roof tops and cars covered in snow from a friend and I am sitting here at my desk, looking over my computer monitor at the beautiful Escazu mountains on one side and the Heredia mountains on the other, with the sun shining in the palm tree in my neighbor’s yard. And I am sitting in shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops, enjoying the Costa Rica weather and the 78ºF temperatures that we have almost year round.

Don’t you just hate me now? I bet you do! Be smarter than that, move to Costa Rica just as I did many years ago and buy a property in Costa Rica from me. That way I can keep working in shorts and flip-flops. I still think it was the best decision I took in my life. God, I always hated the cold and I bet many of you do too. If you are still dreaming about moving to the tropics and get your taste of Costa Rica weather, keep reading. If you already did, read on and enjoy the fact of having taken the right decision by moving to Costa Rica.

by Ivo Henfling

Costa Rica coffee and Costa Rica real estate have a lot in common, they can both be the ultimate experience, as long as you pick the right one. I remember very well my first cup of coffee in Costa Rica, it was totally horrible.

Café con leche in Spanish, coffee with milk, or white in English was too white and awful. It was milk with coffee; my stomach still hurts when I think of it. But that was 30 years ago the way the Ticos would drink their coffee and we had to get used to it. 

Europeans, and mostly we Dutch, grow up drinking coffee, much more than the North Americans do. But we grow up with a mix or blend of different types of coffee and not with Arabica coffee only.  For many years, Costa Rica had a protection stop on coffee imports.

By Ivo Henfling

If you have residency in Costa Rica you are obliged to be registered at the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social  or C.C.S.S.  though this government mannaged health care system has long been broke. To see any doctors, you will need to start standing in line at 4:00 am to get attended and most of the time they’ll give you an appointment 6 months later. The system works though for those who do not have private insurance like I.N.S. or any other insurance company, you just need to be a bit patient and bring a book.

No matter where you bought a property in Costa Rica and decided to live, the time will come that you will need medical attention.

What I hear from retired people and expats coming from other parts of the world, is that the Costa Rican public hospital system and the doctors attention to sick patients is a lot better than it is in many parts of the world. I really don’t know because the two times that I was in a public hospital was to pick up my wife after giving birth to our kids, but that was 25 and 27 years ago.

By Ivo Henfling

This picture got your attention, didn't it? Well, that's what I needed because when I start talking about learning Spanish, most people don't pay attention.

Imagine, you get stopped in your home town by a Latin, asking in Spanish where the grocery store is located. What would you say?

Most would answer “why don’t you learn English”? Am I right or wrong?

The other day I saw a gringo in Escazu get mad at a Tico and shout at him in English. The poor sucker didn’t have a clue what the gringo was shouting at him. The Tico just turned around and walked away. This in turn made the gringo even madder. I enjoyed the scene from my car.

By Ivo Henfling

You are selling your Costa Rica property and your buyer needs financing from a local bank. If your real estate agent is the only agent involved, it will make it for both buyer and seller much easier to deal with as the bank’s loan officers need a constant reminder to keep working on the document of this particular buyer. I have done many real estate closings involving bank mortgages and in many, the sellers freak out unnecessarily. This is why I am writing this blog, so you don’t have to freak out.

Most Costarican banks will tell your buyer to get an option to purchase – sale agreement for 3 months because they might need that amount of time to process the documents. I have seen some take that amount of time and others do their due diligence and close in 3 weeks. Ask your real estate agent to keep you up to date during the process, this helps to calm the nerves and the agent will need your help.

By Ivo Henfling

Moving to Costa Rica is easy, if you want to spend the money on paying your moving company to pack your dishes and everything else for you. It is also pretty easy to move if you just throw it all out and start new in Costa Rica by buying all new stuff. 

Moving Home Boxes are available online and you can do most of the work yourself, although we recommend using a profesional packing company or moving company, so everything will arrive in one piece.

Most don’t realize that they will have to pay taxes on everything they bring, as soon as the container hits customs in Costa Rica. But that is for another blog, another day. Today, I’m going to tell you about how to pack your dishes and breakable articles.

By Isabelle Jones
 

My family and I relocated to Atenas in 2003 and have enjoyed the benefits of living in Atenas tremendously. We moved from Colorado, USA, not yet ready to retire and have been very happy since. Many of our clients, when searching for the right place to live, ask me “why Atenas and not anywhere else?” My answer is that we fell in love with Atenas, that’s why. Let me tell you a bit about it, so you understand why. 

Atenas is not a city but it is still a small Costa Rican town that hundreds of ex-pats from the U.S., Canada and Europe have chosen to call “home”.  Climate, natural beauty and location are just a few of those reasons.  Daily, you see both Costa Ricans and foreigners walking, jogging and biking throughout Atenas. 

By Andres Henfling

Sometimes we need a break from the tedious day to day routine, so we decided to take a weekend trip to the beach. In this article, I would like to show you how you can take a full weekend vacation, enjoy a Costarican beach and spend no more than $300 for a weekend.

Saturday morning I went with my girlfriend Melissa to Jaco Beach by bus and arrived in 1 hour and 30 minutes from downtown San José. Fortunately, the bus took the new highway so it is not a tedious or uncomfortable trip. We arrived at 9:30 am and went to get a simple but centrally located hotel where we had all the facilities and places to relax the weekend.

The hotel, Villa Nazua, is located at 200 meters from the Jaco Beach main street and 300 from the beach. The hotel offers a pool and a nice terrace to have a great time. The condo of 3 bedrooms is only $60 a night, it is pretty nice, clean, air conditioned and there were only 2 more condos with families so we enjoyed the peace and tranquility.
 

By Rudy Matthews

My son plays on the Alajuela youth soccer program. He is 11 years old and really looks forward to Saturday practices and games on Sunday. There are eighteen players and he has two coaches.

I have never been around Costa Rican parents a lot and the team has given me a chance to observe and get to know the parents more. Most of the parents do not have cars and you will see them walking to practice with their son or getting off a bus and in some cases a taxi.

The point is they make it to practice with their son one way or the other.

by Ivo Henfling

I have to let you all know about this totally rustic home in Escazu that I just listed because it is a very cozy home which has this incredible view of the Central Valley but because of the rains, I have not been able to take a decent picture yet.

Every morning I look out of my office window, where I can usually see the area of Bello Horizonte, but the rain hasn't allowed me to go take better pictures than I have on the listing.

What is living in Escazu about?

Most think that living in Escazu is all about highrises and traffic and shopping, but this area of town is totally the opposite. This is abotu quiet and green surroundings and views.

By Ivo Henfling

The famous Costa Rica rainy season, also called the wet season but baptized some years ago by tourism gurus "the green season" has just started. For most days, we have nice weather in the mornings and might have some rain in the afternoon. Some days might be a bit gloomy or fogged up and it doesn't rain all day long.

Yesterday, we had so much rain come out of the sky, I thought of Noah and his Ark, I was waiting for that Great Flood. As many of you know I am not very religious, but I almost started praying. Then I thought of the gutters and drains at my house and the damage rain can do to your property, which is when I though to write this blog. if you own Costa Rica real estate, you should read on....

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.

by Ivo Henfling

Today I read in La Nacion the great news that the first sewage treatment plant in Costa Rica will soon be inaugurated, although no name of the private company building the plant was given.

Many years ago, some tourist guru told the Costarican government they should sell Costa Rica as an eco friendly country and it worked. Millions of tourists have been visiting Costa Rica for many years, based on that believe. Today, this is starting to catch up on us, even though little by little we're starting to see the effort that is being made by many governmental and private enterprise.