By Guest Blogger TicoNuevo

In my introduction, you know that we have decided to make Costa Rica our permanent retirement residence. So, I’d like to give you a look back at how we arrived at this rather momentous and difficult decision and later on how we implemented the move. Our criteria and circumstances are specific to us. You may see some parallels with your situation or you may not, but the process we used to arrive at our decision should work for anyone in any circumstance.

In the late summer of 2011, it was time for us to get serious about determining when and where we were going to retire and how we were going to pay for our golden years when we finally decided to pull the plug on our work-a-day life. First, we had many long discussions about what was most important to us. I think, every couple, or individual for that matter, needs to take a serious look at what retirement looks like to them and what they value most.

by Guest Blogger TicoNuevo

Allow me to introduce you to our new guest blogger “TicoNuevo” who arrived in Costa Rica this week to start another leg of his journey. TicoNuevo has exchanged probably a couple of hundred emails with our Costa Rica real estate team and this blog is the result of his desire to share his experiences of retiring in Costa Rica firsthand. Thank you TicoNuevo and TicaNueva sharing your experiences with others.

I am now giving the keyboard to TicoNuevo, I am sure you will love his story because he is a much better writer than I am:

by Ivo Henfling

Peter and Edie Boyer moved into their new home in Vista Mar Estates in Desmonte in October 2012 and are enjoying the marvelous wonders of living in Atenas. Desmonte is located between Atenas and Orotina and the Boyers bought their home through Isabelle Jones, our Atenas agent.

Last week, I wrote a blog on the American-European Real estate website about why Atenas real estate is so attractive for Costa Rica retirement, where I wrote “The low density allows for big part of the nature to be intact, which allows for lots of birdlife, monkeys and other wildlife to be enjoyed from the terrace of your home”.

by Ivo Henfling

I received this email from Paul, a future expat, today:

“I just returned from a 4 day trip to San Jose and participated in a Expat seminar put on by International Living magazine at the San Jose Marriott.  I walked to 7:00 mass one morning through a neighborhood where EVERY HOUSE had heavy iron gates across the driveway, razor wire and or electrical security fence and some even had uniformed guards.  

What on earth are the Ticos afraid of?  I live in the DETROIT area sometimes called the MURDER City instead of the Motor City and I assure the only razor wire you see is at the county jail.  What gives? “

by Judy in Atenas

Two sisters - Judy and Roxi - are creating a whole new life in Costa Rica post-retirement from the United States. They were in touch with our Atenas real estate agent before they moved to Costa Rica and gave Isabelle Jones a raving testimonial. Hear about Judy and Roxi's adventures, travels and experiences via their blog. They are living their dream!

Are We Still Dreaming - Has Reality Set in?

"You've Got To Have a Dream, If You Want To Have a Dream Come True"

Dennis Waitley

By Ivo Henfling

Before you retire to a new country, you need to find out which country to retire to or buy a 2nd home first. Once you have decided Costa Rica will be your retirement destination, in 3 weeks you can tour the country and find out where to concentrate the search or scratch it off your list.

Doing your online due diligence is only the start. I know some people who bought a house in Escazu years ago and still only do the trip airport – Escazu and vice versa. Please don’t be one of those; you don’t know what you are missing. The real fun starts when you come to Costa Rica rent a car for a couple of weeks and hit the roads. Leave you GPS at home and just get lost. When you hit ocean, you know you will have to make a turn.

by Ivo Henfling

Who would not want to retire in the country where the happiest people on earth live? Costa Rica scores for the 2nd consecutive year # 1 on the Happy Planet Index with a score of 64 points of 151 countries analyzed. Costa Rica's HPI score indicates high life expectancy and high level of experienced well-being.

What is the Happy Planet?

The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is the leading global benchmark for sustainable well-being.
The HPI measures what matters: the extent to which countries long, happy and sustainable life for the people deliver.

by Isabelle Jones in Atenas

A fine Atenas luxury gated community

Roca Verde gated community in Atenas is a fine luxury gated community. Homes in Roca Verde start as low as $250,000 and luxury homes start at $500K and go all the way up to almost $1M, depending on the views, the size of the home and the quality of the finishes. This beautiful gated community offers the best views in town and was developed in 2004 by master developer Jean Luc Sauvé and his partner Normand Bastien.

Roca Verde is located only two miles out of Atenas, where you have all the amenities and services you will be looking for when you move to Costa Rica. Located on an Atenas mountain range of 2,200 to 2,500 feet elevation, this community offers 75 home sites with lots varying from ¼ acre to 1 ¾ acres, in 3 phases. The community is not a condominium and there are no CC & R's but is legally a subdivision.

By Ivo Henfling

Adventure, sunshine, lower cost of living, being happy and a better lifestyle, to mention a few, are reasons that make us take the decision to move to Costa Rica or to any other country. It is a great decision or a horrible one, there is nothing in between, no matter if you move to the city or to the beaches. If it is a happy story or a horror story does not only depend on being committed or not, there are a lot of big and small details involved.

Google

When I moved to Costa Rica 32 years ago, Costa Rica was different, the world was different. Google didn’t exist and it was not so easy to do due diligence on a distance. The only way to make it happen was to burn your ships back home and give it a shot. I never regretted the adventure and still enjoy every day of it.

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

Costa Rica punctuality, or so called Tico Time, will be a very important part of your lifestyle if you plan to move to Costa Rica and buy a home here. I consider myself a punctual person, even after living in Costa Rica for over 30 years. Writing a blog about this occurred to me after a seller of a property in Ciudad Colon got really mad at me for not showing up on the time that he thought we had agreed on. I had another appointment at the same time and I keep an electronic agenda on my computer and my iPhone, so you can probably guess what I decided to tell him. I think I said it nicely though.