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 Ivo Henfling

If you have a Costarican driver’s license, no matter if you have legal residency or not, you should read the following information.

In the past, when the Costarican transit police would write out a ticket, it would go to the tag of the car. In December, when you’d pay your road taxes, you’d get the charges of tickets of the whole year. COSEVI, the Road Safety Counsil of Costa Rica is installing cameras on the highway to control speeding and have no way to hand out the tickets to the drivers personally.

This has changed now and by traffic law # 9078, all 1.1 million drivers in Costa Rica need to give the authorities their email address, so the tickets will be charged to their drivers’ license.

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

No matter if you come to Escazu on holidays, for a look at Costa Rica real estate, for a visit to the doctor – dentist - lawyer or for having your baby in the CIMA hospital, I can recommend you stay at Casa Laurin, an extraordinary Bed & Breakfast in Escazu.

Rudy Matthews, our roaming GoDutch Realty agent, told me today about a client staying in a Best Western hotel in the worst area in downtown San Jose, which is when it occurs to me that I need to tell you about a real nice place to stay. Quite a few people book a hotel in San Jose because they don’t ask their realtor what hotel or B & B they recommend.

First impression is always important and your stay in Casa Laurin in Trejos Montealegre – Escazu has everything you need to get a good first impression of Costa Rica: a very nice neighborhood, close to everything, a nice and clean environment, great swimming pool, beautiful rooms and a great breakfast. The location of Casa Laurin is outstanding and it is in the middle of everything but in a quiet upper class residential area. 

by Ivo Henfling

Driving in Costa Rica is different because most drivers in Costa Rica have a different behavior than you do. Learn about the driving habits before you move to Costa Rica.

To my opinion the reason is that the Latin-American mindset when driving is different and does not plan ahead nor do they have the discipline you have grown up with. Costa Rica has not had an army since 1948 and for this reason Ticos are not very disciplined.  

Some might think I’m trying to ridicule the driving habits of the Ticos, I am not. Plenty of people get killed on the Costarican roads like they do in other countries but if you follow up on the next 14 habits Ticos have when they drive, you will adjust much better to your new life in Costa Rica and feel safer on the roads here.

by John Doe

We are now in the month of February, when we had agreed to make the final payment for our amazing property in Costa Rica, and proceed with closing the deal. Of course, these situations almost always have hurdles, and the best one can do this these is keep calm, and as much as possible keep one’s eye on the ultimate goal. I believe it was one of the ancient Greek philosophers who said “The long journey to Mount Olympus begins with a single step”

First, I should say a few words about my last post. Ivo informs me that he had some emails regarding the difficulties I described, with some wanting to know where the development was. I have sworn Ivo to secrecy about this, since my intention from the beginning was to be quite frank about the problems and issues, as well as the good things about our purchase process. If parties were identified, I knew that I would have to soften my comments, and that would defeat the purpose of my blogs.

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

A week or so ago, in another blog, I asked you to learn Spanish and told you how the Ticos will respect you if you make an effort to learn their language. Today, I’ll make it even more interesting for you. You can learn Tico Spanish and I can assure you that you won’t be able to do anything wrong with the locals anymore.

Learning the ways of your new home country will allow you to adapt so much faster and learning Tico can be part of it, if you wish so. I know quite a few foreigners who have learned without going native. Learning will make living in Costa Rica a lot easier.

Like every language, Tico Spanish has its own slang and my dear friend and client Alf Giebler has written a book about it, “A lo Tico”, which means the Tico Way.

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

Before I moved to Costa Rica there was so much to do and there was no time to take Spanish classes nor did I realize how important it was to lean at least the basics. As soon as I started to live in Costa Rica, I understood I had to learn to speak Spanish, I had made a major mistake by not learning anything. As most Dutch do, I spoke Dutch. Nobody in Costa Rica spoke any Dutch and they still don’t. Not a good language.  

I spoke pretty decent German, but again, no good. My English was pretty fluent but at the time almost nobody spoke any English at all in Costa Rica. I had never realized how difficult it was to speak in sign language and no matter how hard I tried, most locals did not understand anything of what I was trying to tell them.

English spoken people are usually not used to make an effort to learn another language and do not realize that doing so has a lot of benefits.

by John Doe

Maybe you have read John Doe’s first blog, "Early in the Costa Rica property purchase process" in December last year. We are now 1 month later.

John described the initial stages of their property purchase in Costa Rica; touring around the amazing Costa Rica countryside, meeting its friendly, welcoming citizens and other expats, finding a developer with a property they were very attracted to, delaying their flights back home to stay two nights in the property and signing papers to purchase the property for sale.

John’s story is a great one as it is a first-hand and interesting experience of purchasing a home in Costa Rica. The name John Doe was used so it won't upset any people who are involved in the stories. Let’s see what John has to tell us:

by Ivo Henfling

President of Costa Rica, doña Laura Chinchilla, proposes a new bill to control capital that flows in and out of the country. The Colon is the most depreciating amongst 19 Latin American and Caribbean economies tracked by Bloomberg.

Doña Laura Chinchilla announced measures to slow capital inflows that she called “weapons of mass destruction” against the nation’s economy.

Is this bill an effort of keeping retirees and foreign investors out of Costa Rica? Will it hurt Costa Rica real estate owners? The Costarican government has created the Luxury Home tax as well as the Corporation Tax, both overrated in the press, but that is another story. Many of my readers have asked me for a comment on this proposed bill, so here we go.