By Ivo Henfling

I would like to share this funny story with you, just to show you that when you think you’ve seen it all, you find you haven’t. This is not a fairy tale and though all the actors involved in this novel thought about suing the writer, we decided that this seller either has a serious psychological problem or he is just a great writer, wasting an opportunity to become famous and make a lot of money. When things like this happen, I always think about how boring life would have been if I would have stayed in Holland and wouldn’t have moved to Costa Rica.

Let me tell you a bit about the author first and how I met him. Many years ago, our GoDutch Realty office sold a property in Escazu to a North American client. The single man lived there for quite some years, remodeled the home and then one day called us again that he wanted to sell.

By Ivo Henfling

The long discussed tax on corporations in Costa Rica was just approved. The first time I wrote a blog about the tax the Costa Rican government proposed on corporate tax was in December 2010, so the approval has taken quite a while.

That doesn’t mean, it’s 100% that this will all happen because the Costarican citizens have the option of what’s called Sala IV, a court where they can stop a train running at 100 miles an hour. But for now, congress as well as Costarican government has approved the new tax, and it is coming into effect on April 1st, 2012.

By Rudy Matthews

Shell Johanson, a fellow associate recently wrote a great article about remodeling in Costa Rica and renovation. Shell made a point that remodeling is many times more difficult than building new construction and I totally agree.

I have done both and once you start remodeling the problem is you find more to be done than what you thought originally. Tile replacement, cabinets etc. are basic cosmetic items but once you start tearing down walls and find you need to replace wiring, plumbing etc. then the journey begins.

By Ivo Henfling

Now that most of you are on holiday, and I am not, you might have some more time available to enjoy the work of Isaac Martinez. Isaac is a panoramic photographer and does panoramic photos and virtual tours.
I met Isaac the first time in the year 2,000 when I was marketing and sales manager at a Costa Rica real estate project in Tarcoles, on the Central Pacific Coast, with the name of Lomas de Carara. Today, the resort is called Nativa Resort.

I had to market this incredibly beautiful development with nothing in it, but the beauty of the views, because there was nothing built yet. The human eye has a panoramic view of things but the lens of a camera doesn’t. That’s how I found Isaac.

By Isabelle Jones

I have a Christmas present for a smart buyer who is ready to accept a incredible deal when they see one: this absolutely gorgeous ranch home for sale in Atenas that is a rare blend of elegance, style and Value. Now you just need to make a reservation for your flight to Costa Rica and I will, out of my real estate commission, throw in 2 nights in a nice B & B in Atenas if you close before the 15th of February 2012. That will give you two months to get organized and see for yourself how great a deal this is. At closing, my broker, Ivo, will throw in another night, I have his word on this. First come, first served. 

Are you sick and tired of the noise of the city? Is it time for you to make those dreams come true and finally make the step to retire to paradise?The motivated seller has just reduced the price of his house near Atenas  to $399,000. That's incredible for this Stunning Custom built 3 Bedroom, 2 ½ bath Ranch home. The size of the property is close to 1½ acres or 5800m2.

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 Ivo Henfling

Many North Americans don’t know you can buy real estate in Costa Rica with your self directed IRA (Individual Retirement Account) or your 401(k) (Retirement Savings Account). Canadians can use their RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan. Very few Costa Rica real estate agents know how you can realize the purchase without running into trouble. You will need the cooperation of your IRA custodian and you need to have a Costa Rica real estate attorney who knows what needs to be done and of course a GoDutch Realty agent for your purchase.

By Rudy Matthews

This past Thanksgiving I went to Jaco Beach with my son, sister and niece. My sister and niece were visiting from Florida and their two favorite places here in Costa Rica are the hot springs and spending time at the beach. Playas de Jaco is located on the Central Pacific Coast, between Puntarenas and Manuel Antonio.  Jaco is the closest beach to the Central Valley area. The new highway from San José  to Caldera makes Jaco a favorite for tourist and locals.

Jaco beach and the nearby Hermosa Beach are known for surfing and Costa Rica just won its 6th consecutive title at the 2011 REEF Central American Surfing Games. My surfing days are behind me but I still enjoy body surfing and the waves are great in Jaco.

By Ivo Henfling

This is one of those occasions that I get a call from a seller, asking me to list this Escazu view home he has for sale and he checked out enough realtors online to make an educated decision on who to list his property with. The seller and I have been living in Costa Rica for more or less the same amount of time, but he travels a lot and has a home in the US too. Therefore he decided to sell his home in Bello Horizonte, Escazu. I know the neighborhood well because I lived like 200 yards up the road back in the eighties, so I know the neighborhood very well. Over the years, I have sold quite a few properties in that Bello Horizonte neighborhood and right now, I have the house across the street also listed and even a building lot on the other side. Now, this might sound like everyone in the neighborhood is selling but that's not the case. For those buyers who are looking for a different lifestyle, living in Escazu is what you are looking for.

By Ivo Henfling

It is not so easy to find an affordable 2 bedroom Costa Rica condo for sale in a great location. There are large condo buildings are popping up around Sabana Park everywhere. It is just like all those condo buildings that are going up in Panama City, they look beautiful, very city like, but who the heck is going to buy them? Most start at $450K. But just by sheer luck, I found this 2-bedroom and 2-bath condo for sale on the first floor, nice and clean environment, selling for just $10 under $135,000. This condo was built in 1989 and is located in a much nice neighborhood than most in this price range can ever be.

By Diane Farquhar

Nowadays, you, as a Costa Rica Property Owner, have many sites available on which to feature your rental property in Atenas, many of them good, reputable sites. What they cant tell you, and what you don't know until much later in the process, is the quality of the tenant. These sites have great tips, and written guarantees you can purchase that mostly protect the tenant, but you STILL don't know what type of prospective tenant you are dealing with.

 A lot of time is spent asking and answering questions before you find (you hope) the perfect tenant. At the "interview"---there should be one--you make your decision  with crossed fingers, based on first impressions and sugar-coated promises to take "excellent" care of your home; As a Bank Manager for many years I can tell you the interviewee usually  puts his-or hers-best foot forward. I  hired a few doozies over the years, and learned, the hard way, to base my decision on other factors not always related to the subject at hand!

By Ivo Henfling

If you want a knowledgeable Costa Rica real estate agent to represent you as a buyer’s agent, you need to do some serious research. Of course you want the best realtor in town to represent you. But how can you find that Costa Rica realtor? The only way of doing this is spending some serious time and effort online because your next real estate purchase is going to be one of the most important ones in your life.

Looking at Costa Rica real estate websites, you will find that most of them only offer properties for sale and some very basic information about real estate in Costa Rica in general. But do you really want a listing agent to represent you as a buyer or are you looking for an agent who knows more about Costa Rica real estate than anybody else in the business?

By Ivo Henfling

To purchase Costa Rica real estate you should ask a professional and responsible real estate agent to help you with. You will be moving to another country with a different culture than your own where they speak a language you don’t understand. Do NOT try to save yourself the 5% real estate commission by going through For Sale By Owner websites or real estate agents you have not thoroughly checked out before dealing with them. Buying a property is one of those huge investments you make only a few times in your life and you should do it right. Use Google or other search engines to its best advantage and you can find the good news and the bad news about any real estate company and its agents.  

By Ivo Henfling
 

I just went through the nicest Costa Rica real estate closing of my life, even though it was probably one of the most difficult ones too. I have had some real nice closings but I’ve also had some real impossible ones. Well, we went through practically every obstacle that anyone could ever come up with, mainly because this sale involved bank financing through a Costarican bank. I had the perfect buyers, the perfect sellers and the perfect bank employee in one room, quite a feat on itself. I am having a very low opinion of bank employees lately, but Nataly was incredible and unusual responsive and cooperative. This was a deal with a lot of heroes in it.
 

By Ivo Henfling
 

Not every Costa Rica real estate closing is fun. When you purchase Costa Rica real estate and you have a Costa Rica bank mortgage involved, the documents mentioned in part 1 will pre-qualify you (or not) and once this is all approved by the bank, you can go on to the next step.

The paperwork mentioned in part I is mostly the same in every Costa Rican bank, but make sure you ask the documents enquired for the mortgage with the bank you will be working with. My nicest Costa Rica real estate closing was done through BAC San Jose and thanx to an ourstanding bank executive and very cooperative buyers and seller, this real estate closing had a very happy ending.

Your realtor should be able to help you on the property tax certification. Some property owners will have paid their Municipal and property taxes for the whole years but being able to show a receipt is not enough.

By Ivo Henfling
 

A Costa Rica real estate closing can be a nerve wrecking issue if you don’t know what you are doing or if you’re not in the good hands of a knowledgeable realtor when you purchase Costa Rica real estate. I just went through the nicest real estate closing of my life as described in part I and part II. The long and tedious closing process of filling out documents and more documents after that to apply for a Costa Rica bank mortgage is just like driving a bad Costarican road, it is full of potholes.  And going through an even more nerve wrecking Costa Rica bank appraisal and even a home inspection done by the same appraiser will get anyone heartburn.

By Ivo Henfling

My mom and dad had Costa Rica retirement dreams over 30 years ago, and they made them happen. At the time, retiring to Costa Rica was an incredible adventure and it still is.

My mom and dad didn’t buy their home in Costa Rica from a GoDutch Realty agent, because GoDutch Realty didn’t exist at the time. Big mistake! So they lived here only for like 6 years and moved on to the Canary Islands where they were not happy again. Guess why? Just joking but trying to make you clear why I wrote this blog.
 

By Rudy Matthews

A quirk of the housing economic crisis is that for the most part rental property in Costa Rica has held its own and has returned a better investment than the normal investment alternatives.

Rental Property in Florida

I held my breath when the housing crisis hit because I still have rental property in Florida. Over the last four years I have been 95% occupied. Florida, as you know, got hit very bad in the downturn and has yet to recover. I am sure there are pockets where rentals are better than other places so I feel very fortunate.

By Shell Johanson

Being a Costa Rica realtor in Cariari is never an easy job. There are twists and turns in every deal. Patience and nerves are always on edge. It means putting up with a lot of things from the buyers as well as the sellers, without the other party finding out about it. It’s part of the job.  

But there’s one thing that I wish I could do something about, I’m going to call it the ‘Busy Bee’. We all know this person because we all have one near. It is usually a family member, a friend or a neighbor who thinks he/she is a fountain of knowledge and loves to share his/her opinions. Never short for words, that’s for sure. The ‘Busy Bee’ is very good at screwing up real estate deals.

By Ivo Henfling

I read this unbelievably interesting post on a forum from a US licensed builder in Costa Rica, trying to advertise his business of building container homes. I wanted to share this with you as it shows the totally wrong attitude, to my opinion, of someone who lives in Costa Rica and is advertising himself by saying the locals suck at doing construction.

This week, our preferred Costa Rica home inspector Tom Rosenberger, sent me a shocking post on the CostaRicaCentralValleyLiving Forum. This post gave me the idea of writing this blog because it might be educational for those who might have some construction plans in the near future or want to start a business in Costa Rica.