www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I spoke with several girls about their living arrangements in CR. They all seemed to give about the same answers. It appears rent is like $200 per month. I couldn’t understand if the apartments were government or private party owned. Most of the apartments seem to have two small bedrooms.

Does anyone know what the average purchase price of such apartments actually is on the open market? I hope to learn more on my next trip.

She can rent a 2 bedroom house in Pavas for that.

I am certainly no expert on San Jose real estate, but, from what I can see from various websites and chatting with some of the little darlings, that prices for Tico style homes can start as low as $5K (US) on up. I don't think you get much for $5K

I see some websites showing condos and small homes starting in the mid $20K's and have visited Tico neighborhoods where small two story row homes could be bought for around $15-$20K (US)

this trip, I am attending a two day seminar put on by the ARCR and plan on checking out the real estate market.

in any event, I would rent first, before buying anything.

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Real State is a free Market.

Depending of the zone you would like. For Example, San Pedro Area a regular apartment can cost $ 10.000

In Escazu you may get one for $ 30.000 regular apartment...

A shack in Desamperados..........$80.00 per month.

yes, one little darling favorita nica i know, pays around $80 a month for a small rental behind the larger house of her land lady in Desamparados.

but, as i look at my handy dandy San Jose "Cuidad De San Jose" map, i see that places like San Pedro, Desamparados, Amon etc... are divided into sub neighborhoods such as 'Granja' in San Pedro or 'Otoya' in Amon or 'Fortuna' in Desamparados. (how i love daydreaming while looking at this map)

anyway, it would be nice to have the time and opportunity to tour the city and get a good understanding of the various Barrios and sub neighborhods.

here in the Washington, DC metro area, we have different areas (barrios) with some nice and others not so nice and each one often having sub neighborhoods where gentrification (or the opposite) is taking place.

in my limited experience, i have found that the sub neighborhood of Otoya (near the SL) in Barrio Amon is my favorite.

and I do like the Mercado Central district for its hustle and bustle of commerce and market place activity.

I think that one has to decide where they are comfortable and whether they want a more upscale north american home or can live with a more spartan house/condo.

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I own a few rental properties in the U.S. and have a hard time imaging what you can buy and rent out for $80-200 per month. Maybe that means a place you can buy for 5k will rent for $80 per month and a place you buy for 30K rents for $200. Maybe I’ll have a chance to explore the real estate market on my next trip. I haven’t ever seen any website listing properties for those prices. The cheapest I remember seeing was around 89K for a condo. There is no way to rent something out at that price and make any money.

try this link.

I think it may be sponsored by one the CRT members.



http://www.realdealscr.com/

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This Nica's $80.00 per month rental in Desamparados would compare to a deluxe chicken coop in the U.S. It was concrete construction with a corrugated steel roof [which had some small holes in it]. It had 2 bedrooms, dining room/living room combo, kitchen and bath. No hot water. The walls separating the rooms were about 7 feet tall, and they did not go all the way up to the roof. The floor was concrete. The "patio" to the rear of the kitchen had walls of concrete block and a dirt floor. In the patio were several empty animal pens which I assume, were for either rabbits or chickens. The front porch had the standard steel bars with locking door.

When I arrived at the house, a 17 year old chica that lives with my Nica friend was in the smaller bedroom with her 30 year old boyfriend, "Juan." If I had any questions as to how these chicas end up pregnant at such an early age, Juan answered them for me......he was all over this girl.

The house was sparcely furnished, though she did have a nice, new sofa and loveseat. There was no kitchen table and chairs, so when we ate, we pulled the sofa up to a counter in the kitchen to eat. She was proud of her place and when asked, I told her it was nice.

The street in front of her house was unpaved and she lived in very close proximity to her neighbors, who all seemed to get along.

As I walked through the street with the Nica and her bebe, I got many curious stares from the neighbors, as I'm sure a gringo in the neighborhood was a rare sight.

We stopped at a little community store, which indeed, did seem to be well stocked with life's daily necessities. We bought ice cream sandwiches and I offered to pay with U.S. dollars, but they were not accepted.....no problem.....I had colones on me too.

Both the trip to Desamparados and the trip back to the gulch were in two different "Doobey's Taxis" operated by friends of my Nica friend. I was a little apprehensive when she showed up at my hotel in a gypsy cab, and against my better judgement, I reluctantly got in. Thankfully, it all went well and after spending several hours with my Nica and her bebe and having dinner with them, I returned to the gulch. I thanked my Nica friend for showing me this part of her life. It was a worthwhile experience.

Zebra

Scottp1063 wrote:



You are not going to find those kind of homes on a website. You are going to find them maybe in a newspaper ad but more likely by going into the neighborhood and talking to the owner of the local pulperia, a neighborhood handy man, etc.

Even then you are going to have trouble getting the Tico price unless you have a Tico negotiating for you.

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great description of a typical Nica home Zebra.

still, for the Nica little darlings (and maybe some of the Ticas as well), it may be better than where they came from.

and ID is right, I have never seen website or newspaper listings (even in the Nacion) for the cheap, cheap deals.

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if you live in the states of Poverty, Darkness or anywhere outside of The Blessings of Civilization Trust, Inc...other rules may apply)

Anyone know if Tman's CR listings (rentals) are still valid?

Though I am no expert, I do live in San Jose and I have looked around, checking advertisements, websites and so forth. Here is my take:

The cheapest places are not going to even be advertised anywhere. The buyers and renters for such places don't bother looking in newspapers. They know where they can afford to live and word of mouth or a for sale/rent sign in a window does the trick. The cost of an ad in the Nation could eat up half a month's rent at $80 a month.

I can't imagine any gringo wanting to live in the really cheap places. As far as rent goes, I share a 3 br apt in the center of town with a rent of a little over 300 a month. My share is half of that. It's roomy, clean and secure. It is not luxurious by gringo standards but most of the chicas are quite impressed with it.

People who look for real estate on the web are not going to find much in English or even in Spanish that is lower priced because the profit of selling properties like that is nothing compared to what can be made selling a 500k gringo house. Also, those looking for something in the under 50k range are not likely to have internet, nor be used to looking that way. There is one site I find quite useful, though. It's full of pricey gringo-oriented outfits but also has some sites with places for sale from 150k $ on down to who knows what. The site is:

http://www.inmotico.com/

happy browsing.

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In November a 2br, bath, kitchen, lr/dr was found in Comida de Tibas for $225.00. It was a condo rental with electric sliding door for car. Included 1 parking space. There were 20 1 floor units. A great place. My absolutely insane tica friend decided she could not handle it and left in 2 months. She never told me or I would have got it for 2 friends who are looking.
There are great rentals available but it reguires searching with a TICO/TICA.

I guess I really wanted to know what it would cost a chica to BUY their own place instead of renting. Since many of these gals have Ch*ldren and their window of opportunity may be short I was wondering if it is realistic for a girl to buy a place.