www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I have been saying this for 3 years and I stand buy it. I have had Real Estate friends here get mad at me and this will not help me when I try to sell my condo one day but I don't care.

I have heard that someone needs to live here for 2 years before buying but I say at Least 3 years .

I would suggest you have residency BEFORE you buy if you insist on buying here.

It's so nice and peaceful not to have a care in the world living here. You should be able to find what you want in a rental.

So many people are dissatisfied with home purchases and the lack of quality in the construction here. Yes the walls are concrete but most allow water to leak through and if the walls don't leak, the pipes will.

If it's not pipes leaking , its the gas coming up from the sewer through the pipes.

Or the business across the street that lets their alarm blast all night long in 10 minute intervals starting each time the wind blows --- And you seeming to be the only one that notices. All the ticos look at you like your a monster because you don't like listening to alarms at 5:45 on Sunday morning.

The only thing here worth a damn is the pusie and you don't need to buy anything to have full access to all that is available.

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* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

Ouch tell us how you really feel.

Sounds like good advice though to spend a good bit of time in a foreign country before deciding to move there or to buy a permanent home there. Alarms at 545am would be a definite deal breaker.

This is great advice. Too many people buy virtually on a whim, and live to regret the move. Renting for at least two years should be a requirement.

Good advice. I have been renting here for about three years. I am glad to have not made a purchase yet. I believe that there will be some better deals in the 6-18 due to the global recession. I have heard realestate is down in Guanacaste by as much as 20%. I don't have any hard facts except talking top realtors in the flamingo/Tamarindo area. Anyone have any factual numbers produced by the goverment? tux

20% would be GREAT ! But it's a lot worse than that and catastrophic in many cases.

But my point is deciding to own something here can take away from the original goal. Why even fuss if you don't have to. Now, everyone's financial situation is different. If someone has the $$$ and wants to play, then more power to them. My post is for the majority of CRT members that are mostly interested in "cr- ticas".

When I first came here in early 2006, it was hard to sit at a table at the Del Rey without hearing about the price of a Condo in Jaco. I must have sat through , well MANY, conversations . I DON'T CARE WHAT A CONDO IN JACO COST !

Now on the other hand if you find yourself in a situation where your girl showed up with newbie friend and you need some "help", I'm your man.

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* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.

There are morning noises everywhere.I used to live behind a mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia.Call to prayer is at sunrise.And sung by a guy with a terrible voice into a speaker loud enough for a KISS concert.Since it never failed that I had been drinking the night before, I said my own little prayer that Allah would shut this bastard up or kill me now.

The number of CR realtors and developers with suspended or revoked licenses in the US should tell you everything you need to know about CR real estate and wether to buy.

Good advice. Can you give us some numbers or a link to where you found them?

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Hey all:

As some of the guys know, I have had over 10 years of experience in CR. Bought and sold real estate... etc. Had most of the "standard experiences" and quite frankly I used to love the country.

Sure... there has always been "minor crime" which consisted of petty theft. For me, the "pro's" had far out weighed the "cons" many years ago.

LATELY Hmmmmm. Let's chat about that.

I asked by friend to name 1 positive thing that has happened in CR over the 3 years and NEITHER of us could come up with 1.

Sure, guys are getting guns and bigger guns... dogs and bigger dogs WTF!!!! Who really wants to live like that? They follow you around a store like you are gonna phuckin steal some little piece of crap they are selling.

All buying Real Estate in CR does is make you responsible for your investment and limit your options (if) (when) things so sour as they so often do down there.

Look at the Security Posts... guns, drugs, crime on the increase in CR.
Will the government do anything about it while "Golden Goose is getting slaughtered"? Hmmm... who knows... they are holding the knife
one of the knifes against the "gooses throat.

Per that venerable VB, RENT EVERYTHING IN CR! It's the only way to stay one step ahead of the problems...

My 500 colones worth.

King Costa

I agree 100 percent with Icantstayaway.

I studied international law, comparative law, real estate law as a speciality and so on in law school, and graduate business school and have traveled to over 50 countries and reached the same conclusion.
First common law does not apply. Even the European code is broken here. Real estate and brokers are NOT regulated. Brokers are not licensed.

If you come from an English common law background this is hard to understand.

A warning or word should be enough but it never is. Ignore this advice and learn the hard and expensive way.

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PacoLoco: "You pay for it one way or another."
Ace: "Rent everything, do not buy in Costa Rica"

My vote to rent also maybe even until death.

There is a very strong reason foreigners like to buy RE in the US without all the pitfalls of trying to own in the developing world. Sure you could do it in CR successfully with tons of due diligence and a lot of luck but then a Tica could try and steal it from you also so again why why??

I was gonna list this but nobody will believe it could ever happen to them .
I have personally heard several guy's stories of a mad or drunk chica getting the guy kicked out of his own home. This law has been covered here on CRT .

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* These are the "Good Ole Days". Enjoy Them.

* RENT but, "Don't Buy a Home in Costa Rica" until you have lived here for THREE years.