Tom and Marcia

The US dollar and the colon are the two currencies used here. You can have bank accounts in each, if you want. Most of us do. That property seems to be within the range of reasonable rents. You can find larger apartments or houses for the same or less. While this is not a bad deal, you may want to shop around. If you can get it on a month to month basis without a lease, I would take it to give yourself a good home base when you arrive. When we arrived ten years ago, we rented a studio apartment for $500 for the first month. The next month we moved into a small furnished 3 br house for $350. After a year, we moved to another unfurnished house for $240. After 2 years, we moved to a larger 3 br house for $400. We lived there 5 years until the owner sold it. We moved into another for C 250,000. This is the only place we have lived where our rent was raised. It is now c275,000 (about $480). That's a 3 br on a large lot with a great view. All of the contracts have clauses for annual rent increases. You can often avoid the increase if you have a good payment history and convince the owner that you will stay long term and pay on time. It also helps to not look overly affluent. We live in Zarcero, about an hour from Palmares. I am familiar with the Palmares area and like it. T

I am pleased to announce that I have developed at home coronavirus test that is faster, less expensive, and as accurate as the test that is used at the White House every day. Even better, you don't have to buy it from me. Here is how it works. 1. Get a penny. 2. Flip said penny. 3. Heads you're negative. Tails you're positive. If you don't like the result, you can go 2 out of 3. This test may also be performed with the coins of other nations, but let's face it, the USA has the best testing.

You can't convince someone who believes in conspiracy theories that they are wrong. T

BTW. A better name for a paid squatter is a caretaker. They protect your property from unwanted squatters. T

I'm no lawyer (in any county). But, it doesn't sound like you have any standing in this. You don't own the lot and even though you paid six figures for your view, you don't own that other lot or the view. The person who has nothing or his family could also take physical actions against you if you threaten his family's home. This is another real example of why it is best to rent. You can move easier than you can move others. Interest on six figures in CD's pay most people's rent. I would be very cautious. T

That's a good question for a lawyer. T

Thanks. Most people are probably as unaware as I was. T

This advice will cost you nothing, but be worth ten times as much. I don't know how old you are. Regardless of your age, use any "found money" to pay off your debts. Once your debts are paid off, stay out of debt. Debt free life simplifies everything. Talk to one or two reputable investment advisers. Discuss your idea of income property and get their opinions. Carefully evaluate risks of any investment. Chasing high returns can lead to high loses. Think long term. An easy tool to use is any online mortgage calculator. Enter the amount of money you have to invest, select the interest rate you can get, and select the number of years. The "payment" will be an indication of how much you can take out every month until the investment is gone. T

The whole issue of a border wall is just hot air. But, I read one comment that nobody else is talking about. If there were a border wall, would U.S. citizens be denied access to the Rio Grande? No one has asked Trump about that. T

Do you know that Guanacaste is suffering from extreme drought and water shortages? This can greatly impact quality of life and property values. I'm just trying to help. Please come, enjoy yourself, and rent. You won't miss any great buys. T

You may be one of the lucky few, but most people regret buying property here. There is no good reason to buy. Rental values are way out of line with sales prices and selling is difficult. BTW. Anyone can call him/herself a real estate agent. There are no standards or licenses. T

The U.S. is not so easy to visit. Ask any Tico. My take would be to keep the citizenship to have the passport. It's only a piece of paper and doesn't change where your heart is. T

Those tickets work like any other lottery ticket. Somebody wins, but you're more likely to be bitten by a shark in San Jose. T

Eleanor, There is a mall exit inbound from the pista. There is still construction going on in the vicinity of the exit. I don't know how well it will work in the future. I don't know about the outbound exit situation. I was just going to kill some time. I'm not a big mall fan. When we are in the states a mall is a convenient one-stop shopping location. T

I was just out driving around yesterday and decided to check it out. That was a mistake. The line to the parking lot started just past Walmart. I went into Alajuela and the line from the other direction was backed up to the gas station at the traffic lights. It was Sunday. I'm sure that it will be easier to visit closer to Christmas. I didn't get in either line, so I can't rate the mall experience. T