Wally

Greetings, A year ago, we purchased 1.5 hectares ( about 3 acres ) of undeveloped land for $3,500 Cdn. What does this tell you? Are YOU expected to battle the bureaucracies and pay for the installation of water and power? Assuming that you ARE able to get this done in a timely manner with a minimum of aggravation ( tee hee), just who could afford to buy such a lot for $200,000 US? It certainly wouldn't be a Tico. Your only market would be a gullible gringo. Caveat emptor, my friend! Barbara

Greetings, Keep everything on the 'up&up'. Buy the property in your name to avoid any potential swindle factor. (When money is involved, even the tightest of friendships can evaporate.) You might want to get a Tico to negotiate the sale price on your behalf to fend off being charged the dreaded Blue-Eye Price and you could even attend the negotiations to be sure things are going as you want them to. Why not set up a corporation? Legal fees (and taxes, for that matter), in Costa Rica are minimal compared to Canadian and US standards. That way, your business can help s

Greetings, Sometime in 2002 it was decided by someone in authority to bring municipal water into the town of Bello Oriente in Coto Brus. One neighbour donated the top of one of his hills on which the tower is to be erected. A committee was formed to organize fundraising activities and work parties in order to facilitate installation. It would cost about $400.00 US for each household to have the pipes installed and water connected. As this is a formidable amount for Tico families in the area, they could pay in installments and provide labour on the project to keep costs down. Two hou

Hi TG! You mean I've become yet another techno-victim statistic? AAAAAH!!! Actually, I've got some poor fellow from Bell Sympatico patiently trying to untangle this delema. So far, he has an endless list of questions but I'm sure an answer or two will emerge from him one day. Just another learning experience! Barbara

Greetings, Can any of you learned technoids out there help me with this? For the past three days, whenever I've tried to get into Hot Mail, I've been told "The specified server cannot be found". This has happened once or twice in the past when I've tried to get into this forum but within a few hours everything is fine again. Is this a problem with my computer or is the problem at the Hot Mail end of the pipe? Is there anything I can do about it? Thanks for your assistance. Barbara

Concerning house construction, no heating or duct work is required either!

Dear Windborn, What's your hurry? A five day buzz through the tourist traps and you're seriously considering buying property already? WOAH!!!! Yes, speculators in that area are making a bundle and driving the prices out of all proportion. Back in 1999, for example, we were shown a pip-squeak house on a postage stamp lot with the neighbour's house a metre from the back door for $180,000 US (HAH!). This is because North Americans arrive with North American real estate prices in mind and somehow feel they must buy in right away before they get to know anything about the situation

Spot on, TG! Once again, you nailed it. Barbara

WARNING! The real estate industry in Costa Rica is not regulated. ANYBODY (including their pet aardvark) can sell real estate. You need to know if the price you're being asked for is, indeed, within the true market range or are you being asked "the blue-eye price"? (If the 'for sale' sign contains English, forget it!) You also need to know whether or not the person selling the property actually has a rightful claim to it. What you REALLY need is an honest lawyer to look after your best interests. Therefore, it is best to live in Costa Rica for at least a year and travel ab

I wasn't going to vote for Uncle Walt, but I thought Mickey mouse might be a good choice for president. Just think about it. A make belive character running a country that goes to war for make belive reasons and then starts to belive its own fantasy. What's even better is he would be the first black president of the USA. Also we could finally be true to form and admit that the V.P. is truly GOOFY. Wally