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 stimulate the local economy. However, (Heaven forbid), should you find yourself in legal difficulties, (like a car accident or something), you, personally, might be sued, but that which remains the property of the corporation cannot be touched. As mentioned earlier, taxes in Costa Rica are minimal so why fiddle with declaring the purchase price? Keep everything legal and proper so you won't have anything to worry about. Barbara

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 households in the area could afford the entire cost ( my husband and I being one, and Beto being the other). Fortunately for the town, we live at one end of the village and Beto at the other end. We paid up front so the pipe will extend through the entire town and connecting all the other houses will be easy once these folks have paid their share. Fundraising events have taken place regularly since 2003 but in 2004, it was discovered that the treasurer wasn't keeping any record of funds received or spent. When they finally caught her red-handed, she was kicked off the committee. (She was the wife of our ex-partner and I was surprised they put up with her for as long as they did!) Finally, the word came that construction was to begin in September of 2004. Arrangments were made for housing the engineer of the project and the fundraising events continued. Next, we were told it was to be January of 2005 for sure! In April we were heard that things would start happening soon...( define "soon"?). As I type, our house still gets its washing and bathroom water from rain and drinking water is from a well. No tower or pipe installations have materialized yet. It's all happening on Tico time. This has been our experience with utilities in Costa Rica so far. I read somewhere that, apparently, if you bottle water in a clear plastic or glass bottle and leave it in the sun for at least three hours, the UV rays will kill off all the nasty things and make it safe to drink. Does anyone know if this is true? Barbara.

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. Why was that one property being 'flipped' before any work had been done? Did the vendor have true title to that land? Was the owner unable to acquire services for that property? What was the problem? Did you know that water is an issue in Guanacaste during the dry season? Some people have to truck it in but in the 'green season' they seem to be up to their armpits in water. Are you aware of the Maritime Zone laws with regard to beach front properties? When you return to CR and travel about for a much longer time, you'll discover that true property values are a lot less than in North America....especially away from the tourist areas. The cost of building a house is MUCH less because labour costs are lower, and construction costs are minimal (no basement to dig, no insulation to be installed, fewer rooms to construct). With the climate and casual lifestyle there, most of your living is done outside on the porch. The mantra for prospective property purchasers in Costa Rica should be; 'Travel about, take your time, and rent before you buy.' Barbara

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 about to find the location you truely desire. Get to know Ticos and get personal references for the professionals you'll need to hire. Take your time! This is a big investment into the rest of your life and not worthy of being rushed. Barbara

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