CdnMorganGal

We used http://www.EmeraldForestProperties.com

What I object to is one year paying $50/month, then the next year it was jacked up to $240/month. Then there are a bunch of other and new taxes - Who can budget for such increases? If we were to do it over, we'd be checking out other countries.

We are extremely pleased with our thermosiphon solar hot water system from Enertiva http://www.enertiva.com . We previously used on-demand tankless water heating units but the poor quality of electricity in our area kept burning them out. Our payback for the solar system was 2 years. Best investment we ever made. The main 'problem' we have is we have to check the water temp before showering - oftentimes it will almost reach boiling point and we won't be able to get the shower to a cool enough temperature - so we have to let the hot water run a while to bring the water temp in the tank down. And it does have a back-up electrical system - which we rarely need to use but has come in handy when we haven't had any sun for a couple of weeks.

Our solar hot water system cost us $1300 installed, no problems to date (1.5yrs) and will have paid for itself within 2 years.

We bought a farm with a one year old house - didnt spend 6-12months looking around - came, bought, moved in . . . and havent regretted it - but we knew what we wanted and never figured CR to be paradise - each place has its own pro's and con's. But one definite advantage of renting for a year would be the locals would get to know you, and start giving you the 'goods' on what is a good price or not, what is for sale and not listed anywhere, who is a shoddy builder and who can be trusted, etc etc etc

Whereabouts do you intend to buy? Referring a lawyer living at the other end of the country won't be of much use . . .

Just an FYI - the previous 2 days I couldnt get the forums to load AT ALL - I just assumed the website was down for some reason. This evening its working as well as usual. . .

The 15% isn't right - the institution will withhold a percentage based on the amount withdrawn. The %ages are laddered - the more you withdraw, the higher the tax rate. If you withdraw more than 15k, 30% is withheld. And remember, the collapsed RRSP amounts are considered part of your income for that year - depending on amounts of other income you have, you could end up paying an even higher tax rate. I'm looking into eventually only withdrawing 10-20k/year and paying minimal, if any taxes.

No

I heartily disagree! Our lawyer is fantastic. She is smart, helpful and creative! She not only makes sure the contracts for our property purchases protect us, but also the vendor(s), she ensures they are fair to both sides, and takes the time to explain everything. She has found problems with documents other lawyers have prepared and created new ones from scratch. She has vouched for us personally in the face of potential complications, thus smoothing the way for the sale. I talked with her about the type of property we would next be interested in, 2 weeks later she already had a list of 3 potentials...

We bought a wonderful house with 15ac just oustide of La Suiza. There's a fair bit of coffee growing in our area but my husband and I decided to go a different route. To offset our living expenses we are/will be growing our own cows, pigs and chickens and are putting in an extensive fruit and vegetable garden. Building materials have dropped a bit in price compared to last year, due to slowing demand, so the livestock housing will be constructed over the next few months. We're up in the mountains and we don't really have any problems with biting flying insects, although we do occasionally burn a mosquito coil when watching movies on our computer outside. The streets have fewer people due to the slower economy and hotel rates in the tourist areas are a bit cheaper now. We're having an easier time finding labor for small jobs. Some local properties are still outrageously priced, but a few have recently sold, so I think prices may have come down a bit or maybe the right buyer found what he/she wanted. I hope some of this has helped - Desiree

Their rep met us at our hotel and took us to see the properties.

We were extremely lucky. I researched on the net for a couple of months, finding every little site with places for sale. We didn't know if to buy land, a fixer-upper, something new, etc. We finally decided we wanted to just be able to move in. I found one property I was very interested in, but wondered what wasn't stated in the ad. We went down to look at it, looked at two others and bought the first. We didn't live in CR prior to buying, we'd only visited 20yrs previously. But we both have travelled extensively, hubby has lived around the world, and we knew the lifestyle we wanted. As time goes by we are just falling more and more in love with it. Emerald Forest Properties has a wide variety of realty for sale, we purchased thru them. http://www.EmeraldForestProperties.com Good luck.