Hello To Everyone in Paradise!

Hi Tojan36!

Welcome to Expat.com

Armand

Hola,

You can stay for 90 days and then you must leave and re-enter the country! You can apply for 'pensionado' residency as long you can prove that you will have $1000 or more income per month, but you can't work on that type of residency. Cars are expensive here in CR however buses are EXTREMELY cheap! Anything else, let me know

Carlie

Hey Carlie, n
I really appreciate your help! Any suggestions on where/area I should be looking to live?
I've been reading about the central valley however I would enjoy living near the water if possible.
Thanks!

Can anyone give me some advice on whether or not I should ship my car as well? How do most expats travel around on a daily basis?

Here is a link to different residencies
Shipping a car to Costa Rica can be quite costly and one must make sure that the type of vehicle you ship is indigenous to the area or you may never find parts for it.  Here is a good site  for information.
You can calculate the cost of importing any vehicle on this website but it is in Spanish.
Cheers .... Terry

Thanks for your help! Any suggestions on where to live? I plan on coming to CR around the first of April for a week and, not having time to waste, need a good starting point.
Once again,I really appreciate your help with my transition.
Ed

In my opinion it would help immensely to know a bit about what are your priorities in a place to live.  We made a list of ranked priorities and then narrowed down prospective areas by these choices.  For example ours were:
1) Climate - we knew we did not want the heat of lower beach areas nor the cooler areas such as Monteverde.
2) We knew that wherever we chose there had to be a solid, sustainable infrastructure in order to deal with the rainy season.
3) A small acreage
4) Close proximity to medical & shopping facilities
5) Reasonable access to an International airport.

Meeting this criteria narrowed down where to look.  Our first trip we still spent three weeks and 2700 kilometers finding potential properties!
Cheers .... Terry

Hi,

Regarding shipping your car to Costa Rica, I will cite a passage from Costa Rica The Owner's Manual, by Don Ediger:

A common misconception among foreigners coming to Costa Rica is that you will save money by bringing  a car here from overseas.  There are some big drawbacks to trying this:
  > You still have to pay the import duties, which si the main reason  cars are more expensive here - plus insurance and shipping costs.
  > You'll have to go through the process of clearing the car through customs, either yourself, or with a customs broker who will charge you.
  > If your car is new the warranty is not valid in Costa Rica.
  > The car may be damaged in shipping or have parts stolen in transit, and there are not guarantees that the insurance will cover the damage.

I hope that this helps in your decision making.  Enjoy your journey.  Costa Rica looks like a great country.  Keep posting I would like to hear about your experiences.  Bruce Miller,  CT

Thanks for the information.  With everything I've been able to uncover thus far, shipping my car will not be an option!

Ed

Check out the San Ramon area for living. AARP said it was one of the top places in Costa Rica and that Costa Rica is one of the best places in the entire world to retire.

Of course if you want to live at the beach then San Ramon is not that.

The reason we settled on buying in the San Ramon area is because we could find affordable property at the right altitude (2800 feet - so it's not too cold and not too hot); San Ramon is a great town - not too small and not too big; and it's close enough to San Jose and the airport (45min to 1hour).

Another factor in choosing where you want to live in Costa Rica is what kind of environment you want to live in:
City or country?
Beach or mountains?
Cold, hot or moderate weather?
Many gringos or fewer gringos?
And so on...

I would not bring a car there. Unless it's a 4wd you won't want it there anyway (unless you plan to live in the city and never visit the countryside).

go rent there for a while and find out what you like!  Dont buy for at least a year.

buy a car there (unless you live in SJ) and make it something ugly and inconspicuous yet easy to fix. IMHO
Pura Vida

HWL's advice on buying an ugly inconspicuous car is good (as is his advice on not buying any property until you've been there a year (well, I'd say 6 mo might be enough, but a year is good)!

I see Americans in San Ramon driving around in very expensive fancy cars - like a Land Rover - and I just think, "Wow, there's a guy asking for problems." Robbers looking for a place to hit? All they have to do is follow him home.
DUMB!

Thanks for your advice. The key to avoiding adversity as I see it is being inconspicuous. I will wait to purchase a vehicle. As far as where I should live is still up in the air. Because I enjoy fishing to a high degree, living near the ocean would be great. I'm single. However, I'm  not a not big social butterfly so being around alot of expats or people in general is not a requirement.  Any suggestions would be welcomed.
Ed

where I live in the south Caribe, you need a small boat, and you catch mackerel and red snapper mostly (on sardines or lures).  Deeper/offshore gets bigger and wilder stuff.  Then there's spiny lobster if you dive.
And to clarify the comment on the car and living in a BIG city, use the bus or cabs.  Be aware, a car is a hassle between the roads, the thieves (I hardly EVER lock my car), the marchamo, the placas, the seguro...but if you've got to get around...

Hi to all in CR.  My husband and I thinking of moving to CR, but are unsure of how to go about finding a long term rental.  Any advise?  We are kind of looking at San Ramon or Atenas area, but would preferr to be in the country.  Thanks in advance for any and all advise.
Melody

Hi Melody,

You might subscribe to the international living folks, they will provide leads on the areas where expats are purchasing property.
New projects are going up in the Southwestern Coast, many of the developers will offer come on's to get you to come and check it out.
Depending on what you are looking for there are many resort areas on the pacific, but there are three attractions that you will want to see.  One the beaches, two the rainforests, and there are the eco tourism companies that will provide you with and amazing tour on zip lines above the canopies of the rainforests, and of course the volcano.  If you are staying there for an extended period you might check out the Central Valley where it is over 5,000 feet asl.
The climate is much more temperate, and the Pacific coast isn't that far away, a couple of hours.  A lot of expats live here, and it is beautiful. 

You can call realtors, or the hotels, but I like to go on Vacation Rentals By Owner, here you will find people who have purchased homes in the various parts of CR and usually they are gated communities, or amongst other expats from all over the world.  There you can visit and get the low down of their experiences.

Now, I am speaking to you as if I have been there which is not true.  I have done a lot of reading and communicating to expats who live all over South and Central America and I am conveying their advice second hand.  I also have just returned a four day conference in Mexico by International Living and have gathered a lot of information about Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, Brazil, Ecuador. 

I would love to hear of your experiences when you go.  I have gotten pretty excited about going myself until my wife looked me in the eyes and said, "ours will either be a distance relationship, or no relationship at all."  More sobering words were never spoken.  Good Luck

Hola Melody;
The best way by far to find a long term rental is to look locally.  This would mean finding a bed and breakfast somewhere to base your search from.  Most rentals that you will find on the internet are quite pricey.  If you are looking for a Tico style of house to rent you will find that they are advertised via word of mouth and with bulletins posted locally at the markets, ferias, post office, etc.  Location is a HUGE factor as well as the climate changes quite dramatically in as little as a 30 minute drive.  If you are looking to rent more of a "North American" type of house they can be found on line but are usually quite fixed in price.  The length of your term will also increase / decrease your chances.  Most Ticos consider a year to be short term.
Cheers .... Terry

Melody,

Assuming that you own your current home another way to find a rental is to do a home exchange. There are many sites on the 'net where you can search for homes you may want to occupy. We have friends who do this and they have had great success in doing so. The homes are typically modern and high-end and kept up.

Finding houses to rent in the country is a good idea as the rents will be much cheaper. The term of your stay will probably be unimportant to the person renting unless they are in an area of high demand.

In any case, I think you should plan on renting in at least two different areas of the country as the "flavor" is distinct in various areas.

Casey  -  A Dull Roar - Moving to, Retiring in, and Living with Costa Rica

Hey Tojan36.  I spent 3 years researching our move to Costa Rica. It is finally happening in 41 days.  My husband and I will begin our adventures in Costa Rica.  We are going to be living there as "pensionados" pensioners.  We are very lucky that my husabnd is able to retire at age 55.

There were 3 webs sites that I found that provided me with information on everything you could possibly think to ask of about living in Costa Rica.  They are "therealcostarica.com".  "boomersoffshore" and Association of Residence of Costa Rica (ARCR).  In fact if you are really serious about the move I would recommend that you become a member of the ARCR.  You will see why once you visit their web site.  There is no cost to register to be able to read and comment on their forums.

If you have any questions please feel free to send me an email.

By the way....we did ship our car to Costa Rica.  I would be happy to share that decision with you as well.

Pura Vida!

Planning on moving there in  a couple of months and would like to find fellow musicians to jam with.  I play guitar and bass and like rock, folk, blues and jazz rock.  I'm on facebook under Pat Hammonds and would like to friend ticos and expats there.

My husband and I have been researching our move to Costa Rica since 2007 and hope to make it happen in early 2013.  Why so long?  Because we had to hit retirement eligibility and sell some property in the US.  We been to a lot of towns in CR and we like San Isidro de General (aka Perez Zeledon), San Ramon, Zarcero, and the Grecia/Naranjo/Sarchi area.  Monteverde was a little too cold for us.  Let me add some more websites you will like knowing:  retireforlessincostarica.com (expats living the dream and sharing what they've learned,) welovecostarica.com (great overall information) casaceltas.com (a B&B we stayed in near San Isidro,) cabinasofcostarica.com (some GREAT cabins we stayed in), and actionalliancecr.com (a community of expats working in the San Ramon area).  Please feel free to tell them Vikki and Andre` told you about them.  These are people we've met in person and stayed in touch with.  All are very knowledgeable.  Btw, we did the whole car/no car thing too and have decided to take an older model Toyota with us.  There is a dealership in San Isidro so we can get parts.  As our friend Arden, at mainersincostarica.com/about_detail.html, whether you buy a car there or ship one in, you are still paying the import fees.  Cars in CR aren't always the same safety design as US cars.  It's a crapshoot and there's no right answer.

Bonjour à tous,

Je vis au Costa Rica depuis 25 ans.  Ça me fait toujours plaisir de rencontrer des Québecois.  J'ai beaucoup d'expérience en tant qu'expat et si je peux aider, ça me fera plaisir. Gi

Hi everyone,  I've been in Costa Rica for 25 years now. It always makes me happy to meet people from Québec. I have lots of experience as an expat and if I can help, it would be a pleasure. Gi

Hi giniwishes!

As this is the anglophone forum could you please post in English?

Thanks
Armand

I understand, Here's the translation.

Hi everyone,  I've been in Costa Rica for 25 years now. It always makes me happy to meet people from Québec. I have lots of experience as an expat and if I can help, it would be a pleasure. Gi

Armand wrote:

Hi giniwishes!

As this is the anglophone forum could you please post in English?

Thanks
Armand

I'm moving to CR in about 2 months and am thinking about the Montezuma Beach area.  How many people live there excluding tourists?  Are there places where a rock band can play?  Thx

Hi Pat,

I'm positive you can find something.  I can ask around if you wish.  I will need to know what you are looking for, for how many people, when and how much?

I play mostly rock (including surf) and blues in 4 piece bands- bass, drums, rhythm and lead guitar or keyboards.  I'm bringing equipment including drums,  keyboards and a P.A. so if someone plays but doesn't have an instrument, I could provide one.  I remember hearing a disco club blasting on the beach the last time I was there to visit but wondered if there were places for live bands. I'm also looking or a small place to rent for 2 or 3 months while I explore where to settle for sure. Thanks for any help.

Re rental, I just need something small and it doesn't have to be real close to the beach, around $400 or so. Thx

Hi Pat,

So I will look for something for September and October for 400$ a month?  And will see after what you need?

Yes- my first choice is Montezuma Beach, but I  haven't seen lots of the country and plan to visit other parts also. I know it's kinda remote from the rest of the country, but I'm bringing my car.

It is kind of remote but that's what I like about it.  It all depends what you want out of Costa Rica.  I think you will love it too....it's a great community.

I wanted to ask...Would you prefer a remote place where you'll be able to play loud?  My son is 10 and he's playing a bit of keyboard,and learning music.  I'm sure he would love to hear you play.