House Sitting in CR

do the interior designer looking for some one to help or work for them , i will send my cv if needed

Panama, Nicaragua, USA...you just have to leave the coultry for 72 hours to get passport stamped to show you left. Before I was a resident I would go to Nicaragua. It's nice and MUCH cheaper than CR!!! Bus ticket is under $50 round trip...NicaBus.

You DO NOT have to leave for 72 hours.  This is the biggest single piece of mis-information out there.  One only needs to leave for 72 hours if they wish to reinstate their duty free shopping exemption.  The longest time we spent out of country was two hours back in the day we were making border runs.

You are correct. My bad!

The bus ride to Nicaragua is a L-O-N-G ride. 11-12 hours.    Bus is less expensive but one can also fly to Panama round trip for about $200.   I  have been told one can fly into Nicaragua as well but have not taken that flight.

Re: housesitting in off seasons, there is a good website called "Trustedhousesitters.com or something close to that.  I have joined recently and had good results so far finding sitters w/ referrals from past house sitting jobs.  it costs $95-119 to join and $29 a year thereafter

11-12 hours is a long time. Is this coming from Panama?

lol.   no.  it was from San Jose to Managua.  It takes two hours to cross the border, or at least it took my two buses two hours to cross the border.

For me, it's 2 hours to the border, an hour to go both ways through the border, and 2 hours back home.  Not sure why people make it more complicated than it is.   You can literally walk out one door in Nicaragua and then walk back in the other.   They couldn't care less.   Also, go on a Tuesday or Wednesday when there's no locals going home for the weekend or a holiday.

Do you need a proof of exit if yoy make a border run via bus?

Dovely18 wrote:

Do you need a proof of exit if yoy make a border run via bus?

Hola Dovela,

Welcome to Expat.com!

It will be done automatically when you cross each border.  The bus will stop at the CR border, bus driver will explain at that time what you need to do.  You then cross into either Panama or Nicaragua and the same thing will take place, they will stamp your passport showing the date.  Very easy to do when you take the bus.  When you reenter CR, they will again stamp your passport with the new visa and it will show how many days you will be allowed to remain in the country - normally, 90 days.

- Expat Dave

I flew back last week and was forced to show a return ticket out of CR before they allowed me in the country at immigration. This is not the same for bus runs?

It is the airline that will be fined if you have been caught entering the country without a return ticket. A bus ticket will usually suffice, when doing a border run into Nicaragua, by bus. Not so, when going to Panama.

How do you get the word out that want to property manage and get homes ready for people

drdawnchiro wrote:

How do you get the word out that want to property manage and get homes ready for people

I would suggest the Housing section above, Craigslist, Ecuentra24, place ads on the various online news sites, create a simple website, etc....

Hope it works out for you.  👍

- Expat Dave

While a 'tourist' be careful where you advertise that you are actually 'working'. Although working on-line is considered 'acceptable', you are not 'supposed' to target people and/or businesses in CR.

I found the most amazing housesitters for my place on a website called Mind My House.

thewizz wrote:

For me, it's 2 hours to the border, an hour to go both ways through the border, and 2 hours back home.  Not sure why people make it more complicated than it is.   You can literally walk out one door in Nicaragua and then walk back in the other.   They couldn't care less.   Also, go on a Tuesday or Wednesday when there's no locals going home for the weekend or a holiday.

Not doubting your experience but our experience at Las Tablillas going up to San Carlos Nicaragua was different. We went 3 times and each time we were told we HAD to spend at least 2-3 hours in Nicaragua.

I know this is not the LAW yet the border agents told us it was their rules. It really angered us that they pushed us around that way - outside the law. But being that they are border agents and we are crossing into their country we had no choice. Or felt we didn't at least.

If you have papers showing you are applying for RESIDENCY in CR you will not have to leave the country at all except for if you need to drive in Costa Rica. In that case you do need to leave every 90 days to renew your ability to drive on your foreign drivers license.

if you are a tourist not applying for residency you do need to leave CR for at least long enough to cross customs and get a new stamp coming back into CR which hopefully will be for 90 days. They CAN and (rarely) do give only 30 days renewal however.

Also they CAN demand to see a bus ticket or air ticket OUT of Costa Rica within the next 90 days before letting you in to Costa Rica again. It's been my experience they do not ask for this at Las Tablillas. If they do, order a ticket online or via an airline then cancel it within 24 hours after you cross the border.