Moving to Costa Rica

Hi - housing can be difficult.  To find something in Costa Rica, you need to be staying in the area where you want to live, and spend a lot of time walking around looking.  We went through this several times, since we moved around before settling on our area.  You can read about our experiences (and tips) on my blog: http://julieandrickincostarica.blogspot … abel/house
my apologies for some of the long posts full of miscellaneous stuff...

Thanks Julie for the reply.  You have done a wonderful job on your blog.  I look forward to reading all of it.  Maybe even meet when we get there.  Thanks again. Donna:D

:-)
*definitely!*
Just let me know when you're here!
(and good luck finding "your" place)
j

airforcegal88 wrote:

Any suggestions on finding housing upon arrival?  Do we use the reality offices, look on our own, find someone who will help us thru this forum? Any suggestions or ideas will be helpful. Thanks

Hello Airforcegal,

You could try to check out accommodation section of Costa Rica's Classifieds or even insert a free ad yourself.

Good luck
Arlette

Soy venezolana y vivo en Venezuela. Me gustaria obtener informaciion sobre posibilidades de trabajo en San Jose. Tengo nivel universitario pero puedo trabajar de asistente legal, en una tienda o de asistente de una señora mayor,ama de llaves etc. Soy muy buena en el manejo de una casa u oficina porque tengo capacidad organizativa.Necesito orientacion. ALguien puede ayudarme? Entiendo que al salir de mi pais se hace dificil mantener el status profesional que tengo aca, lo importante es poder trabajar honestamente en algo que sepa hacer. Saludos, Manuela

Craigs List is also a good source. But the first response is right...it's best to BE there to get a feel for things...both good and bad neighborhoods. I have a few links on my blog too. :-)

~Kendra
www.ohmypeople.blogspot.com

Ola! Well we are getting the paper work started for our move.  The one thing we are having a problem with -  how do we get our retirement monies from monthly annuity to CR.  I get a retirement from the Air force and my husband gets social security but how do we get it to CR? Thanks for your help.

Hi Donna -
most pensionados have their checks automatically deposited in a USA bank (many good reasons to keep an account there), then use a variety of methods to withdraw money in CR.
- use ATMs and your USA debit card
- wire transfer periodically
- write a check and wait (max amounts of checks and total days wait vary, but our account at Banco Nacional lets us write checks up to $999, and we wait 30-45 days for the money to be available - no fee w/ this method, and we can write a check each day.)

Thanks again Julie for your quick reply.  Excellent options and it looks like we will be there in December for a short visit.  Maybe we could get together and have a visit.  Look forward to meeting you.
Thanks again
Donna

What is the average cost of living for a month in Costa Rica?  How much pension would one need to live comfortably there?