New potential expat

Hi there, ohionative!
First of all finding employment here in  Costa Rica is very difficult and illegal until you have been a legal resident for 3 years.
If you still want to know the answers to where to live for consistent weather etc please tell us what you consider good weather and whether you want to live in a city, or country, in the mountains or beach, or other things you require.
If you want to buy a house or condo here you should not think of doing so until you first actually live in the area you want to live in, for at least a few months, and live as a resident not a person on vacation. The 2 ways of living are different.

Being a resident here means going to banks, paying phone bills, going through government bureaucracy, driving here (if you don't live in San Jose or near a frequent bus line that takes you everywhere you want to go), shopping for things, etc etc so you actually understand the differences between living here and living in Ohio...

I lived here for 6 months at 2 different times before I moved here but I still did not know the challenges I'd face as a resident here because when I lived here I lived like a tourist: no car, didn't have to buy much of anything, didn't have to do banking or buy insurance or deal with gov't bureaucracy...

Quite different living here than living here as a tourist... even if it's for 6 months...

That said, once you do live here and get used to the differences you might love it! Many do. But some also don't and return home within the first year or two.

SamRamon, you cannot work until you have gained Permanent Residency, which you can't even apply for until the very end of third/beginning of your fourth year, so from your initial application to completion, expect it to take 4-5 years.

kohlerias wrote:

SamRamon, you cannot work until you have gained Permanent Residency, which you can't even apply for until the very end of third/beginning of your fourth year, so from your initial application to completion, expect it to take 4-5 years.

Okay. Mas o menos . I think I read that you can apply before the end of the 3rd year and get it by the time you reach the 3rd year or shortly thereafter.
Maybe I'm wrong but I thought that's what I read.
Anyway the point is you can't work here for at least 3 years.