Vicki moving to Costa Rica?

[dajuicy]

big ts community in san jose....wild, town, prostitution, gamblling, out of control.....economically, you may be 5-7 years late....from i heard, best deals are all gone, many many people thinking like you are....the new frontier, is nicaragua......friend of mine, bought like 10 acres of land for about 10 grand!.....but everyting, i know is second hand....research carefully before throwing down....dajuicy

[hondarobot]

Costa Rica!?!

Well, on the plus side it's certainly a tropical type enviroment, and you'd presumably be living near the ocean, which you would enjoy. Not sure how you'd transport your aquarium stuff down there, but I'm sure it's possible. By all accounts I've heard it's a pretty cool place.

On the down side, it's been a land grab in Latin America for awhile now, lots of swindlers are selling off what's left. I'd proceed with extreme caution if this is something you're seriously thinking about.

Once I have the financial means, I hope to be a frequent guest in one of those swinging bungalow apartments. If things don't work out for me, I'll just disguise myself in festive native garb and hang out with the aspiring squatters of the Richter Compound.

I guess I'll have to take a boat down there, but boats aren't that bad.

[Lobo]

You're only asking for trouble when moving to places like this.
All it takes is for a new government to take office, a coup, a civil war, or any other internal strife in the country and the money you have in a bank down there and your property can be taken by the government any time they want.
Places like these are great to visit, or to even have a condo part time to go to for a few months every year. But when it comes to moving there be very careful. Everything you have can be confiscated by the government in a heart beat.

[Vicki Richter]

Well on the bright side, Costa Rica has a very well established democracy. I don't see them having a coup.

[Quinn]

One more thing: US style mortgages are non-existent in Latin America, particularly when it comes to foreigners purchasing property. It's largely a cash affair.

-Quinn

[ptyseminole]

Please consider Panama!!!! its right next to CR, the US dollar is the national currency (really!), and real estate prices are excellent!

[Vicki Richter]

Well that could happen... It sounds entertaining. I will check around all around there...

[BeardedOne]

All it takes is for a new government to take office, a coup, a civil war, or any other internal strife in the country and the money you have in a bank down there and your property can be taken by the government any time they want.
Places like these are great to visit, or to even have a condo part time to go to for a few months every year. But when it comes to moving there be very careful. Everything you have can be confiscated by the government in a heart beat.

Much like the US.

Though here they politely call it "emminent domain".

I've had worse happen to me in Massachusetts, but that was before I knew the Kennedys and hob-nobbed with Dukakis.

Unless you are in a clearly volitile nation like Uganda or Cuba (Under Raul Castro), it's all a crapshoot, really.

No joke: If you do this, tell me where you are, because where I live now sucks big donkey dicks and doesn't swallow.

[boogiecrew]

I would say Panama. I, and friends of mine, have places in Panama. I would choose it beofre other Latin countries for various reasons. I have a friend that has a place in Costa Rica and loves it though, so who knows. It is very American friendly in Panama. Real estate is still a good bargain, but not for much longer. It is rapidly becoming the cool place to buy real estate. There are still good deals. You can get a 2000 sq ft condo on the water for less than 200k brand new with all of the typical aminities (private parking, gym, pool, etc..).
Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

[the_corner]

Ok, so why choose panama on top of other options.

- Daily flighs to major cities in the US (NY, Miami, LA, Houston, Atlanta, etc.), and to every major destination in south america and europe.

- The national currency is the dollar. (not colones or pesos or whatever).

- You can buy condos in sky high buildings (non existing in other countries in the region due to possible earthquakes, the highest building in Costa Rica have no more than like 10 stories). Check the trump ocean club project in panama www.trumpoceanclub.com to get an idea about what you can buy. There are a ton of projects like that, just like boogiecrew says.

- Communications, you can get anything from toll free US 1-800 phone numbers, to cable modem, to adsl, to GSM, to wireless, to plain old phone, you name it, from different companies at very cheap prices. (I doubt you can get anything above 128 kb in costa rica, since the only internet company is the government owned racsa, and that is the most they offer).

- Everything is cheaper than in costa rica, or buenos aires.

- Foreigners are excempt of all import duties and taxes for the first 5 years.

- The banking centre is the biggest of the region, and allow you to do transactions to whatever banks you like, you name it, bahamas, virgin islands, NY, london, etc.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, I know very well what I'm talking about.