CostaRock's Blog

Diary of a neophyte. Only one week to go before the Trump Real Estate Wealth Expo in Calgary! Todd and Danielle told me they heard there is "a bit of selling". I hope they're right. Well, marketing anyway.Including rental of a 10 by 10 exhibitor booth, booth accessories, air fare and hotel rooms ...

Confession of a dummy. I'm going to my first Trump Expo as an exhibitor, October 13 in Calgary. I know, I should have checked it out first as a guest, but I don't have a lot of free time to fly up to the States or Canada from Costa Rica. We're representing my development, The Oaks Tamarindo condo...

The only edit was when, with help, I figured out how to link the video. Thanks! So if you have read this, stop here.Here is some new wording for my web site, http://www.theoakstamarindo.com/, concerning environmental concerns. It was easy to write, since I've already lived it. If you have additio...

If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, one way to do it is to move to Costa Rica! I was cleaning out my gmail (no more storage!) and found this article by Peter Freeman on renewable energy from the April 18 issue of The Guanacaste Journal. I have included excerpts below. The article appears...

Before I came to Costa Rica, I thought I knew what a square foot was, or for that matter, a square meter. There was an accepted definition from the local Board of Realtors. No more.                                             Now, when I read a web listing that says: "Approximately 850 sq. ft., 2...

I left off Part 3 right after the purchase of a $550,000 1 ¼ acre lot outside San Jose, Costa Rica. I was on my way, beginning the laughably easy permitting process. Here is a photo of the mountain on which my lot is located, taken from Escazu, where I currently live on the weekends, when I can s...

I left off Part 2 on the verge of buying my "dream lot" in the Central Valley town of Santa Ana, west of San Jose and next door to Escazu, over an acre and a quarter of  land looking west, in a platted subdivision near the top of a small mountain. But, I couldn't get to the rest of my tale withou...

I left off Part 1 with a hint of what was to come, a slow descent into Costa Rica real estate.  It might be genetic. My Mom was an agent for over 20 years, and at her peak owned 19 rental houses. Luckily, she's also a psychologist. My background was in real estate law, then the savings and loan b...

I have been coming to Costa Rica for about two and a half years now, and have been living and investing here for about two years. While this by itself does not qualify me as an "old-timer", my journey may be one that others choose too, each in your own way and to your own place. Mercifully for th...

Monday we are celebrating a national holiday in Costa Rica, the Annexation of Guanacaste Day, commemorating the 183d anniversary of the annexation of Guanacaste.  On July 25, 1825, the citizens of Guanacaste peacefully voted to secede from Nicaragua and become a part of Costa Rica. The celebratio...