Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Should you trust people you meet in Costa Rica just because they speak your language? At home, you grew up in a certain environment and you learned how to recognize the people you don’t want in your life and those you cannot trust. When you move to Costa Rica, it…
I’m sure you’ll love these grocery shopping tips that I have for you. Just to make grocery shopping in Costa Rica easier for you. Every culture has different ways of doing things and as soon as you move to Costa Rica, you will find out that a lot of things are different than they were…
Do you have faith in your home builder? I used to, I thought he was good and honest! Many home lot owners in Costa Rica, once they are ready to start building, do all the wrong things. That is mostly for lack of experience. Most of us only build one house in a lifetime, or…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Great news, now you can go bowling in Cariari, called BolCariari. When I was 12 years old, our neighborhood gang used to play baseball on a large commercial property under construction near my home. The owner of the building under construction invited us to keep visiting after the building would…
Are Costa Rica homes earthquake-proof? Should you be afraid the house will fall down on you during an earthquake? It was September 5th, 2012 and a 7.6 on Richter hit us. That earthquake was now almost 3 years ago and has been on the news worldwide. A 7.6 on Richter doesn’t happen very often. This…
In Costa Rica, almost all motorcycles are dirt bikes. And they come out of nowhere in traffic. Motorcycle riders in Costa Rica have no respect for traffic laws; double yellow lines and traffic lights are non-existent. They will get right in front of you at the traffic light, zigzag between cars, and use the sidewalks…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes I’m a Costa Rica listing agent myself but I am always surprised about the bathroom listing photos some listing agents post on their websites. Is the listing agent really interested in selling the property advertised or is it a joke? And what is the reason for some of my colleagues…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes A helpful homeowner is cool, as long as he/she stays out of my way during showings. When I list a Costa Rica home for sale, I always instruct the homeowner what to do and what not to do when we show their house to a prospect. At least I try…
“What about Deco Chunches? That can be a great name for your business” I told my friends. Years ago, I was just starting to work in Costa Rica real estate, I helped some friends who started a used furniture and decoration store to find a name for their store that people would recognize easier. Their…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Do you have any drinking habits like this? “Hon, grab me another cold beer from the fridge, will you? God, it’s hot today and it’s making me thirsty”. It is only 10:00 am and John is ready for his 2nd beer of the day. What else is there to do…
“Are you serious, you mean the homicide was right here? And you want me to live here?” This could be the reproach from a serious buyer who was at a showing with his realtor in Costa Rica. This is not from a suspense novel, written by a client. During the showing, he heard from the…
IVO HENFLING | MAY 29, 2015 When I moved to Costa Rica a while ago, the last thing that came to my mind were cockroaches in my house. The first cockroach I met in Costa Rica was in my house in the Santa Ana mountains and the animal was huuuuge. I’m not so crazy about…
Do you think there are Costa Rican homes for sale with too much storage space. After 30 years of selling real estate, I still have to see the first one. I’m sure you have all this “stuff”, we call them “chunches” in Costa Rica. El “cuarto de chunches” is the room where you stick all…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes It’s really easy to be an ugly American in Costa Rica if you want to be one. There is an ugly American in every country, (and I don’t mean physically ugly) not only in Costa Rica. The 1958 novel turned into the 1963 movie with Marlon Brandon has made such…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes For your information, we have lots of volcanoes in Costa Rica When I started selling real estate in Costa Rica, roads were less crowded and we were very few real estate agents in Costa Rica. It was necessary to take listings that were within 5 hours drive from your real…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Making the decision for your spouse to move to Costa Rica is probably not a good idea. Maybe your eyes see a different Costa Rica than your spouse does? As we all know, men and women see things differently, though they’re both looking at the same thing. It’s one of…