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How to finance vacation rental investment in Costa Rica

Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Potential buyers often ask how to finance vacation rental investment in Costa Rica. Owning a vacation home in paradise is a beautiful dream but not always financially possible. Does having a vacation rental make sense financially or not? You can expect an annual net return of 4 – 6% on…

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Most Popular Living in Costa Rica blogs 2017

This year, for the Holiday Season, I’ve decided to re-publish the 4 Most Popular Living in Costa Rica blogs 2017 as well as those that I wrote for the Tico Times. The Most Popular Living in Costa Rica blogs means those that were visited most and readers took at least 2.5 minutes to read them.…

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Everything about utilities in Costa Rica

When you move to Costa Rica, utilities are very important, if you purchase or even rent. Some just forget about it, others leave it for the last possible moment. How can you figure this all out? Imagine having to live without the internet for 3 days? Not ready to buy a house but planning to…

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What is a chorreador de cafe in Costa Rica?

I’m pretty sure you don’t know what a chorreador de cafe in Costa Rica is. In simple English, it’s a Tico coffee maker. The correct verb for using a chorreador is chorrear café = to pour coffee. Ticos swear by a real cup of coffee. Why wouldn’t they, we have the best coffee in the…

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Terrace homes in Atenas in the spotlight

Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Did you know that we are the ultimate solution for terrace homes in Atenas? By we, I mean GoDutch Realty, your preferred real estate company in Atenas. Ever thought that a terrace home in Atenas would be your choice? Last March, I did a blog on terrace views but this…

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Why we do not take property listings outside our area code

Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Some property sellers do not understand that we do not take property listings outside our area code. I decided on this blog because a property seller wanted one of our agents to take a listing outside her area code. Agent Brooke Bishop works in the Grecia area, but lives in…

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8 Important things to do before moving into your new home

Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes The closing date is coming up and there is so much to do before moving into your new home. Getting nervous already? Don’t! Use this checklist to make it easier on yourself. We do this all the time and you don’t. There are so many things you need to do…

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Aguevado or Pura Vida, depending on your mood

Estimated Reading Time: 3 Minutes In Costa Rica, the word Aguevado is kind of the opposite of the well-known Pura Vida. This word is almost as much used as Pura Vida, tuanis, or Mae. So I thought it necessary you include agüevado in your dictionary when you live in Costa Rica. Moving to Costa Rica…

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Is double dipping common in Costa Rica real estate?

Double dipping is not only common in Costa Rica real estate, it is perfectly legal. Why is that? How can a seller or a buyer make sure there is no double dipping going on? Costa Rica real estate is quite different from how it functions in other countries. You can agree or not with the…

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Do you want to learn Pachuco when you live in Costa Rica?

I learned to speak Pachuco before I learned Spanish. I didn’t have a clue until I started dating a local woman. She thought I was pretty vulgar and I had no idea what she was talking about. When I moved to Costa Rica in 1980, my brother and I started a window cleaning company. Our…

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