Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Residential construction in Costa Rica has changed quite a bit in many ways over the last 25 years. This is due to changes in the way of living, the climate, and construction materials. When shopping for a house, of course, you have your expectations of how your house should look…
Have you thought about using vinyl plank flooring in your home? Costa Rica is characterized by the beautiful balance between indoor and outdoor living. Spacious verandas, large glass sliding doors, and nature-inspired flooring are just a few features that blur the line between life within homes and their outdoor spaces. For many homeowners in Costa…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Before you purchase a renovation property, there are a couple of considerations you should take into account. The minimum cost of constructing a Costa Rican house from scratch is about $750 per square meter, according to American-European. Depending on your budget, you might think it cheaper to just buy a secondhand…
A very affordable way of updating your older home in Costa Rica is using ceramic tiling. Selling a 40-year-old home in Costa Rica is not as easy as some think it is. The younger generations want to live in a condo. Either way, you are likely to consider renovations to enhance style and functionality, depending…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes I have described in another blog why doing a fixer upper in Costa Rica is not so easy. Nonetheless, doing a fixer upper can be a profitable investment project, if you do all the right things. Sometimes, the perfect home for you can be in that older neighborhood that you…
Flipping fixer uppers might seem like an interesting business in Costa Rica. Buying a cheap home that needs TLC, revamping it, and reselling at a much higher price seems simple to do. In some countries, there are people who make a living by flipping houses. Generally, the most difficult part of this business is finding…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes So, we’ve completed 98% of our home improvement project. Friends say that this is the Tico way of finishing things. Honestly, I think it happens everywhere. But allow me to tell you all about it, so you can learn from my mistakes. We have finished the business with my contractor…
Estimated Reading Time: 8 Minutes I’m sure you now want to learn more about the remodeled result of our home. We went through a long and detailed process, but we’re all happy with the remodeled result. We bought our new property in Costa Rica at a price that allowed us to afford all of the…
I told you last week that we had to move into our home under construction in Costa Rica. It didn’t matter that the contractor was still working on the reconstruction job. Unfortunately, less than 48 hours after we moved into our new home, we were on a flight back to the States. It was a…
Our house is under reconstruction and it’s moving day! This is the first time in our lives that we move into a home that’s still under reconstruction. I’m not trying to use my blog as a pulpit. So, I’ll try my best not to get too preachy here. But I’ve been meaning to say this…
After the remodeling contract was signed between us and the contractor and House Hunters International Renovations in the rear-view mirror, it was time to get started. We had many plans and remodeling projects that we were intent that would eventually yield to us our dream home. I made that 30-plus minute commute from our rental…
We have to pick the best contractor estimate. Selecting the contractor with the best quotation is never an easy task. But for us, it was a very simple process of selection by default. I was always dubious regarding Builder #1’s enthusiasm to quote for a second time despite his agreement to do so. So, I…
Before closing, we had invited 3 contractors for the new home renovation. Two things happened at about the same time. Actually, it’s more accurate to say, our escrow closing HAPPENED. But having an acceptable contractor ready for the repairs and home improvements HADN’T HAPPENED…yet Brooke Bishop, one of the GoDutch “Realtors Extraordinaire” had made contact…
It’s time to tell you about the home improvement quote. We passed the point of no return on our purchase of House #3. The decision could be responsibly taken after a favorable home inspection report. We decided to get serious about getting a formal home improvement quote from the architect and contractor who had visited…