Written by Terry and Vivian Smith of Blackfalds, AB. Canada who are building their home in Puriscal, Costa Rica..

Canadian Couple To Build Their Retirement Home in Puriscal, Costa Rica.

Terry and Vivian Smith from Canada. October 2011.

After searching for four years, a Canadian couple from Alberta, Canada find their dream retirement location in the mountains of Costa Rica

"We are a couple in our mid-fifties who have resided in Alberta, Canada for the past twenty-five years. Five years ago, we came to the decision that we did not want to live our retirement years in the Canadian climate. We have had enough of the long cold winters, here in Alberta

So we started looking... We travel quite a bit and for three years we looked at several different areas of Mexico, but for many reasons, decided that it was not what we were looking for. We spent the next year researching Belize with the same results.

Mariel gets around Altos de Antigua in her golf cart... "Muy tranquilo" there is no hurry!

We had heard about Costa Rica, being a popular choice for retirement, so in 2010 we spent about eight months researching Costa Rica, before we took our first trip in November of last year.

We found the climate (both political and weather-wise) in Costa Rica to be very attractive. When we arrived we discovered an exciting new world with at least eight different micro-climates.

A major decision factor for us was temperature; coming from a colder climate like Canada we didn't want to retire in a place of extreme heat either. We were able to look objectively at what it was we really wanted and what we valued most.

We spent weeks looking all over Costa Rica to find a place that we could see ourselves living in.

Excellent roads and overall the infrastructure has been done very well indeed at Altos de Antigua

Our criteria for choosing our new home included; an elevation of two thousand to three thousand feet above sea level, close proximity to medical and shopping facilities, reasonable access to an international airport, a small acreage, a Canada/U.S.A. influence within the local culture, and most importantly a solid sustainable infrastructure.

We viewed several properties in many different regions of Costa Rica, the Southern Pacific Coastal areas, Lake Arenal, Orotina, the Central Valley and even the cooler climate of the Monteverde region.

In all we toured eleven different real estate developments and numerous single property parcels.

A gardener's delight...

While some of the properties and developments partially met our criteria, the Altos de Antigua community was the only one that had everything that we were looking for.

Located just 17 kilometers outside of Santiago de Puriscal in a small rural community with two local schools nearby, it didn't take long for us to realize we had found something special. Having the owner/developer living on site and being a part of the Altos de Antigua community of owners was also very comforting for us.

Brian McLane has a very high interest in making sure everything is well planned, working efficiently, maintained properly and is beautiful as well, because this is his home base too.

The infrastructure of this development was also far superior to all others that we had viewed.

The developer Brian McLane lives in this home on the Altos de Antigua property ...

If one has not experienced the sheer volume of a Costa Rican rainstorm you cannot appreciate the drainage systems that must be constructed to handle the volume of water without causing damage to the existing homes and properties.

Altos de Antigua has developed a proven drainage system that works and that we can have confidence in. They have taken great care in designing and building a community where all these important elements are taken care of, so we can relax and enjoy our life knowing we have finally found what we were looking for.

This is an every day view in Puriscal...

We are now in the process of planning our home and have started landscaping on our property. We look forward to becoming permanent residents of Costa Rica and of the Altos de Antigua community."

Written by Terry and Vivian Smith of Blackfalds, AB. Canada.

Connie Dye, from Calgary, AB in Canada will be your first contact person. Connie can answer your questions, offer detailed information on both projects - Altos de Antigua and Altos Los Cafetales - and help to schedule your first visit.

She can also help you with accommodations and arrange a tour of the properties so you can meet Brian in person and see for yourself what this area and this community has to offer.

Canadians in Puriscal, Costa Rica

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So if the idea of having your dream home built for you nestled in a Puriscal coffee plantation sounds interesting - where many lots are for sale for under US$65K plus owner financing - whether it's a vacation home (which they can manage and rent out for if you want) or a full-time retirement home, I would encourage you to contact the Canadian owner/developer's representative Connie Dye on 1-888-835-0108 or use the simple form below:

Don't wait too long though because at these affordable prices these lots will not last for long...