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I know of a home in an area just thirty minutes from where I am sitting that has been bought and sold by Americans four times in the last six years.

I first visited the home in early 2000 after a lovely young American couple from Connecticut bought it and we had became friends because of our shared passion for animals of all kinds. We had all rescued dozens of dogs.

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Strangely enough it was exactly that – dogs – that drove all of them away…

The house they bought has an unusual but attractive design and the property has an enormous garden of at least two acres at the back but, there is a humble home in front of them owned by a local family that one could only describe as ‘difficult.’

You see, when you and I go house-hunting, we go during the day and it rarely occurs to us that maybe, we should also check the area at night.

We must remember that most Ticos have an extraordinary tolerance for noise. What we mean by that is that while dogs barking all night long may drive you completely round the bend (as is the case with the home we are chatting about), your neighbor will wake up in the morning all bright eyed and bushy tailed and think that you are stark raving bonkers when you – with the bags under your eyes – try to complain (in Spanish) that his seven barking dogs only allowed you to sleep for 90 minutes.

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If The Home You Plan On Buying Has Neighbours
I would STRONGLY encourage you to visit the area late at night.
On Saturday night and one night during the week.

In our downloadable Living & Retirement 124 Tips & Traps Report you will see that in #12 we would highly recommend that when you are evaluating a place to live, that you remember to check the area for barking dogs at night as well as during the day.

Now this rarely applies to condominiums and other gated type communities as long as the regulations are applied however, if you are looking at a stand alone home and not a condominium – check it out at night too!

There is a “REGLAMENTO PARA LA REPRODUCCIÓN Y TENENCIA RESPONSABLE DE ANIMALES DE COMPAÑÍA” Decreto Ejecutivo No. 31626-S de 22 de setiembre del 2003 Publicado en La Gaceta No. 26 de 6 de febrero del 2004

In Artículo is says: “Los poseedores de animales de compañía que causen molestias como: ladridos constantes, malos olores, ruidos, por disposición de la autoridad sanitaria, deberá realizar los cambios necesarios en su propiedad para evitar las molestias a sus vecinos. En caso contrario se procederá al decomiso del animal o se trasladará a un lugar determinado por la autoridad sanitaria.”

Which in English means:

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You may not want to visit at 3am but it’s preferable to buying a home and finding out on your first night that your neighbor has a sawmill in his back garden that he only uses when he gets home after his day job or, as in this case, the neighbor has seven large dogs that bark all, and we mean all night long.

Rectifying this kind of a problem is not easy because strange as it may sound, in the Costa Rican culture, noise is not seen as a violation of a neighbours’ rights, so prevention – meaning you don’t move into the house to begin with – is most definitely far better and simpler than any cure …


Written by Scott Oliver, author of 1: How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa, 2: Costa Rica Real Estate Scams & How To Avoid Them, 3. Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore and 4. ¿Cómo Comprar Bienes Raices en Costa Rica, Sin Perder Su Camisa?

Scott Oliver's Four Books

Scott Oliver’s Four Books.

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