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[quote=”Imxploring”]Just a thought on the subject. In my ten years of experience in CR things have changed. But can someone tell me a place on this plant where they have not?
You make your own happiness in life. You enjoy the good and do your best to mitigate the bad. When the bad outweighs the good you move on or adjust to work around it and deal with it. When looking at the total package of what CR has to offer for those willing to WORK (Yes…. I said WORK…. Life itself is WORK) on living here, i.e. learning some spanish, learning the customs, adjusting your attitude, making good friends outside the expat community, accept things are not like “home”, you can’t beat CR! Sure it’s gotten more expensive, but once again where in the world has it gotten cheaper to live? Sure there are social issues that may create problems that may or not impact you, but once again where is that not the case?
Some folks aren’t happy no matter where they call “home”…. start WORKING on creating your own happiness…. because no one is looking to do the job for you…. and the more unhappiness you project the more likely to are to attract folks more than willing to feed into it.[/quote]
I could not agree with you more! Some people will argue and put a negative spin on anything.
I keep hearing this everything “is expensive” talk.Costa Rica is a life sytle change. I was a NAVY brat and then enlisted. I moved some where every 3 to 5 years of my life. Adapting to every situation.
My travels down to Costa Rica over the past 15 years have been enjoyable every time.Why you keep [i]” hearing this everything “is expensive” talk[/i], it could be that it is,[i] when you are on a budget.[/i]
When you have actually lived here, then you can decide whether or not, this is correct.
Life can be great here, [i]if you can afford it.[/i]8)
Money can’t buy happiness…. but it sure makes getting up in the morning and going about your day so much more enjoyable…. and relaxing. Living on a “budget” for many folks means their income has become static while the expenses of life continue to move beyond their control. Not a comfortable situation, particularly for those that have enjoyed a life of living (and spending) to their full potential before entering the static income phase.
In total agreement here. Remember, WHEREVER you go, you take your baggage with you, as I suspect Mr. Negative has. I have been here some 14 years now, and my best advise… toss ALL your old baggage, buy yourself a couple of t-shirts, some lightweight shorts and a pair of good sandals THEN come on down to change and enjoy your life. If where you are is better than here, STAY THERE.
LEAVE YOUR BAGGAGE AT HOME. Everything in there is only a version of your frustrations from whence you came.
[quote=”Scott”]
I’ve had one rocking chair stolen from my garden in near 17 years of living here… So my experience and my opinions are clearly very different from yours…
Scott[/quote]
Granted, that everyone has different experiences …
I started looking for property in Costa Rica in 2009. In those days, Costa Rica always ranked in the Top 3 of all of “Best Places to Retire Abroad” feature stories. Today it doesn’t even make the list. The things that appealed to me the most were proximity to the US (as I have two aging parents) and the quality (and proximity) of available medical care as we’re all getting older and life is somewhat unpredictable. I finally found a nice little 11+ hectare farm north of Atenas and closed in late 2011.
My experience, thus far, has been that although the national sport may be soccer, it seems that the national pastime is a game called “Wring Out the Gringo.” Having to file a D-1 since some of the property was in a protected area, it wasn’t long until a “donation” was required (and specifically requested) to actually obtain the documents once approved.
I have also seen the advent of Luxury Tax. Have you seen the land tax values on the Mapas De Valores De Terrenos Por Zonas Homogeneas? 40,000-55,000 colones per square meter is not an uncommon value for gated communities. How long until these values become the standard canton tax rate?
Then there is the CAJA requirement for residency. I can understand a hosting government protecting their interests in wanting to make sure that their “guests” aren’t a financial burden but, when you specifically designate a provider, it makes it pretty clear that you are looking to the expats to bail out a failing system.
Property theft seems pretty rampant, both through crooked notarios and land invasions as we are currently watching in Las Olas. Although I’m not in agreement, I can definitely understand a socialist society’s giving a land interest to a long time caretaker. What I can’t understand is the ability of a squatter to sell those rights ? Under what theory can you possibly support that ?
I also agree that the US is on very bad path. But in many ways, Costa Rica is on exactly the same path. Proposed worldwide taxation, etc. Every person of means and every multi-national corporation with large offshore revenues is looking for a way out of the US. The US has the highest corporate income tax on the planet and claims dominion over their citizens (including corporations) wherever in the universe that they may be. Ever wonder how a man that kills his wife in Cancun gets hauled to a Phoenix court to stand trial ? That’s because the US claims dominion over you no matter where you go … and your earnings no matter where they are earned.
Not unlike the US, Costa Rica doesn’t seem to understand that the wealth of a nation is very simply the sum of wealth of the individuals in that nation. People of means provide jobs which in turn provide economic activity, taxes, etc. If you make it hard enough for people to live somewhere, if you keep telling them that they’re not welcome, if you promise them that you will tax the crap out of them if they live there, they will eventually get the message and move to a friendlier location.
On one real estate website, I have watched pretty much the same 64 homes for sale in Atenas for 3 years. The real estate market was completely stagnant for the 3 years prior to that during the so called Great Recession. A least two gated communities in the area haven’t sold a single lot in the same time frame. And here we are on the cusp of another recession, which have regularly occurred every 5-7 years since our obsession of Keynesian economics began. The last began in 2008 .. and the math is pretty easy from there.
I like Costa Rica, I really do. But I have to say that if I was starting today, instead of 2009, it would probably be somewhere else. As I’m sure that you are aware Scott, once a trend begins, it can go on for a very long time and often takes something radical to change the trend.
Like many mining operations today, I have put my project on “care & maintenance” until I can get a feel for just how much worse this is going to get. You would think that someone in the Costa Rican govt would be intelligent enough to look at population growth rate and birth rate and get a feel for how these policies are going to end.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/costa-rica/population-growth-annual-percent-wb-data.html
Whether it’s the US or Costa Rica, when the money leaves, so does the prosperity.
A newly proposed law would require a person to be a permanent resident for 5 years before being able to have a gun for protection. It seems that the Costa Rican govt only wants expats to be one thing … victims. Whether it be of petty or violent crime, property theft, or outrageous taxation.
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