lunes, 23 de julio de 2012

Knees and feet hurt | get them fixed in Costa Rica

Knees and feet hurt | get them fixed in Costa Rica

By Ivo Henfling
I have been struggling with bad pain in my feet for years and no doctor could find what the problem was. Thank God for the internet (not of Facebook this time), that made it possible for me to find out that I have a neurological problem. A Costa Rica real estate agent who cannot walk is no good, so I decided to do something about it.
In Costa Rica, the advantage is that if you have a medical problem, you do not need to be referred by any doctor. You just find a doctor in the phone book and make the appointment.
That is how simple it was for me to make an appointment with a neurologist in CIMA hospital in Escazu, a private hospital in Costa Rica. The doctor had me do a neurological electrogram and confirmed that I have a painful neuropathy and I won’t bother you with the rest of the mile long name. What I had also found on the web was that my problem is something that is mostly suffered by diabetics and I am not one.

Pins and needles

There is apparently no one been able to find out why non-diabetics would have a painful neuropathy. Pins and needles, burning, cramping mixed with numbness, and tingling are the wording most used by patients.
The doctor prescribed a lot of pills, most to kill the pain and for months I was having stomach aches and the neuropathy didn’t go anywhere, so I stopped taking the pills after a while and went back to my pain.

Dr. Daniel Alcacazar

My wife Dany had been having quite some problems with a knee and ended up visiting Dr. Daniel Alcazar de la Torre, an orthopedist and trauma surgeon, specializing in sports trauma, also in the CIMA hospital. Dany needed a meniscus operation and a cleaning of her cartilage, which is hard to recover from. The doctor is specialized in sports injuries but also treats the needed like you and me, long gone sports heroes.

My flip flops

Since I always walk on flip flops whenever I can, because my feet hurt less, we started talking about why I dress like a gringo.
He looked at my feet and said right away the arch of my feet is too high and that’s why my feet are hurting. He said he might not be able to do anything for me, as my problem was very advanced, but was willing to give it a shot, without any promises of making it any better.
That was what I liked best about his answer, no bullshitting, just straightforward willingness to help without any promises.

Sports Clinic

Dr. Daniel sent me to his brand new rehab center across the highway, called Clinica del Deporte, the sports clinic a very well set up place that has everything a patient can ask for. Between Daniel and Christina, the two outstanding physiotherapists, they taught me how to stand on my toes again, how to regain my balance and how to throw a basketball without falling over, among a lot of other things that I haven’t been able to do in 20 years.
Christina and Daniel also treated me with laser, did hot and cold treatments on my feet and some other things that I don’t even know what it is called.
They gave me a lot of homework too. Most of the treatment was paid for by INS, my Costa Rica medical insurance. The pain is gone for 60% and I have regained 70% of the use of my feet. I go to the gym again and show property in Costa Rica without hurting like crazy.

I recommend

Dany’s knee is getting better, little by little, as long as she is careful with what she does. Dr. Daniel does what he can to monitor her knee. If you have an orthopedic problem, I can definitely recommend Dr. Daniel Alcazar de la Torre, on the 4th floor of Tower II in the CIMA hospital and his team of dedicated physiotherapists as Mariel, the punctual receptionist. For appointments with the bi-lingual doctor, call 2208-8416 at the CIMA hospital.  For Costa Rica real estate, call meKnees and feet hurt | get them fixed in Costa Rica

How we measure properties in Costa Rica

How we measure properties in Costa Rica

By Ivo Henfling
When in school, you might have learned about yards, inches, square feet and acres. Well, in Costa Rica, all that is no good and you will have to learn about the metric system. Unless you have found a real estate agent you trust.
If you are buying property in Costa Rica, you will find the measurements will normally be in the metric system, though many real estate companies list the size of the house for sale in square feet and the size of the land in acres as well as in hectares.
I know, you do it different back home but just like you have to learn the Spanish language to make your new life easier, you will also need to understand how we measure properties in Costa Rica.
To help you a little with this difficult part of buying property for sale, we’ve made a Costa Rica Land Measurement Chart below

Under roof

Houses in Costa Rica are measured by taking the width by the length of the house, as opposed to many places on earth where they measure interior space, a/c space or even by volume. Houses in Costa Rica are measured in square meters or m2 and everything under roof is what counts. To get to find what the size of the house is in square feet, take the size in meters and multiply it by 11 is an easy shortcut.
Costarican builders and real estate agents just take full measure of interior spaces as well as exterior spaces. Some might not include a covered terrace; most do include the garage as they always have tiled floors and are mostly finished as nicely as the living room.

Registered size of a house

The size of the house is never registered in the National Register or on the survey. For that reasons, most option to purchase sale agreements will show an approximate size of construction. The only ways to find out how large the house is would be to measure it or to try to find the construction plans in the Municipality. You will need a lot of magic for the second option.

Registered size of a condo

The size of a condo in Costa Rica is what will show in the National Register and will show the size of the living space only. Many condos will include parking spaces and storage spaces as common areas and some will have a separate registered title with its own survey for the parking and another for the storage.

Registered size of land

Land is registered in the National Register in meters. But you will find that property will be described in a listing in m2 when it is under 10,000 m2 and in hectares when it is more than that. One hectare stands for 2.5 acres though you’ll still find a lot of local farmers use the word manzana, which is 7,000 meters (1 3/4 acre), the size of the minimal allowed agricultural lot size. When you purchase a property in Costa Rica, make sure the size on the survey is the same as the one showed in the National register.

Shortcuts

Easy shortcuts for you would be:
  • Translate 1 linear meter (m1) into linear foot: multiply meters by 3 (to be exact 3.28).
  • Translate 1 square meter (m2) into square foot: multiply by 11 (to be exact 10.76).
  • One meter is one big step of a middle sized person, for easy measurement.
  • One hectare is 2.5 acres.
When you buy property in Costa Rica, make sure you do it through a real estate agent who knows his/her job. Talk to a GoDutch realty agent now.

How we measure properties in Costa Rica

domingo, 1 de julio de 2012

Costa Rica is pura vida - the happiest country in the world

Costa Rica is pura vida - the happiest country in the world

by Ivo Henfling
Who would not want to retire in the country where the happiest people on earth live? Costa Rica scores for the 2nd consecutive year # 1 on the Happy Planet Index with a score of 64 points of 151 countries analyzed. Costa Rica's HPI score indicates high life expectancy and high level of experienced well-being.

What is the Happy Planet?

The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is the leading global benchmark for sustainable well-being.
The HPI measures what matters: the extent to which countries long, happy and sustainable life for the people deliver.

Freedom – happiness

Why are Costa Ricans (or Ticos also called) always so happy? Of course, living in the tropics makes people happy: sunshine and lots of rum. Costa Rica has never experienced a real war, the Costarican civil war in 1948 lasted only 44 days.
The Ticos have never been really hungry and have had no real hardship like they have had in other Latin American countries, so the Ticos simply do not worry about anything; they're just a very happy people. They can spend hours lining up in the bank without a whimper and before you know it, they make it a fun happening.

Pura vida and Tico time

Pura vida is used a lot by the local and foreign population. Pura vida means "good life" and is like saying "cool". Tico Time is a very different time than you are accustomed to back home, arriving on time is not so important. Tico time is later than normal, but nobody knows exactly when. This photo below says it all; a shop keeper put a sign in his window saying: I’ll be back in an hour “I think”.

El Hueco

Pura vida throughout, even in politics and in daily life. Where in other countries people strongly protest,  in Costa Rica they only make jokes about very serious problems. Hundreds of jokes and pictures on Facebook are given as a given reaction to a huge hole (hueco in Costa Rican Spanish) in the busiest highway, which puts down half the country for days because all traffic has to be diverted.
See are some examples in the pictures in this blog. The first on the top is from the President of the country, Laura Chinchilla. I personally like "The Walking Dead" (a serie on cable TV) that shows those not willing to get stuck in traffic and "get there on foot".

Not for all

Of course this lifestyle of making jokes about things that should not happen is not a solution and probably for the same reason, things do not always happen the way we want them to. But the Ticos can live with those things and are therefore happy people. Moving to Costa Rica is an adventure, but it is not for everyone. Try it, call your Costa Rica real estate agent to give it a shot and enjoy that lifestyle you are looking for.

Costa Rica’s Experienced Welfare score

Costa Rica scored 7.3 for experienced welfare. This is lower than Denmark, the country with the highest level of experienced well-being, but higher than that of the U.S., which has an average score of 7.16. I wonder why anyone would still want to live in the U.S. if life’s so good in Costa Rica!

Costa Rica’s High life expectancy

Costa Rica's life expectancy is 79.3 and scored 28 of the 151 countries surveyed. This is lower than Japan, the country with the highest life expectancy (83.4) but higher than the U.S., which has a life expectancy of 78.5. Yes, you live longer in Costa Rica than in many other countries, if you don’t get mad at people to often and learn how to live as a Tico.

Adventure

For those who are up for an adventurous retirement or a new life, Costa Rica is an incredibly good choice. Costa Rica not only has holes in the road.
Costa Rica has beautiful beaches, national parks and even better: very happy people. Contact us now to see your new house in Costa Rica, we will have the sun and the pura vida waiting for you.

Costa Rica is pura vida - the happiest country in the world

lunes, 25 de junio de 2012

A memorable sale of property in Santa Ana, Costa Rica

A memorable sale of property in Santa Ana, Costa Rica

By Ivo Henfling
To be a real estate agent in Costa Rica, you really need to love what you do. I DO enjoy what I do, every day. When I get up in the morning, I know something is going to happen today that will make it another memorable day in paradise. I sometimes think about those people who for 30 years, day in day out, do the same thing over and over again.  I never do the same thing ANY day in my life and that is fun. Let me give you an example.

During Easter week I was going through the testimonials I received from my past clients and I found the longest one I have ever received. It was from a happy seller, whose house in Salitral de Santa Ana I listed in 2007 and was probably the most memorable sale I ever made in my real estate career, the listing is still online.  When you look at the pictures of the home, you will see why and that it shows that to be a good real estate agent you have to be smart, inventive and excel at what you do, but the seller needs to help the real estate agent a bit. My seller did and it was a win win situation for everybody.

That’s why you should contact me if you are in the market to buy or sell Costa Rica real estate. Read in the testimonial from my seller John Pond why:
For more than 15 years I lived on a Costa Rica property which I had bought in an area called Salitral de Santa Ana. This place is about 5 kilometers south of the town of Santa Ana itself.

      
Because of personal reasons I had decided to sell my place and move to another Central American country. And, to this end, I attempted to sell my property myself for more than two years. I had used the internet to initiate the sale. After a numerous of individuals wanting “more information” or “new and different photos”, and the troublesome stories of the many, I lost my patience to frustration. At one point, I had used my Architect to do the photography part so the pictures would be more professional in nature. Everything I tried was of no success.
         

After this relative long period of “trying to sell” this Santa Ana real estate myself, a very good friend of mine asked me to try Mr. Ivo Henfling of GoDutch Realty. This person had sold property before through Ivo and he had presently a home listed with GoDutch Realty. I had previously “bad luck” using realty companies, but I was “getting no-where fast” selling my place on my own. So, I phoned Ivo’s company for a meeting with him.
 
          
Ivo Henfling immediately offered me suggestions on how it would be best to quickly close a deal. He impressed me so much that I agreed to let him act as my agent in this transaction.
Ivo had a multitude of clients and he would always telephone me first stating the ETA of his showing. This, along with the number of personas accompanying him, would be the lead subject as to the reason for bringing these individuals for a viewing in the first place. To me, this was very comforting and impressive.
   

In a very short while a 100% cash deal was made by Ivo. At the closing, he handled all the details at his office so the transaction went smooth and trouble free. Due to his efficient handling of the whole matter I was able to depart ahead of my original plans and to do so knowing that all was handled efficiently and correctly.

I would recommend Ivo Henfling and the GoDutch team to anyone wanting a very honest appraisal and a prompt sale of their Costa Rica real estate holding.
John Pond

A memorable sale of property in Santa Ana, Costa Rica

Absolutely trying hard to adjust in Costa Rica

Absolutely trying hard to adjust in Costa Rica


By Ivo Henfling
In November 2009, I was introduced by an old client, who by the way didn’t buy Costa Rica real estate from me, to a very unusual couple. I mean unusual because they were much younger than most of my clients who come here to retire because they’re over the age of 60 and this couple was barely in their 30’s. Husband Ethan, the 7 month pregnant wife Antoinette and their 1 year old son Sir were moving to Costa Rica and were looking to purchase real estate.

Antoinette and Ethan had been looking at properties for quite a while with different Costa Rica real estate agents and had one complaint: the agents didn’t listen to what the clients were telling them they wanted.

Now Antoinette and her family live in Alajuela happily and work hard at adjusting and learning Spanish. And I love ’em to death because they try so hard adjusting and trying to become full-fledged Ticos.  Antoinette even writes a very interesting blog that she calls Pseudotico - Trying to be a decent Costa Rican! Everyone thinking of moving to Costa Rica should read her blog, I definitely recommend it.

So how did they end up buying a property in Alajuela? We all sat down at the Bed & Breakfast they were staying, to chat a bit so they could tell me about their lifestyle and what sort of Costa Rica property they were looking for. They told me how Ethan used to play NFL American Football professionally, first with the New England Patriots and then 3 seasons with the Cleveland Browns when he got injured and wanted to start a new life in Costa Rica. For fun, he was becoming a defense coach for the Bulldogs, an American football team in Costa Rica. Of course the Bulldogs are champions year after year. If you like American Football in Costa Rica and you are on Twitter, you can follow what is going on or the American Football federation of Costa Rica also has a nice website.


I think I emailed them only 4 properties for sale that would fit their bill and Antoinette fell in love with the very first one, even before she saw it. Even though I always like to leave the best property for last, Antoinette insisted on seeing the one she liked best first. I had to really convince them they should look at the other 3, even if it was only for comparison.  They didn’t really look during the rest of the property tour. Number 1 was and would stay number 1 on the list.
Since Antoinette was pregnant and she had her baby just after we closed on the property they bought in Alajuela, the whole family was able to get residency because the baby was born in the CIMA hospital in Escazu.  They have been remodeling the house and enjoying all the fruits that grow in their garden.

Their neighbor, Alfredo has become their trusted gardener and right hand and they have been able to remodel quite a large bit of the house. I really need to get back to see what they have been able to do lately.

 If you plan on moving to Costa Rica, read up on Antoinette’s blog, she writes funny and entertaining stories about all the fun things that happen to her and the kids and about the things she misses from back home and how she found better replacements for those things. I’m sure you’ll enjoy her stories.
Antoinette, you're doing an incredible job, keep pluggin' away at it.
Absolutely trying hard to adjust in Costa Rica

Are gay people also moving to Costa Rica

Are gay people also moving to Costa Rica

by Ivo Henfling
Because I grew up in Holland it comes easy to talk about the topic and quite a few gay people email me asking that question: “are gay people moving to Costa Rica”. The answer is yes.
When I was a kid, there was a gay kid on my block and at the time nobody would talk about it. He was the first person on national TV with his partner, talking about his experiences of coming out of the closet.
Jeez, I knew when I was 12 years old that he was gay. His mom and dad were very religious, poor guy, he suffered a lot and his mom and dad probably too. That was like in 1972.

A macho community

When I moved to Costa Rica, I used to go to Ojo de Agua once in a while, a large public swimming pool near the International airport Juan Santamaría. A gay man walked around the pool and hundreds of people whistled at him. Costa Rica was a very macho community back in 1980. Today, Costa Rica is still quite macho and the Catholic Church is not helping much.
The church of course disapproves and they still have a lot of power in the Latin American countries. Gay marriage is not accepted yet and the gay community in Costa Rica is constantly fighting for more rights, little by little things are changing.

Live and let live

Today’s blog is not about the right or wrong of being gay, it is about being able to live in Costa Rica when you are gay. I hope this topic doesn’t bother any of my readership, it shouldn’t.
Live and let live. I am straight but it doesn’t bother me at all to be around gay people. I have had many gay clients over the years, men and women alike. There are quite a few gay on my newsletter list, they are very good clients and they are very loyal with the real estate agent they decide to stick with.

70 homes for sale

Years ago, I had very nice clients (all my clients are nice by the way), two lesbians. We looked at about 70 homes for sale, but they stuck with me. The problem was that they didn’t like bathroom tiles with flowers and yes, you guessed it right.
They finally decided to buy a beautiful home in Curridabat and remodel the bathrooms. When my wife and I arrived at their housewarming party, though I had warned my wife, she almost got a heart attack seeing that everyone in the room was gay.  After an hour or so, she told me that she didn’t feel uncomfortable anymore.
Today, she has quite a few gay friends as she found out they are not from a different planet, they’re not animals but they are just a bit different than straight people. She just never had contact with gay people and it had always made her feel unconfortable.

The gay community

I don’t know how it feels to be gay in a straight world; I do see that my wife’s friends feel very comfortable talking to me because it’s not an issue to me.
For those gay people who want to move to Costa Rica, there are many gay bars and discos for the gay community and the gay community is quite large. You can walk the streets without being whistled at. I think that generally, the local straight people are accepting the fact that gay people are people too.
If you are gay, and looking to move to Costa Rica and want to buy Costa Rica real estate, feel free to contact me.
Are gay people also moving to Costa Rica

domingo, 24 de junio de 2012

Cerro Colon Costa Rica

by Michael Newhouse - GoDutch Realty

An exclusive gated community in Ciudad Colon

Cerro Colon means "Colon mountain". Cerro Colon is a very upscale condominium - residential gated community located in the Ciudad Colon foothills only 3 blocks from downtown. Cerro Colon was developed in 2006 by Inmobiliaria Lauca, where they subdivided the 57 acres in a low density community, allowing only for building lots of over ¼ acre (1,000m2). Cerro Colon real estate for sale by GoDutch Realty.
Cerro Colon condominium consists of a total of 81 lots in three phases with high quality services and amenities, starting with a very elegant entrance and roads with pavers and nice sidewalks. The building lots were subdivided in such way that all have sweeping views of the valley and surrounding mountains. In 2012 there are about 15 luxury homes built in the community and more under way.

Cerro Colon Location

Access to San Jose, Escazu, Santa Ana and the internationall airport in Alajuela, as well as the Central Pacific beaches is incredible from Cerro Colon. It will take you only minutes to get to the new highway San Jose - Caldera, which will give you easy access to all the above locations. Therefore, you are only minutes away from shopping and hospitals, amongs other services. The weather in Ciudad Colon is similar to Santa Ana, Atenas and Cariari with temperatures that average 85ºF.

Cerro Colon building lots

The developer has still some building lots for sale, in the different phases of the development. We of course also list Cerro Colon building lots for sale, feel free to check what is available at the bottom of this page. Cerro Colon competes with Atenas on Luxury homes in a gated community.

Cerro Colon homes

All homes in Cerro Colon are custom designed and custom built by the owners. All designs of new homes in Cerro Colon toi be constructed, have to be approved by the construction comittee. All homes built in the community are luxury homes or mansions, which gives the owners great security of their investment. If you are interested in looking at Cerro Colon homes for sale, check at the end of this page.

Cerro Colon Security

The community is fully fenced and gated, with only one entrance and exit. The elegant entrance has a spacious Spanish colonial guardhouse with an owner entrance for quick entrée and a separate visitors’ entrance. Opposed to most other communities, the entrance is very ample and visitors’ cars waiting to go through will not block the owners’ entrance. The guard house is manned 24-7 and guards go from there on a motorbike to do the rounds through the community.
  

Cerro Colon Services

All building lots have water, power, phone cable TV and internet connection at the front of the lot. The monthly condo fee includes maintenance of the common areas as well as the 24-hour security.

Cerro Colon Nature

Cerro Colon was developed in a low density area which gives you the sensation of living in the middle of Costa Ricas' beautiful nature while being walking distance from your shopping. The developers have done well by guaranteeing architectural harmony of future buildings, security and proper maintenance of its urban infrastructure and green areas in their condo rules.
  
In a common area over 1 acre, the community has a reforestation program where more than 500 trees have been already planted. Several lots border on river protection areas and there is a 2 km nature trail through the community where you can enjoy your morning walks.

Cerro Colon Clubhouse

The Club House is located in the middle of phase I and a main attraction of this beautiful gated community. Few developers spend so much time and effort on making such a beautiful area for common and social activities.
 
The Clubhouse is a 4,000 square feet (370m2) two story modern colonial structure of very well furnished social areas with plenty of seating areas, bbq area and a magnificent pool bordering the forest.
  
There is an additional children’s pool, a wet bar and comfortable restrooms. The 2nd floor offers a living room with cable TV and wireless internet.
  
The clubhouse area is almost 2 acres in size, including a large parking lot and set apart from the home lots so noise will never be a problem.

Cerro Colon Tennis Court

The tennis court is located at the entrance of the community, where it also offers plenty of parking.

The Cerro Colon developer

Inmobiliaria Lauca, the developer has developed other communities like Residencial El Coyol, Urbanización Los Laureles and Urbanización Los Cafetos.
Feel free to contact us NOW so our Agent in Ciudad Colon, Michael Newhouse can show you all Cerro Colon property for sale. If your search above does not turn up any results, please contact our agent.
If you ask yourself how to get there, we have very strange addresses in Costa Rica and if you do not want to get lost, just conact us so our agent can take you there.
Cerro Colon Costa Rica