Relocation information

On $1,400 per month I'd suggest you learn to live like a Tico as fast as possible.  You could get a decent apartment for under $500. per month in that area.  I wish you all the best of luck.

Or learn to talk to people that are here.  If they cannot help you immediately there is a lot of information available.  Don't let one person do you an injustice.  We spend more than $1400 a month but could easily exist on less.  We did not choose to retire here because it was less expensive (and it is for us) but because we love the climate, the lifestyle, and the people.

Don't be fooled by Terry, that couple has been glorifying life here since they arrived , and they will never inform you of any negatives we encounter.  You could get a great home for a good price, but the size of the home (and your desire to operate the AC), could result in you spending many hundreds of dollars per month for electricity.  $1,4000 can be enough to live down here, but you must be budget minded, and you must live like a Tico.  If you eat out "eat at the Soda restaurants".  Never eat in a restaurant that shows prices in US dollars.  Always be on guard for Gringo pricing.
The more you learn from the locals, the more it will benefit your goal to survive financially down here.

We don't glorify life, we live it.  We built in the mountains so we do not have another's complaints.  No heat, no air conditioning. Ask a person who lives here.  Make your own decision and only accept opinions from those you trust.

Thanks.

The best source of "truthful" information about Costa Rica can be found at the following web site, be sure to view their videos.  https://www.youtube.com/user/iCostaRica24

ricksage wrote:

Looking to retire in  San Ramon and I definitely some information on furnished apts or houses.

I'll be living on SS, $1400. A MONTH.

I'LL ALSO BE USING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. SO,  information  ABOUT THAT'S WOULD BE USEFUL.

If you are willing to live close to the city in San Ramon then you will be able to use taxis and buses to get around.

You can walk across San Ramon in about 15-20 minutes from one end to the other (I've done it). I didn't time it which is why I say "about" 15-20 minutes.

I have friends who live north of San Ramon and spend $1000/month and enjoy their lives there. They don't pay rent though so factor that in to your budget.

I'd say that if you don't have a car, can find rent for under $400/month, and live like a Tico in terms of the food you eat etc. you will do fine on $1400/month. However I really don't know the rental costs or what is available near town. I have stayed in houses that are empty that expats built for under $300/month but for long term they'd probably want more than that.

The thing to do is to ask around and spend a month or two looking for a great deal before you commit to a long term rental contract.

Unfortunately Costa Rica is not a cheap country to live in .  Food costs can be high.  Quality of beef poor.   I am going home after six years living here as in some parts of US it is cheaper to live.  Consider you will need a lawyer to get residency at least 2000 us cars are not cheap either expect to pay 4000 or over for a used car.   Medical is fair but in many parts social med hospitals are not so good long lines and waiting even in a emergency . Private insurance is over 100 a month.   Rental depends on furnished vs unfurnished a unfurnished apartment in your area 450 up a home 600 up furnished a apartment 500 low to over a thousand home 700 up then monthly expense of electric not cheap here expect above 100 gas is over 5 then food i my self spend 100 a week and I am vegetarian and try to live sparsely 1400 will not get you far you may look at San Insidro and central valley area is cheaper but even at that prices continue to climb do your home work and do not make mistakes can be very very costly many people are leaving here because of costs I am too

Paul Baker wrote:

Unfortunately Costa Rica is not a cheap country to live in .  Food costs can be high.  Quality of beef poor.   I am going home after six years living here as in some parts of US it is cheaper to live.  Consider you will need a lawyer to get residency at least 2000 us cars are not cheap either expect to pay 4000 or over for a used car.   Medical is fair but in many parts social med hospitals are not so good long lines and waiting even in a emergency . Private insurance is over 100 a month.   Rental depends on furnished vs unfurnished a unfurnished apartment in your area 450 up a home 600 up furnished a apartment 500 low to over a thousand home 700 up then monthly expense of electric not cheap here expect above 100 gas is over 5 then food i my self spend 100 a week and I am vegetarian and try to live sparsely 1400 will not get you far you may look at San Insidro and central valley area is cheaper but even at that prices continue to climb do your home work and do not make mistakes can be very very costly many people are leaving here because of costs I am too

Hi Paul - I am curious how or where you can live in the USA for under $1400/month. I mean, I really am. The only way I know of is if you are disabled or otherwise can get into a government-subsidized apartment building. My mom lived in such a place - very tiny.

I do know that you can rent in cities in the USA for $400-500 a month but usually only in undesirable climates (again, as far as I know; if you know of desirable locations at low prices I am interested to know).

Obamacare runs at LEAST $100/month if you are on social security so that would be the same as CR pretty much, except in the USA you will also pay $45 a visit for doctor and xrays and blood tests and have to go to a doctor to get a prescription instead of just going down to the pharmacy to get it without a doctor in Costa Rica (depending on what it is).

On Medicare sometimes you can't even get into a doctor. My relative died because the hospital wouldn't admit him because he didn't have the "right" Medicare doctor. They sent him home to die instead. (Basically a case of bureaucracy and uncaring attitude combined.)

I know of beautiful American built 2-3 bedrooms home that can be rented in  Costa Rica for under $500/month and some for $600/month that are pure luxury.

I do agree that prices have gone way up in Costa Rica over the past 5 years. I do not agree however that it is as expensive as the USA when you consider cost of phone, health insurance, car insurance, and overall cost of living.

Anyway sorry Costa Rica didn't work out for you and I hope you are right that you can live on $1400/month in the USA. I personally don't see how or where, though.

Hi Paul Baker, you are part of the 80% that return home.  I am not sure what is killing Costa Rica, it might be the elite families who control the government down here, and are responsible for imposing the outrageous import taxes on everything.  Costa Rica is much like the US, it's a country that has little chance of ever being the great place it once was.

Now it's up to 80% who return home, Edward?
I'd like to see where you get those statistics! Because there are no accurate records anywhere of how many gringos live there (many don't get residency)( like yourself if I'm not mistaken) and many who leave are not counted as they leave. So how on earth can one arrive at an accurate figure???

Please explain and not with a link to a video because those guys don't have accurate stats either! LOL.

Yes you are right, a % do not like living in Costa Rica and return to their homeland or move elsewhere. No doubt about that! But what that % is, no one knows. If there are accurate stats somewhere please share them here and I will happily admit I am wrong.

By the way, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION (not fact, just my opinion based on observations!), the main reasons people leave Costa Rica are:

lack of Spanish skills
lack of having lived there for a month or more before moving there
lack of research on what its really like to live in Costa Rica
not finding the best location for themselves
a Type A personality that cannot tolerate the Tico "mañana" attitude and waiting in lines to get things done

I'd like to add one more thing to Sanramon's list and that is people who are not prepared to diminish their links with family remaining behind.

Any realtor in Costa Rica could provide you with information on what percentage of foreigners fail to remain in Costa Rica.  I had a letter from a realtor in Jaco "and I posted it here", he said between 75 and 80 percent, and that's the only reason he is making a good living.  Even if the figure was as low as 50% "that is huge".  There is a development at Bejuco beach where at least 80% of the foreigners have left the country, mostly due to the high cost of electrical power required to cool homes large homes.  Before we built we'd rented in that development.  The rents are now so low that large Tico families live in most of the homes, which has resulted in almost every home in that development now being up for sale.  I recently visited Canada, and I can tell you that I went to Walmart and purchased large bottles of Cola for 87 cents, while here I pay about $3.  Gas is more, cars are more, the Chinese merchandise is of the poorest of quality, and the import taxes are huge "on everything".  Don't you think people should be made aware of these "honest facts of life"?  Do you think we should be like realtors and developers "and just talk about how many birds and monkeys we see"?

http://news.co.cr/costa-rica-among-the- … ica/23464/

The truth is the truth, and no sugar coating can change the facts.

He asked you to substantiate your "truth".  Another dodge on your part.  You are being called out and you stand behind 3rd person myths.  You quote a newspaper????  You say any realtor???? and you have posted earlier that there are no real realtors in Costa Rica.  On another of your bogus posts you say that you shouldn't ship anything to Costa Rica and yet since I have been here there are almost double the amount of shippers and that has been substantiated by posting links to the shippers themselves. That's like you asking us to believe you. (How's that working so far?)  Where is your PERSONAL experience?  I was asked in a PM if you were here or are maybe a troll.

Edward1958 wrote:

Any realtor in Costa Rica could provide you with information on what percentage of foreigners fail to remain in Costa Rica.  I had a letter from a realtor in Jaco "and I posted it here", he said between 75 and 80 percent, and that's the only reason he is making a good living.  Even if the figure was as low as 50% "that is huge".  There is a development at Bejuco beach where at least 80% of the foreigners have left the country, mostly due to the high cost of electrical power required to cool homes large homes.  Before we built we'd rented in that development.  The rents are now so low that large Tico families live in most of the homes, which has resulted in almost every home in that development now being up for sale.  I recently visited Canada, and I can tell you that I went to Walmart and purchased large bottles of Cola for 87 cents, while here I pay about $3.  Gas is more, cars are more, the Chinese merchandise is of the poorest of quality, and the import taxes are huge "on everything".  Don't you think people should be made aware of these "honest facts of life"?  Do you think we should be like realtors and developers "and just talk about how many birds and monkeys we see"?

Edward, I think that we should most definitely report the truth about prices and above you have done so.
But when you say 80% leave based on one or two realtor's experience and don't SAY that it's based on 1-2 realtor's experience then you give a possibly false impression.
One realtor may be experiencing 80% and another may be experiencing 20%.
And I have said myself that SOME things are more expensive while other things are cheaper in Costa Rica vs. USA/Canada.

All I'm saying Edward is that you constantly post the negative and rarely if ever post the positive about Costa Rica. That's certainly your right and I think it should be allowed.
Yet you say you love it there. So if you do, why discourage people from moving there with over-stated "facts" about how many return back to their homeland, when there are no "facts" to report, only guesses?

My issue is only that I disagree and think the positive outweighs the negative and that you state or over-state the negative at every opportunity, whereas I try to be more balanced.

If you look at my posts I often point out the things to watch out for, especially that people should live a while in Costa Rica first before buying or moving.
And that some things indeed are more expensive in Costa RIca.

I have posts about the ridiculous prices of rental cars and car purchases for example.
But I balance that with the lower cost of ocean view and ocean property and health care etc.
Peace.

Hi everybody,

I have removed some inappropriate posts ( fights) from this thread.

Please calm down everyone and let's make sure that the information we are sharing are reliable and constructive.

Thanks

Priscilla 

Hello Pricsilla,

You can be criticized for even posting actual interviews here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnYyvb482k0

Hello Samramon -

I can see that you do not want every aspect of our day to day lives revealed in this blog, I don't know why but I respect your decision.  This situation might help you understand why I have this open honesty with those who are considering moving down here, I will try to make it short....  A couple fell in love with Costa Rica and spent their life savings to buy a retirement home on the north west coast.  They discovered that the dry season is so long that the leaves actually fall off the trees, and that their water is cut off every night at 8pm.  No realtor told them about this situation, and nobody mentioned that these conditions exist in the north during this couples eighteen month visits to Expat.coms.  I love Costa Rica in its entirety, and I too like to justify my moving to this country, but I feel an obligation to "fully educate" those who are considering moving here.  His wife was in tears as she explained her desire to sell that home.

Hello. I just moved to Palmares, the town next to San Ramon. Choose Palmares because it is a more relaxed town, cleaner, nicer. I spent three months looking to rent a house or an apartment for my two daughters,wife and I. I finally found a very nice 3 bdrm/3 bth house for $500, in downtown, not bad. I looked at many places and I still have the addresses and phone numbers of some of the houses and apartments. What is hard here is to rent furnished, but I did find a really nice furnished place, the only one I saw in three months of searching, for $550 plus utilities ($50). I do not know if it is still available. The owner has three more aptmts, some a little smaller, like for a couple or one person.  I just helped(convinced) some friends to move here from SJ, found them a house for $420 a month in the best "barrio" in Palmares. so $1400 will do. Some people can't live with less than $5000 a month, some of us can do it with much less. Airport is just 35 kms, from here.

Edward1958 wrote:

Hello Samramon -

I can see that you do not want every aspect of our day to day lives revealed in this blog, I don't know why but I respect your decision.  This situation might help you understand why I have this open honesty with those who are considering moving down here, I will try to make it short....  A couple fell in love with Costa Rica and spent their life savings to buy a retirement home on the north west coast.  They discovered that the dry season is so long that the leaves actually fall off the trees, and that their water is cut off every night at 8pm.  No realtor told them about this situation, and nobody mentioned that these conditions exist in the north during this couples eighteen month visits to Expat.coms.  I love Costa Rica in its entirety, and I too like to justify my moving to this country, but I feel an obligation to "fully educate" those who are considering moving here.  His wife was in tears as she explained her desire to sell that home.

Well thanks for that but it seems to me those people having a bad experience doesn't diminish the thousands of people who have good and great ones!

I do agree that realtors or someone should have told the couple about the water shortage, in your story.
But that's not the typical situation.

I still don't see how someone who lives in and likes living in Costa Rica can post virtually 10 negative posts about Costa Rica to every 1 positive post. (or thereabouts)

Full honesty and balance, it seems to me, would include positive along with the negative. Just sayin'.

I will try not to "fight" as the moderator said but I will continue to point out that negative stuff about Costa Rica is just part of the picture, not the whole picture.

My God, if this were a USA forum I could easily fill the forum with TONS of negative stuff about the USA! But I would see no point in doing that.

I'm unsubscribing from this thread and most others here so if you have something to write me, please PM me and I'll most likely get the message and respond.

Hi Samramon,

I have been lucky, I've not experienced any bad stuff as of yet, but I can't say that my neighbours have been as lucky.
If you have a desire to hide the true conditions here "that's your decision", but there are a few honest people that have no problem telling the truth.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHf5zzBHlwA

I have a Passport that is current. I am wanting to move to Costa Rica, sometime in the beginning of August.
Do Have to get a Visa to stay more than 90 days? Do get a Visa in the USA or in Costa Rica?
I am planning retiring and renting.

While you can enter the country on a tourist visa, if you intend to stay, you are required to apply for residency. although this can take a year or more, so you will have to exit the country every 90 days or less if you intend to drive here.

If you apply for residency you will get a comprobante which is a piece of paper saying that your application is in progress.  During the time from your application until you receive residency status (we are at the 18 month mark now) you are not required to leave Costa Rica.  If you wish to drive while you are here it is as Kohlerias said above, you are allowed to drive with a foreign driver's license for 90 days from the date last stamped in your passport.  You cannot obtain a Costa Rica driver's license until you have residency status./

If you can only drive for 90 days, and it takes a year to get your drivers license, you cannot drive your  vehicle for nine months, until you can get your drivers license? So your car sits there and you pay insurance on it and cannot use it?

As explained by TerrynViv, once you have received your  comprobante you do not have to leave the country, unless you wish to drive. If this is the case, you must continue to exit to renew your passport and reset your home drivers license....and this could be 4, 5 or even more times....until you have gained a Temporary residency status and have a cedula in your hand, then you can apply for a CR DL, so your vehicle will not sit 'unused'.
You are not guaranteed to be given a visa for 90 days, so the time period could be less.

Be advised that the cost of vehicles are much higher than in the USA, and if you ship one in, the duty could be as high as 79.03%  if 6 years or older.

Sorry Mike, I was not totally clear.  We have our comprobantes so do not have to leave the country to satisfy immigration.  We do, however, make a trip to Nicaragua every three months to get a new stamp in our passport to keep my Canadian driver's license active.  The one good thing about this is that it does not matter how many days they stamp your passport for (15, 30, 60, 90, etc) because Cosevi says that you have 3 months from the last date stamp in your passport.  Tis a pain in the butt as we are out in the boonies and need our car.