Mild Climate/Family Location

Hi wrevans02,

Welcome to Expat.com

I invite you to first of all go through the Living in Costa Rica guide, it might help you.

I would also advise you to go through this website : https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/c … ntry=Costa Rica , it might also help.

Thanks,

Priscilla
Expat.com Team

Already did that.  Was looking for more accurate and specific information directly from sources as opposed to averaged data from a website.

wrevans02............Insane post ,you are moving your family to a country you have never been to ! Get ready for a lot of cross information.The questions asked in the post,for an impulsive move are best left for a professional relocation expert to Costa Rica.The problem with these services is that everyone calls themselves an expert here,no licensing required nor is it regulated .

Research and come for a visit before uprooting
It’s not a cheap place and CR has a ridiculous amount of microclimates
Your health care and medicine will be out of pocket until you are a resident and qualify for CR programs
I take a med for my depression and was surprised when I discovered I only pay $4.00 in America and it cost me $26 here in CR

MY advice is come visit and get a feel for it to see if it’s for you
Edwin is correct you will get overwhelmed by all our suggestions and feedback on here
Best to touch and feel it for yourself

Good luck

First off, you should be checking into the requirements and cost of applying for residency in Costa Rica.  Just to apply it will cost approx. $4,000-$5,000 for a family of four.

How long it will take to finalize your application, nobody knows due to new rules and an overloaded system? You will not be covered for healthcare until your application is complete nor will you know how much that healthcare will cost you per month.

However, realize that you can't legally work here unless you have a work visa, which is very difficult to obtain,..or work 'on line' which still requires residency.

Raising a young family means schooling expenses which are not cheap.

As others have said, 'visit first' before making such an important decision.

Costa Rica can be a great place to live, if you can afford it.

I been in 34 countries.  Living in a bubble has never been an option.  I am used to hitting the ground running and assimilating as quickly as possible. 

With that said, no offense to anyone who hasn't been a globe trotter but I am not really looking for advice.  Just looking for specific information to narrow my search.

People been telling me for years that I am crazy.  I am used to it.  In any event, I am now living near an active volcano that has been sleeping for a very long time and has started erupting just before pandemic lockdown.   The gas is toxic and the ash has miniscule glass shards.  I am not exposing my boys to that again and the only way to do that is leave the country.  Add pandemic lockdown and I can't take with my boys to safety.  I can't even get them vaccinated properly from local diseases. 

So I don't have the luxury of time.  The safety and health of my boys is far more important than any inconveniences I may find.  That and I refuse to raise them in America. 

I have already completed my initial research.  Now I just some details on the basics.  Thanks

FYI …. CR has I believe 3 or 4 Volcanoes and one erupted near Gunacaste area last month

Thanks.  Already researched all of that.  I have no need for a work permit and healthcare won't be an issue.  Cost of education is fine.  By no means am I wealthy but I planned to retire early many years ago.  I took my first pension 6 years ago, I get my next one in two years, and then of course SS when I reach the age for early retirement.  But that will be awhile. 

What I am looking for now is really just cost of appliances and rentals in an area that is cooler but has the necessary amenities for my boys.

I will look that up then.  Thanks for the info.

wrevans02... I can't address the cost of appliances because I do not live in CR yet. What I can address is possible location for your re-location. Have you researched the San Isidro area? It's about 2.5 hours south of San Jose. The temps are cooler and real estate is cheaper than northern, more populated regions. This is where I'm relocating to.

Good Luck!

does anyone else have a HAED TIME trying to post a FOR RENT AD ON THIS SITE..IF you hit a wrong button while writing an ad..god forbid all your time has been wasted

pebs wrote:

does anyone else have a HAED TIME trying to post a FOR RENT AD ON THIS SITE..IF you hit a wrong button while writing an ad..god forbid all your time has been wasted

we NEED spell check to work AND eady UPLOAD of PHOTOS as in OTHER SITES

I just wrote a VERY long post regarding this DRIBBLE I moved to Costa Rica 30 yrs ago and I think it best to FIRST live here before giving opinions ,Most real people choose the Centra VALLEY NOT san Jose but 25 mins away and NOT LIBERIA a 6 h=our drive away from CIVILIZATION, greatHospitals NOT the clin9cs understaffed and MILES from REAL Central Valley Hopitals and amenities Shopping etc..MY post Disappeared after MUCH work trying to help but IGNORE POSTS FROM PEOPLE WHO DO NOT EVEN LIVE HERE YET PLAIN BS EMAILFOR MORE INFO..WORN OUT FROM WRIYING AND AGAIN WATING THE POST DISAPPEAR,,AND WILL THIS SITE AFTER 30 YEARS ECER GET SPELL CHECK WORKING TOO TIRED TO EDIT..EMAIL ,E I DONE ANSWER COMMENTS HERE SORRY BYE,,, pebs

Wrevans02.   Mild climate is the central valley most of which is San Jose, but there are a lot of small surrounding towns as well.  Cost of rent varies greatly depending on what you want and where you are looking.  A two bedroom Tico casa that has a spicket for a kitchen faucet is typical, with no hot water, AC etc..  Not that you need AC here.  I have never needed it although a fan is nice sometimes.

Escazu and Guachipelin are high rent areas but you can get a condo or home that is more american in terms of size, amenities and most important, security.  Many gringos and canadians live in those areas.
Make sure any casa you end up in neighborhood or community that has 24 hour security.  These days most places do but if you rent a smaller tico house, in an open neighborhood watch it closely. 
Heredia is a huge city with many different neighborhoods.  Find realtors to show you what they have listed.  Stay away from Hatillo, or Desamparados, and several dozen other poor neighborhoods. Crime of opportunity is what you need to watch out for here. There are many honest helpful friendly Ticos everywhere.  But there are also men of various ages who prey on others, Ticos and gringos alike.

Family location is a little more difficult for me as I did not bring one with me.  There is no national MLS here so each realtor only knows about their own listings.  So look around a lot and speak to multiple realtors about their listings to get a good view of what's available.

THE ADMINS DELETE MY LONG INFORMATIVE POSTS SO I GUESS WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO HELP YOU NEWBIES,,IBY PUTTING OUR MAIL ADDY..WOW A JOKE..BU DO NOT BELIEVE ALL YU READ FROM WHAT US 20
= MOVERS KNOW..BUT DONT COME IN HERE ANYMORE..OH AND STILL N SPELL CHECK AFTER 30 YEARS ON THIS SITE ONLY ..SORRY..
CHECK OUT THE HILLS OF HEREDIA GORGEOUS VIES GREAT WIFI..UPSCALE AREA RENT FIRST.A COSY CHALET 2 BEDROOM IS 4400 mnyh inc utilities here not in overated esczu...maybe i could help if the boss would allow us to put our addys or fone here grrr good luck check out heredia hills..lovely i lived all over first before finding my 3 acres of heaven ,oh nd btw,i anyone mentions realters ignore their post THEY ARE UNSCHOOLED,AND DO NOT EXIST IN CR. ANYONE CAN JUST PRINT A BUSINES CARD HERE ND PUT REALTOR ON IT..UNLIKE THE TOUGH TESTSAND SCHOOLING IN THE USA.. good luck excuse tpos and caps ..awaitig as mentioned cateract surgery in best hosptal 10minutes from my farm/lodge  called
LOCATED UNDER HEREDIA  EL TRANQUILO" Ggoogle it.cheers pebs WITH A FAWCETT AND HOT WATER LOL

Hello pebs,

There's an ongoing bug that our IT team is working on resolving at the very moment when it comes to Housing adverts. This might explain why you haven't been able to post yours successfully. We apologize for the inconvenience caused.

As for spellchecks and other suggestions, please note that you may drop them here: Help us improve the website.

I would also like to inform you that the long post you mentioned being removed was not posted on the forum. You mistakenly sent it to us alongside a report.

I am contacting you through private messaging to sort this out, and to keep you updated on the resolution of the Housing section bug.

Thank you.

Diksha
Expat.com team