Homes for sale and homes for rent in Santa Ana, San José, Costa Rica | Newsletters

—Life & Times—

Warring Tribes!!!

ISSUE #876: Oct. 3-9, 2021

2021-10-10

Brian Timmons, Newsletter Author
Brian Timmons

Dear friends,

When I started Residencias Los Jardines, I started writing a weekly newsletter -determined to tell all the good, bad, and the ugly. I knew some readers would be interested in the construction process. I expected others might be interested in the lifestyle of two people who had decided to live outside the box. For others, the adventures of Lita, the parrot and the cat took on an entertainment saga all its own.

Residencias Los Jardines is finished. We periodically have re-sales and rental availability. Some readers may be interested in this information.

Brian Timmons
Developer / Property manager
Residencias Los Jardines

Web: https://residenciaslosjardines.com
Emails: info@residenciaslosjardines.com
ResidenciasPropertyManagement@gmail.com

Market activity
sales & rentals

Sales: Los Jardines: Units #114, #116 and #124

Rentals:
Los Jardines: Nothing available
Paradisus: Unit 14-3, West Facing. $1,340 mo.

Residencias Los Jardines
property management, rentals & re-sales

FOR SALE
Unit #114: $ 185,000 $ 178,000 PRICE REDUCTION / See Unit
Unit #115: $ 165,000 UNDER PURCHASE / SALE CONTRACT
Unit #116: $ 189,995 $ 179,000 PRICE REDUCTION / See Unit
Unit #124: $ 115,000 $ 99,950 PRICE REDUCTION / See Unit

FOR RENT
Unit #121: $ 1,350 mo. / See Unit

 

For sale

UNIT #114
FOR SALE
$ 185,000 $ 178,000
PRICE REDUCTION

Total Area (Sq Ft): 1290
Total area (Sq M): 120
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Floor(s): Single Floor
Type: Attached
Furnished: Yes

This 1,290 sf. (plus covered parking for one car and two lockers 67 sf.) single story, semi detached house, with garden terrace, two bedrooms is a beautiful executive style home. This home consists of two large bedrooms one with six piece en-suite bathroom with additional access to separate full shower. Each bedroom has large closets with extensive built-ins for personal organization. The vaulted living room and bathroom ceilings provide a feeling of grandeur while allowing the warmer air to rise and exit through the ceiling ventilating system. There are four TVs (one in each bedroom, one in the living room and one in breakfast / dinning room.) This is a beautiful well appointed home.

UNIT #115
FOR SALE
$ 165,000 OBO
UNDER PURCHASE / SALE CONTRACT

Total Area (Sq Ft): 1345
Total area (Sq M): 124
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Floor(s): 1 Story
Type: Attached
Furnished: Yes

Two bedroom / two bathroom, lots of built-ins, appliances and furniture included. 125m2 / 1,345sf. Pictures to follow. One covered parking space and bodega included. Monthly HOA fees $268, taxes and water included. The long time owner passed away / the unit has been transferred to his sister / she wants to sell and has set up POAs to facilitate this. This can be a good deal for some buyer. All offers will be presented.

UNIT #116
FOR SALE
$ 189,995 $ 179,000
PRICE REDUCTION

Total Area (Sq Ft): 1290
Total area (Sq M): 120
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Floor(s): 1
Type: Semi-Attached
Furnished: Yes

This 1,290 sf single floor home includes a 300 sf front terrace plus parking for one car and a separate, secure storage locker. It is and end unit and therefore attached on only one side by a 6 inch cement demising (common) wall, which prevents sound transfer.

UNIT #124
FOR SALE
$115,000 $ 99,950
PRICE REDUCTION

Total Area (Sq Ft): 662
Total area (Sq M): 61
Bedrooms: 1
Bathrooms: 1
Floor(s): 2nd Floor
Type: Semi-Detached
Furnished: Yes

This 662 sf, + covered parking for one car, is a one bedroom home on the 2nd floor overlooking the large pool. It is ideal for a single person or couple.

For rent
Our Lives

What Happened This Week

Weather: The normal weather pattern for the rainy season in our area, is morning sun, afternoon showers... that has not been the case this year... we have had lots and lots of overcast days with no sun... normal amount of rains but not torrential downpors in our area...

Stories

1. Medical Issue: Walking normally and doing my morning rounds... all seems good

2. Warring Tribes: Two weeks ago, one of the residents had a party at the large pool with 20 or so people including adults and children. This was reserved and scheduled as normal. While a few more people than we normally have, we have not been enforcing a limit rule as we did when COVID first arrived and the country shut gatherings down... As the country has relaxed the rules, open up restaurants, gatherings, etc, we have done so as well. One of the longer term tenants took officense to the number of people and to the music... after the party the two households wanted to argue... the argument landed in my lap. I did not see that the party broke any norms of behavior so when I could not get consensus between the two parties, I told them to bugger off and slug it out if that is what they wanted. This Tuesday, the complaining tenant called the local police. I was called to the meeting... two cops, two complainers, a bunch of "helpers" / translators... The meeting started with proposed solutions... I didn't like that... I first wanted to know what the problem was? Who owns the problem? and What Min. of Salud rules were broken. Well, the police started to give me their interpretations rapidly leading into solutions... I shut that down and again tried to establish what the problem was, who's problem was it, before I wanted to hear any "solutions". Since that never happened I did not feel anything was going to be accomplished. As far as I was concerned, there was no problem, whatever the issue was, was not mine to own, that the "solution" was quite obvious... use the second rancho, use the second pool, avoid the area, the music was much lower than when the complainer had his party, no one else had complained so, I just couldn't accept that it was "my or Los Jardines's problem". Yes, I was probably overly aggressive in expressing myself but it was a meeting that was leading nowhere. One other person in the area and myself looked at each other, concluded it was BS... and that is when I walked away.

3. Legal issues: And which, if any, of the 5 things got moved ahead this week... NONE... typical. Another week and nothing got done.

4. Pending Sale of 115: This is supposed to happen this week. The timing was dependent on the sale of another house... that is scheduled now --after an expected delay-- for Monday. At this point, I am not expecting any delays but am fully prepared if they do in fact happen. None of what has happened has been a surprise. I had advised all parties but the seller / buyer did not appreciate reality not having been involved in these events before... And while I tried to shave off a few days for the buyer's possession, he wasn't following what / why I was suggesting so I decided to shut up and do as instructed... so that is where we are...

5. Viewings: We have had a lot of viewings this past week... activity is picking up... Unfortunately, no commitments... but the fact that people are around looking is an encouraging sign.

6. Managing Keys: What a GD hassle. Friends return for dental work and to renew friendships. I have been looking after their place... not that it requires much time... they left their car keys with me and asked that I re-connect the battery... I have no GD idea where the keys are... two of us spent 3 man hours looking... no where to be found... they will turn up some time but when, I have no idea. Fortunately, we did get the battery re-connected and fortunately, they have a second set of keys... argh!!!!!!!

News Items of the Week

Comments:

1. New Bills: They do not go as far as they used to. Exchange rate is now around 621-634... I do not know what the "official" inflation rate is but now sure I would believe it... On the other hand, I have not seen any protests...

2. Cruise Ships Return: My sister is coming Jan. 10. Unfortunately, Puntarenas is a dump, almost as bad as Limon... neither are the shining jewels of CR... but then again neither is San Jose... just every other place shows off CR much better.

3. Anti-smoking: Public or private smoking is not really a problem in CR... I see very little of it...

1. Costa Rica unveils new bills

The Central Bank of Costa Rica on Friday unveiled two new bills.

The 1,000 and 10,000-colón banknotes will enter circulation on October 15, 2021. They feature the same figureheads, but are designed to be stronger and more secure.

“The new ?1,000 and ?10,000 banknotes, printed on a polymer substrate, are more durable, safer and 100% recyclable,” the Central Bank says. “The same characters, motifs, tones and sizes of the cotton paper banknotes are kept.”

Costa Rica’s colorful currency

The Central Bank in 2010 began phasing out Costa Rica’s old bills and put into circulation the new banknotes, which you can view below:

2. Puntarenas welcomes first cruise since start of pandemic

The Serenade of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, arrived Friday morning to the port of Puntarenas with 694 cruise passengers and 819 crew members. It represents the first vessel to arrive to the Central Pacific city since the start of the pandemic, and the second to dock in Costa Rica during this cruise season.

This ship has a capacity for 2,501 passengers but is operating at 30% capacity to maintain. It arrives on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and will continue its journey to Cartagena, Colombia.

During their stay in Costa Rica, cruise passengers can opt for tours to Monteverde, Esparza, La Guácima, Aranjuez de Puntarenas, San Ramón, Naranjo, Tárcoles, Sarchí and a tour of downtown Puntarenas.

“The arrival of the Serenade of the Seas, as well as the recent participation of the country in the most important cruise fair in the world — Seatrade Cruise Global 2021 in Miami, Florida — constitute encouraging messages to the coastal regions and to the hundreds of people who live from this tourism niche through its multiple chains, at a time when more positive numbers are predicted with a view to the start of the high season,” said Tourism Minister Gustavo Segura.

Since September 1, Costa Rica is welcoming cruise ships in which 100% of the crew have been vaccinated against Covid-19 and at least 95% of passengers of vaccination age have received their shots.

3. Costa Rica anti-smoking law passes

In February 2012, the Legislative Assembly adopted a new tobacco-control act that replaced the prior legislation. The law had the following provisions:

  • A complete ban on smoking in all workplaces and public places, including restaurants and bars;
  • Increasing the size of health warnings so that they occupy 50% of principal display areas of packages;
  • Including pictures and pictograms in health warnings;
  • Banning all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship;
  • Banning the sale of tobacco products to and by minors;
  • Banning sales of cigarettes in packages of less than 20 pieces and through vending machines; and
  • Calling for educational and research programs.

In the weeks following the new law, cigarette prices in Costa Rica increased by 49%. In 2013, tobacco tax revenue increased by 96%, according to the World Bank, but it then dropped in following years as cigarette demand decreased.

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