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

Brian Timmons

Dear friends,

When I started Residencias Los Jardines, I started writing a weekly news letter -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 resales and rental availability. Some readers may be interested in this information.

More and more, the content will be dominated by events of our new project, "El Dorado" for short. While the future is always uncertain, I again aim to tell it like it happens -the good, the bad, and the ugly, and that is what follows.

Brian Timmons
DEVELOPER:
Residencias Los Jardines / https://www.residenciaslosjardines.com
Hacienda El Dorado / https://www.eldoradocostarica.com
E-mail: brian@eldoradocostarica.com / info@residenciaslosjardines.com

Construction Log
Updates about Hacienda El Dorado

Rio Oro: My focus this week has been the cash flow analysis of the pre-construction phase. I'm still working on it and find I need some input from the architect -I got something from them but it wasn't what I wanted. They did a cash flow for construction, NOT the PRE-CONSTRUCTION phase I asked for. Nevertheless, I'm reviewing their version of construction strategy to mine... the differences should be discussed but not at the moment.

Bamboo: two years ago I had planted bamboo along many sections of the perimeter fencing. This was to enhance the security as well as to screen out the fence itself or what was on the other side -in the case of the chain link portion. This bamboo is well established and is underway in accomplishing the objective; I expect it to gain height this rainy season and to fill in -where it doesn't we'll add plantings to make the barrier hedge continuous.

One area that never took, was planting large "yellow" bamboo along the stream's edge in 4 locations. I've tried again this past week. The result, when accomplished, will be an impenetrable natural barrier. We cannot build a fence across the river or within 10 meters of the river but we can plant bamboo -it will produce the same effect: security. Later we can build a device over the river which will act as a security barrier -it will be called something else and will in fact have a clean out function but will also have a security element to it. This will complete the perimeter securitization of the development.

Residencias Los Jardines
Property Management, Rentals, Re-Sales

Internet: We went with AMNET not for love but hoping the change will be the least problematic. We'll see. So far so good... but they probably haven't done anything in the office / tech side yet so we don't really know what the future holds.

Cable TV: just when we're getting reliable Internet signal, the CableTica signal has gone down three times this week and at time of writing, it's still down. We have no idea what the problem is nor would it make any difference if we did.

Expectations: Some residents hold me responsible for lack of signal -either Internet or TV- and like to let me know that it's my job to provide it... If either Internet or Cable TV signal outage were caused by us, then it would be my responsibility but if the signal doesn't get to the property for whatever reason, I can't invent it... it's very simple but some people find that hard to comprehend. What is usually an ugly exchange ends up being a short conversation leaving a legacy.

A Battle of Wills: I've made some progress on this; two of the three bins are largely -not completely- full... topping them up is still on my agenda and beginning third as well. The battle of wills is not yet over, just moved to a different chapter. When all three bins are full, the next battle will be to turn over the composting material once each month.

White Fly Infestation: we're getting the upper hand -they seem to be gone.

Repair of lower parking area: We never finished the resurfacing of the parking lot area after the excavation and remediation of the drainage system. We left it to compact by natural weight, car activity and rain. We now have to finish this off.

Market Activity: Sales: No one interested this week.
Rentals: Unit 113 was leased on a long term basis and 109 on a short term. We've had several lookers.

FOR SALE:

FOR RENT:

HOUSES FOR SALE

UNIT #115
FOR SALE $205,000
(For rent $1,600 mo.)

See a complete description of this unit

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

This 1,345 sf single floor home includes a 200 sf private terrace plus parking for one car. It is attached on two sides by a 6” solid concrete block wall which prevents sound transfer. This is an extremely well decorated home with lots of natural wood built ins.

HOUSES FOR RENT

UNIT #115
FOR RENT $1,600 mo.
(For sale $205,000)
Immediate

See a complete description of this unit

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

This 1,345 sf single floor home includes a 200 sf private terrace plus parking for one car. It is attached on two sides by a 6” solid concrete block wall which prevents sound transfer. This is an extremely well decorated home with lots of natural wood built ins.

UNIT #121
FOR RENT $1,650 mo.
Immediate

See a complete description of this unit

Total Area (Sq Ft): 1423
Total area (Sq M): 131
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2.5
Floor(s): 2 Story
Type: Detached
Furnished: Yes

This two story, detached 1,423 sf home + parking for one car has two bedrooms, 2 ½ bathrooms and a 2nd. floor covered terrace.

The open railed wrought iron cement stair case leads to the 2nd. level where the master bedroom with en-suite master bathroom as well as 2nd. bedroom and en-suite bathroom are located. Also accessed from the 2nd. floor hallway is the covered terrace.

This is a very nicely furnished home with a good floor plan for those wanting two floors.

Our Lives

WEATHER: the afternoon rains have been pretty regular all week -sunny skies, clouding over around noon, rains in the afternoon for 30-45 min. followed by clearing skies.

Friends Arrived: renewing friendships while they are getting their teeth fixed and enjoying a life different than they are use to.

Cars: I had an offer from a long time friend to buy one of his used Bentleys... I'm trying not to laugh too hard...

Brian, Lita, Hugo, irreverent Vicka, the pigeon toed parrot, and the newbies - Chico and Chica