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

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
ResidenciasPropertyManagement@gmail.com

 

Construction Log
Updates about Hacienda El Dorado

Rio Oro: An issue developed which we are dealing with. We'll see...

 

Residencias Los Jardines
Property Management, Rentals, Re-Sales

Faux Rock: done

Misc. Stucco, Painting, and Staining: done for this year

Tree Cutting Contract: This begins on Tuesday and should last for several weeks.

Market Activity

Sales: no calls.

Rentals: one call... very low budget.

While writing this, I had an agent phone me who has a number of units for rent in the Santa Ana area. His conclusion is the same as mine... our market niche is simply not there. The N. Am. client is not coming here to live or those who are coming, have a very small budget... He's had to lower his rents substantially to keep full. His assessment is that a 300 sf, studio apt for $500 would rent easily; we don't have those and neither does he.

 

FOR SALE

Unit #114: $235,000 / See Unit
 

FOR RENT

Unit #102: $1,650 mo. / Available Immediately / See Unit

Unit #112: $1,250 mo. / Available Immediately / See Unit

Unit #114: $1,400 mo. / Available April 15 / See Unit

Unit #123: $1,650 mo. / Available April 9 / See Unit

Unit #124: $1,000 mo. / Available Immediately / See Unit

-

 

HOUSE FOR SALE

UNIT #114
$235,000

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

This 2 bedroom/2bathroom,1,290 sf single floor end unit home includes a 150 sf front terrace plus parking for one car. This house is fully air conditioned and has recently been professionally decorated by international decorator Alcides Graffe and has undergone a complete renovation—new modern furniture, finishings, window coverings, and art work by Carlos Gambino. It is arguably the nicest furnished unit at Residencias Los Jardines and only steps from the pool.

 

 

HOUSES FOR RENT

UNIT #102
FOR RENT $1,650 mo.
Available Immediately

Total Area (Sq Ft): 1922
Total area (Sq M): 177
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2 1/2
Floor(s): Ground
Type: Apartment
Furnished: Yes

This two bedroom, 1922 sf (177 m2) FURNISHED and well appointed home with AC, bright office, and covered parking is a single story home surrounding by manicured gardens in Residencias Los Jardines. It was completed 5 years ago and has been lovingly cared for since. It is situated on the ground floor of a two storey, horizontal duplex. This home has two split system air conditioning units for quiet, efficient cooling. It is in PRISTINE condition.

 

 

 

UNIT #112
FOR RENT $1,250 mo.
Available Immediately

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

This 1,290 sf single floor home includes a 300 sf front terrace plus parking for one car. It is attached on two sides by a 6 inch cement demising (common) wall, which prevents sound transfer.

 

 

 

UNIT #114
FOR RENT $1,400 mo.
Available April 15

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

This 2 bedroom/2bathroom,1,290 sf single floor end unit home includes a 150 sf front terrace plus parking for one car. This house is fully air conditioned and has recently been professionally decorated by international decorator Alcides Graffe and has undergone a complete renovation—new modern furniture, finishings, window coverings, and art work by Carlos Gambino. It is arguably the nicest furnished unit at Residencias Los Jardines and only steps from the pool.

 

 

UNIT #123
FOR RENT $1,650 mo.
Available April 9

Total Area (Sq Ft): 1516
Total area (Sq M): 140
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.

 

 

UNIT #124
FOR RENT $1,000 mo.
Available Immediately

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.

 

 

 

 

Our Lives

WEATHER: the winds returned but have again died. It's been hot most of the time.

All in a Week's Living in CR:

Lita arrived tired but on schedule along with our guests.

This past week was "Semana Santa" or Holy week. It's a week that the country shuts down... actually most of the country will be shut down down as well. Residents of the Central Valley flock to the beach areas. For us, it's a good time NOT to go to the beach. We'll go in a couple weeks and are making plans now for that.

Below are several articles I came across this week:

Fiscal deficit to grow by 5.1 percent this year

According to economists at the Universidad Nacional, the government is expected to add 5.1 percent this year to the budget deficit measured as a percentage of GDP. Researchers say the increase is no longer attributable to growing salaries in the public sector, and is now being driven by interest charges on the debt. The government spent $1.6 billion during the first two months of 2013.

From: https://costaricareport.com/2013/03/fiscal-deficit-to-grow-by-5-1-percent-this-year/

Gap between exports and imports totals $ 994 million

For 2012, the Costa Rican trade deficit totaled $994.2 million, and during the first two months reached $320.7 for 2013. The deficit is the second highest in Central America, trailing Guatemala. Experts are worried because the trade deficient is expanding at a time when the government debt is increasing and speculative capital is entering the country.

From: https://costaricareport.com/2013/03/gap-between-exports-and-imports-totals-994-million/

Comment: In a rational economy the colon-dollar exchange rate should be closer to 700-1 but in what seems to be a manipulated economy or one which is very skewed with ??? money, the exchange rate seems to be wanting to go in the other direction. Weird!!! but that is CR...

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Country finally doing something about its sewage
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

After years of planning and even years of neglect, Costa Rica is about to begin a project to protect its rivers and the gulf of Nicoya. This is a major step that will affirm to tourists the country's strong environmental stand.

Construction is scheduled to begin next month on a primary sewage treatment plant in the Los Tajos section of León XII, a district of the Municipalidad de Tibás north of the capital. There may be some last-minute glitches, but the contract already has been approved with ACCIÓN Agua, a well-known Spanish firm that specializes in such projects. The price for the treatment plant alone is $44 million.

Primary treatment removes about 50 percent of the suspended solids in sewage. A secondary treatment plant at the same site, planned for 2025 will remove 90 percent of the solids and allow the plant to handle a much higher flow of sewage.

Sewage is a dull subject for most residents, but the problem in Costa Rica has been substantial. Every Central Valley sewer eventually dumps into a local river, which then pours into the Río Grande de Tárcoles. That river with all of the metro area trash and sewage dumps into the gulf of Nicoya north of Jacó. The pollution jeopardizes tourism beaches and the marine life in and around the gulf.

The Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados, the national water and sewer company, said about 45 percent of the Central Valley population, about 600,000 persons, are hooked up to sewer lines that eventually run into rivers. The rest have septic tanks or other disposal systems that can pollute the groundwater.

Acueductos y Alcantarillados says it hopes to service a million persons by 2016 in the first stage of the project. A second stage will include Heredia Centro, Alajuela Centro and other communities near the Tárcoles.

The first stage also includes replacing or extending sewer lines. Many are in bad condition. Some 361 kilometers of sewer lines will be replaced or installed, said the institute. That is about 224 miles. The estimated cost of the first stage, including the treatment plant, is $270 million.

The Japanese development agency has put $130 million in trust for the project. There was a delay in getting the legislature to accept the grant, and Costa Rica nearly lost the money.

Finally in September, after a lengthy bidding process, ACCIÓN Agua won the contract. The firm has 30 months to design and build the treatment plant and 18 months to run it and teach Costa Ricans how to do so, according to the agreement.

At the first stage treatment plant, after the solids are removed, the system will inject oxygen into the flow of water and subject it to chemical and biological agents that will decompose harmful bacteria in the sewage, according to the company. The solids, including trash and plastic soda bottles, will be trucked to a landfill.

In a presentation to the legislature, executives from Acueductos y Alcantarillados said that the entire project in two stages will run from the Cerro de Ochomogo on the east to the cerros Coyote and Palomas between Escazú and Santa Ana on the west.

The project encompasses San Rafael de Coronado, San Gerónimo de Moravia and San Juan de Tibás.

To the south the project will take in Aserrí, San Miguel and Higuito de Desamparados and the Cerro del Tapezco in Escazú.

All of San José centro would be included in phase one as will San Pedro and Curridabat. So will much of La Uruca, part of Alajuelita, San Miguel, San Antonio, Damas, San Rafael Abajo and Gravilias, all Desamparados, Guadalupe, San Francisco, Calle Blancos, Ipís and Purral in Goicoechea, San Vicente and Trinidad in Moravia and León XIII, Colima, San Juan, Cinco Esquinas and Anselmo Llorente in Tibás. The rest of the valley will have to await phase two.

The project would join the four separate main sewers in the valley. They are named after the rivers they parallel.

A 1.8-kilometer tunnel will take the sewage underground in Hatillo. Sewage in Pavas and Escazú will be pumped up to the treatment plant. The rest of the network relies on gravity. Acueductos y Alcantarillados proposes using tunneling devices that will avoid open trenches and the disruption of traffic.

Officials have talked about creating biogas from the sewage.

Not all sewage runs into the rivers. Many hotels and condo projects have put in their own small-scale package treatment plants.

From: www.amcostarica.com/032113.htm

Comment: Sewage -in a country so known for its bent on "ecology", the reality is very different... few people / reporters actually bother to look behind the government bellicose...

 

Brian, Lita, the Late Hugo IV, irreverent Vicka, the pigeon toed parrot, Chico II and Chica II