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.

Brian Timmons
DEVELOPER / PROPERTY MANAGER
Residencias Los Jardines / https://www.residenciaslosjardines.com info@residenciaslosjardines.com
ResidenciasPropertyManagement@gmail.com

 

Featured house this week

UNIT #126:
FOR RENT: $675 mo.

Total Area (Sq Ft): 530
Total area (Sq M): 50
Bedrooms: 1
Bathrooms: 1
Floor(s): 1
Type: Detached
Furnished: Yes

A small one bedroom with outside covered terrace with top of the line finishes (granite, stainless steel appliances, fine crafted wood cabinetry, +, +, +), with lots of well thought out storage...

 

Residencias Los Jardines
Property Management, Rentals, Re-Sales

Market Activity

Sales: no calls.

Rentals: 3 viewings; no commitments.

 

FOR SALE

Unit #114: $235,000 / See Unit

FOR RENT

Unit #106C: $1,150 mo. / Available Immediately / See Unit

Unit #113: $1,250 mo. / Available September 1 / See Unit

Unit #121: $1,600 mo. / Available Immediately -Short term / See Unit

Unit #124: $900 mo. / Available Immediately / See Unit

Unit #126: $675 mo. / Available September 1 / See Unit

 

HOUSE FOR SALE

UNIT #114
FOR SALE $235,000

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.

 

HOUSES FOR RENT

UNIT #106C
FOR RENT $1,150 mo.
Available Immediately

Total Area (Sq Ft): 1250
Total area (Sq M): 120
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Floor(s): Single Floor
Type: 4-plex
Furnished: Yes

This is a fully furnished 2-bedroom unit situated in a 2-story building, which has two units on the ground floor and two units on the 2nd. floor. Each unit is the same size (1,250sf) divided into 800 sf of interior space and 450 sf of covered front and back terraces. Units 106A and B are on the ground floor; Units 106 C and D are on the 2nd. Floor. The solid masonry demising wall (common wall) as well as the 5” concrete slab prevent sound transference.

 

 

UNIT #113
FOR RENT $1,250 mo.
Available September 1

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. It is attached on one side by a 6 inch cement demising (common) wall, which prevents sound transfer. The three other sides allow light, ventilation and garden views.

 

 

UNIT #121
FOR RENT $1,600 mo.
Available Immediately -Short term

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.

 

 

UNIT #124
FOR RENT $900 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.

 

 

UNIT #126
FOR RENT $675 mo.
Available September 1

Total Area (Sq Ft): 530
Total area (Sq M): 50
Bedrooms: 1
Bathrooms: 1
Floor(s): 1
Type: Detached
Furnished: Yes

A small one bedroom with outside covered terrace with top of the line finishes (granite, stainless steel appliances, fine crafted wood cabinetry, +, +, +), with lots of well thought out storage...

 

 

Our Lives

WEATHER: some rain but not much -again a virtually dry week... it's great for living and the garden but in the long run, it may have consequences.

All in a Week's Living in CR:

Finally got the PIN for the new bank account... total elapsed time? about 10 wks!!

Families Thinking Outside the Box: Over the years, we've had a number of families pass through Los Jardines with very specific agendas. The ones I'm thinking about can be grouped under "thinking outside the box", ie. they have an unconventional view of the world and their relationship to it and have decided to make a lifestyle change.

Family 1: Approximately 12 years ago, a mother and two teen age daughters from rural Canada rented here for several years. This is when the internet here was in it's infancy but the kids took prescribed home schooling studies. They all returned to Canada. The kids have gone on to conventional schools and are doing well; the mother has returned to make her life in Canada.

Family 2: Approximately 3 years ago a couple from Florida came here to have a baby. They had purchased some land on the Caribbean side and wanted to develop a community based on "organic agriculture" and self-sufficiency. September 2008 hit and they are having a rough time fulfilling their dream.

Family 3: Approximately 2 years ago a young couple from Canada came here to have a baby and start a new life. They are still living in CR but I've lost contact with them.

Family 4: Approximately 18 mo. ago a family including two teenagers came here to start a new life. He was a teacher in the States and was dissatisfied with the educational system there. He taught a several private schools here and has again become dissatisfied with the system. They are homeschooling one of their children and he's writing a book about his views of what is lacking in educational systems and what "education" means to him.

Family 5: Currently we have a family consisting of two teenage and one pre-teen who are moving to CR. They have some views of N. Am. and world events which have prompted them to purchase land here and pursue an organic, self sufficient lifestyle including "spiritualism", yoga and ??? They are looking for land to build their vision.

Family 6: Approximately 30 years ago a couple from Canada wanted to create a self contained, off grid, back to nature type development. They had networked with a number of people in N. Am. They came here, bought land in the middle of no where, built a simple home -no electricity, no indoor plumbing, wood burning stove and waited for their contacts to follow... the didn't. The couple was forced to re-think their situation and turned their investment into a bed-and-breakfast around nature and birds. It was successful for a number of years, then age and hard work caught up with them. They sold and moved to the San Jose area. Currently they are transitioning to a new community of like minded self-sufficient, energy conscious and environmentally correct people.

Family 7: Within the past 18 mo., we've had two families who each live in the same rural, spiritual community in the center of the Nicoyan Peninsula. They each have several children and added to their families while at Los Jardines and opted for a home delivery using a midwife.

All had / have a alternative vision of how they want(ed) to live their lives and had the confidence to act regardless of children. They incorporated their children into their plan. Their vision seems to have materialized out of their philosophical / spiritual / religious beliefs and their dissatisfaction with their conventional life because they found something was missing and / or fear over the future.

 

 

News Items of the Week

Comments:

1. Earthquakes: they happen so frequently here I usually don't bother to mention them. Most are small... just the way we like them. Small ones relieve the pressures so the big ones are less likely to happen.
2. Home Invasions: like earthquakes, they happen here so frequently I usually don't bother to mention them.
3. Import duties to be lowered on older cars: it's about time but all those now owning older cars will see the resale value of their vehicle decrease.

Flurry of quakes takes place at Pacific and inland locations
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

A flurry of earthquakes greater than 3.0 magnitude took place over the weekend.

The most recent was at 3:53 p.m Sunday 20.4 kilometers south of Bahia Balena in the Pacific, according to the Laboratorio de Ingenieria Sismica at the Universidad de Costa Rica, which said the magnitude was 3.5. The Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica at the Universidad Nacional in Heredia said 3.3.

A quake at 3:17 a.m. Sunday was 23.2 kilometers south of Jacó in the Pacific and had a magnitude of 3.8, said the Laboratorio. The Observatorio said 3.9.

A quake at 1:53 a.m. was estimated to be 11.4 kilometers southeast of Ciudad Quesada de San Carlos. The Laboratorio said 4.0, and the Observatorio said 3.6.

A quake at 6:13 p.m Saturday was estimated to be 3.4 kilometers southeast of Salitrillos de Aserrí with a magnitude of 3.8, said the Laboratorio. The Observatorio said 3.9.

The earthquake monitoring services differ frequently on magnitude and exact location of epicenter because they use different systems of tracking the movements of the earth.

Home invaders are at work in many areas of the country

Although the current administration has taken steps to clean up the streets of small-time robbers, home invasions are becoming the crime of choice throughout the country.

There were at least four such incidents since Friday evening, and the victims included a legislator and a government minister. Not all were reported by police agencies. A reader made a report involving a home invasion Friday evening in Golfito.

The gangs of crooks take advantage of times when residents are most vulnerable. In La Uruca at the home of Patricia Pérez, a legislator, bandits stuck a gun to the head of her daughter as the woman was driving her car into a parking area. Open and closing the electric portones or gates on parking areas are times of vulnerability.

The education minster, Leonardo Garnier, was not at home when bandits invaded his Zapote home Saturday night, but three other persons were there. The news spread quickly through the educational community, and Garnier acknowledged the crime and thanks those who sent him messages in a Twitter posting.

A reader said that the Golfito crime involved four men. they found two women in the home, including the owner. The usual goods were taken: a wide-screen television, cell phones and computer.

Earlier Saturday, at 2 a.m. bandits invaded a home in the center of Hatillo, said the Judicial Investigating Organization. There the crooks confronted the homeowner as he went to investigate noises. They took goods and jewelry worth about 2 million colons, said agents. That is about $4,000. The family operates a liquor store adjacent to the home, so the money was from the business, agents said.

Another home invasion took place in Puntarenas, also on Friday. Not a lot of details were available.

There did not seem to be any serious injuries in any of the robberies, but frequently this type of crime escalates into a shooting and perhaps murder.

Crooks seem to be able to defeat easily locks and steel bars. A typical beginning would be in attempting to poison any dogs that might be on guard. Sometimes a crook will vault a fence and let in his companions. Almost always there is a vehicle waiting, but crooks are not shy about stealing the vehicle of a victim if it is available. What used to be metro area crimes have now spread to many other parts of the country, thanks to new highways.

IMPORT TAX ON USED CARS TO BE SELECTIVELY REDUCED

The Presidency, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Economy today released an executive order in the Official Gazette in which establishing a deduction in the next 10 days, the selective sales tax used cars.

According to the tariff in force until now, new and used cars up to three previous years models face a 30% tax selective consumption tax, the models used four or five years of 40% and used models six or more previous years of 53%.

In the next 10 days the new and used car models up to six years prior selective face a 30% tax and models used seven or more years before a fee of 48%.

 

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