A Lost Goal!!

ISSUE #612: June 5-12, 2016

Paradisus Condos / Rohrmoser
FOR SALE / RENT
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Each of the units consists of two bedrooms / two bathrooms, and a large living/dining/kitchen area. The floor plan of each of these units has eliminated the optional "den / office" divider. The result is a larger area offering more flexible furniture arrangements while still maintaining the option of including an office area. At 105m2 plus two parking spots each and storage locker, they offer a great opportunity for someone seeking views, security, central location, and first class, all round living...

PRICE REDUCTION
Semi furnished unit: For sale: $235,000
Fully furnished unit: For sale: $245,000
Floor 12 -west view

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FORECLOSURE,
Condominio Santa Lucia, Tres Rios
FOR SALE / EXECUTIVE HOME
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Price reduction: $520,000 $549,000 (Appraised: $800,000)
6 bedrooms
5 bathrooms
610 m2 (6,500 sf)
2 Story
2 Car garage

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Sales: Several inquiries for Los Jardines. We have no vacancies.

Rentals: Paradisus & Los Jardines: No vacancies.

FOR SALE
Unit #106A: $ 165,000 / See Unit
Unit #107: $ 205,000 / See Unit

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UNIT #106A
FOR SALE
$165,000

Total Area (Sq Ft): 1250
Total area (Sq M): 120
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Floor(s): 1
Type: Apartment
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.

See a complete description of this unit

UNIT #107
FOR SALE
$205,000

Total Area (Sq Ft): 1716
Total area (Sq M): 158
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2.5
Floor(s): 2
Type: Detached
Furnished: Yes

This 1,716 sf. (plus parking for one car) two story, detached house, with three terraces, two bedrooms (one on each floor) and upstairs master suite is a beautiful home. This home consists of two VERY large bedrooms (one on each floor) with en-suite bathrooms and a powder room, each with large closets with extensive built-ins for personal organization. The vaulted living room and ground floor bedroom ceilings as well as the master bedroom on the 2nd floor, provide a feeling of grandeur while allowing the warmer air to rise and exit through the ceiling ventilating system. There are three TVs (one in each bedroom and one in the living room.) This is a beautiful home. There is a rough-in for a dishwasher in the kitchen area.

Weather: Lots and lots of rain... virtually every day. Traffic, accidents, and flooding due to clogged drains are the norm.

Tres Rios house repairs: One more day of repairs, then floors -I finally solved this issue, I think-; and some replacement windows... the electrical system will not be solved... The house shows well... I've had two calls, and one client viewed it twice... trouble is, he has no money until he sells is current property... this is not promising.

Paradisus: I rented the last unit but had to remove the creation of the third bedroom that the previous tenant wanted... and then moved when it was finished and furnished... I've complained about the quality of tenant applicants before... I think I now have a good one.

Car: Dealing with deferred mtnc. I hate it but have another week of this.

A Lost Goal: My goal for some time has been to simplify my life. The last 6 months have seen a decided hick-up in this... I'm not happy... as long as I am as exposed to so many people and so many "things", it will continue to be an elusive goal.

Comments

1. Exit Tax: And the government claims there is no inflation... this is BS... but the colon is depreciating slightly... about 1%.

2. Riteve: I repeat myself... and the government claims there is no inflation. Actually, this is probably well deserved and way delayed. They do a good job and have not had an increase in 10+ years because the government dragged it's feet in approving a formula for adjusting prices. Like normal, the government reneged on the original commitment.

1. Government quietly jacks up the exit tax by $2
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The central government has slipped in another tax by decree. The tax ups the national exit tax at airports by $2 to $31.

The tax also is levied on those entering the country, according to the decree. Both taxes are mostly invisible to air travelers now that most airlines collect the money with the price of tickets.

The decree came from President Luis Guillermo Solís and seems also to cover those who leave the country by land. Ostensibly the tax is to compensate the nation’s animal health service for fumigating, x-raying or otherwise inspecting the baggage of travelers to avoid the transmission of plant and animal diseases. The measure also said that the fee will cover cost of incinerating of anything confiscated.

The increase in the existing tax was well hidden in a general list of increased fees for the Servicio Nacional de Salud Animal. The agency already collects money from a traveler’s tax. Those with trucks and even owners of aircraft are hit with fees that go to the animal health service, whose workers are supposed to fumigate such transport vehicles.

There was no public announcement of the new tax although both Case Presidencial and the Ministerio de Agricultura y Gandería, the animal health agency’s parent institution, maintains a staff of public relations writers. The initial reporting of the tax came from a reporter at La Nación.

There is some question if the tax is legal because some parts of the published decree are hidden by black coloring. That includes the amount of the new tax.

The decree says specifically that the tax applies to persons who enter or leave the country and the $2 fee is contained in section C-19 of Article 3 of the lengthy decree.

This is another one of those dedicated taxes that do not show up in the national budget and cannot be used to reduce the national deficit.

The La Gaceta official newspaper published the decree May 25, and the new tax is supposed to go into effect in 15 days.

 

Riteve vehicle inspection rates to go up starting July

The price of Costa Rica’s mandatory, yearly technical vehicle inspection will increase next month after 11 years without change.

The Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT) agreed with Riteve SyC, the Spanish-owned company responsible for carrying out the mandatory inspections, that new rates will take effect starting July 1 and increase incrementally over the next two years.

Transport Vice Minister Sebastián Urbina said the new hikes will be based on the country’s inflation rates, but the government and Riteve also agreed on three fixed hikes for all types of vehicles.

Urbina cited a ¢993 ($1.80) increase for automobiles in July and two hikes of ¢1,250 (¢2.28) that will apply in January of 2017 and 2018. He said the full list of new tariffs for all other types of vehicles will be made public in the coming days.

The vice minister said MOPT set the new rates based on a model created in order to comply with an agreement with Riteve SyC. As part of the agreement, Riteve pledged to do more stringent evaluations of vehicle emissions, one of the most common faults found during inspections. Riteve also will buy cars and hire more staff to assist Traffic Police in monitoring vehicle emissions on roads.

“This rate model is a commitment from this administration and an opportunity to improve air quality in our country, something we greatly need,” Urbina said.

According to MOPT, there are just over 1.3 million vehicles in Costa Rica. The average age of vehicles is 16 years.

Urbina said the government also has plans to tighten regulations for importing vehicles, including a proposal to charge higher import taxes for higher polluting cars and implement stricter rules for cargo trucks entering the country.

Rate model was a pending debt

Since 2005, the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) had rejected all of Riteve’s requests to increase tariffs on vehicle inspections, arguing that there was no model for calculating new tariffs. ARESEP officials argued that they’re only required to set tariffs when there are various companies providing the same public service, but Riteve SyC has a monopoly on vehicle inspections.

MOPT was in charge of setting a rate model, per the government’s contract with Riteve, but the company accused the ministry of dragging its feet. Riteve’s parent company filed a complaint against Costa Rica before the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in 2012 over the tariff issue. The case is still pending.

The regulatory agency rejected the last of Riteve’s requests in November. At the time, the company requested a 205 percent hike, which would have increased the price of inspections for a sedan-type car from ¢9,930 ($18.14) to ¢30,320 ($55.39).

FOR RENTAL OR SALES INFORMATION
ON ANY OF THE ABOVE, CONTACT:

Brian C. Timmons
Property Manager RLJ and Newsletter Author

Costa Rica:
Cell: (+ 506) 8305-3965
Land line: (+506) 2282-4142 Ext. 101

Canada:
VOIP: (+416) 461-2203

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