Ahhhhh!!! Glorious Prime Rib & Waiting

ISSUE #228: Feb. 16-22, 2009

2009-02-20

Ahhhhh!!! Glorious Prime Rib & Waiting

» NOTES

NEW TELEPHONE NUMBER: +506 8345 8018 - JAN KOZAK, MARKETING MANAGER

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.

In an effort to make the format more interesting and visually appealing and to field inquiries re. El Dorado, the news letter is now being distributed by Jan Kozak, Marketing Manager, Hacienda El Dorado. I will remain the author.

»MARKETING & SALES

Sales: None this week -- several inquiries and two showings.

Financing:
Chinese lead: No feedback.

» CONSTRUCTION LOG

Permit Applications: Waiting--SETENA--D1--we wait and that will probably be the story until the end of January. I followed up on this with the consultant and he said that all was in order and that we should have this approval on time. 

Construction: The governing governmental body has not met on this so it is still pending.  After their approval, it will have to go the the City.  We wait but are not in a hurry. 

Water: The consultant's confidence of having the letter in-hand this week was ill based. He is still trying to get someone to do their job....He's broadened his pressure points. 

Timing: Another investor dropped by this week. Along with showing his sister and brother-in-law the project (they may be in the market), his comment was that going slow in this environment was fine with him.

» RESIDENCIAS LOS JARDINES

Texas Hold'em: The gavel stayed with last week's winner. 

Rentals /Sales:  We have probably leased 112 and have shown our properties listed for sale to several potential clients. It may be that the tenant in 113 will be moving to 111--we'll see.

Units for Sale/Lease:

Residencia Los Jardines Site Plan

Unit #107 - For Sale/ REDUCED PRICE $239,000 / Leased for $1,650 mo. to Jan. 2010.--OWNER FINANCING AVAILABLE

Total Area (Sq Ft): 1716
Total area (Sq M): 158
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2.5
Floor(s): 2 Story
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.







Read More

Unit #120 - For Sale--$185K /Leased  at $1,450mo.

Total Area (Sq Ft):1312
Total area (Sq M):122
Bedrooms:2
Bathrooms:2
Floor(s):1 Story
Type:Semi-Detached
Furnished:Yes

This 1,312 sf single floor home includes a 300 sf front terrace plus parking for one car. It is an end unit and therefore attached on only one side providing ample lighting and views. The 6 inch cement demising (common) wall prevents sound transfer. This is a very nicely furnished and accented home.






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Unit #108 --For Sale-$245,000; Leased at $1,600 mo. to March '10

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

This 1,716 sf. (plus parking space for one car) two storey, detached house, with two terraces, two bedrooms (one on each floor) and an upstairs master suite is a beautiful home.

This home consists of two VERY large bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms (one on each floor) and a powder room each with 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.






Read More

 

Unit #111 --For Rent at $1,250  pr Month UNFURNISHED

Total Area (Sq Ft):1738
Total area (Sq M):161
Bedrooms:2
Bathrooms:2
Floor(s):Single Floor
Type:Attached
Furnished:No

This corner home located in set of four homes, is very private. The entrance belies the 1,738 sf to be found on the other side of the entrance door. The short entrance hallway opens into a huge "great room" consisting of the kitchen, LR and DR. This room is truly of huge proportions including the 16' high vaulted ceiling. This vaulted ceiling has clear story windows for light and ventilation. Valance lighting surrounds the room and provides ambiance with its upward sighing lights as well as accent lighting with the recessed halogen lights. From the living room, a large sliding glass door leads onto a private covered terrace.





Read More

Unit #112 - Available for Rent at $1,350 pr Month FURNISHED

Total Area (Sq Ft):1290
Total area (Sq M):120
Bedrooms:2
Bathrooms:2
Floor(s):1 Story
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.







Read More



» NEWS FROM COSTA RICA

If your browser does not support the hyperlinks below, you can view the COSTA RICA NEWS section on our website from the following URL:

» https://www.eldoradocostarica.com/English/News/index.php

February 20, 2009
US Company Starting Up Operations in Costa Rica
(Inside Costa Rica) While some foreign companies in Costa Rica like Sylvania and Merck Sharp & Dome, are scaling down their operations here, others like Arcus is setting up shop, who yesterday announce the opening of a Near-Shore Solutions Centre in San José.
Read

February 20, 2009
Costa Rica cuts $13.4 million from public university spending
(The Tico Times) Costa Rica's public universities were outraged to learn the government plans to cut higher education spending by ¢7.5 billion ($13.4 million).
Read

February 18, 2009
Wind Project Tender Draws 3 Offers
Three offers were submitted to Eólico Valle Central (EVCSA) to install a 15.3MW wind farm in Costa Rica. The bidders were Sinohydro, Consorcio Eólico Valle Central JBM and Consorcio Eduinter-TSK, the official said.
Read

February 18, 2009
New monitoring stations detect 'silent earthquakes' in Costa Rica
CHICAGO, IL--After installing an extensive network of monitoring stations in Costa Rica, researchers have detected slow slip events (also known as "silent earthquakes") along a major fault zone beneath the Nicoya Peninsula. These findings are helping scientists understand the full spectrum of motions occurring on the fault and may yield new insights into the events that lead to major earthquakes.
Read

February 18, 2009
Costa Rica’s Arias Gains Confidence
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The past few months have seen an increase in the popularity of Costa Rican president Óscar Arias, according to a poll by Unimer published in La Nación. 49 per cent of respondents say Arias has done a good or very good job as head of state, up 20 points since September.
Read

February 18, 2009
Dole gives consumers direct line to Costa Rica
(The Grocer) - An interactive sticker system is being introduced by fresh produce supplier Dole to help reassure consumers over its banana sourcing policies.
Read

February 17, 2009
Costa Rica closes pricey embassies
(The Tico Times) As the global financial crisis squeezes state finances, President Oscar Arias' administration has decided to close three foreign embassies and two consulates.
Read

February 17, 2009
China buys US$150m of Costa Rican bonds
(AFP) SAN JOSE: China bought a second batch of bonds of Costa Rica's internal debt for US$150 million, signalling a new rapprochement between the two countries, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
Read

February 17, 2009
Centam Coffee-Price slide hits Costa Rica coffee producers
SAN VITO DE COTO BRUS, Costa Rica, Feb 17 (Reuters) - A surprise drop in coffee prices late last year has left some Costa Rican coffee millers in the lurch, forcing them to sell the crop below cost and raising fears of shutdowns if prices fall further.
Read

February 17, 2009
Costa Rica gets rest of $300 mln loan from China
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Costa Rica has the rest of a low interest loan granted to the country by China in return for the Central American nation's move to break diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognize Beijing in 2007.
Read

February 16, 2009
Costa Rica's Central Bank figure indicate economy in recession
(The Tico Times) Costa Rica's economy slowed for the third consecutive quarter, according to recently released Central Bank figures, in a downturn economists say means the country has entered a recession.
Read


» OUR LIVES

Weather: Warm and dry with normal breezes

Ahhhh!!! Glorious Prime Rib of Beef: It was one of those mouth watering events which lived up to our expectations--I don't think there was one naysayer to that assessment. The roast was all those memories you've ever had about good prime rib. And the roast potatoes, gravy, French green beans, and  Ceasar salad (the best Terry's ever made in my opinion) were all fantastic. Our main -- and significant -- error was in timing.....we delivered late -- it took longer for the roast to cook than we had calculated--either due to math error, conversion from Fahrenheit to Celcius or oven temperature error or ?????? 

We probably won't do this again on such a grand scale but we will be buying the roast again, and having it cut into more manageable size roasts and factoring them out. We have a list of people interested.

Granada: We're in Granada at time of writing and will return to Los Jardines on Monday. There is an international gathering of poets here although we don't really notice the main event. There are more tourists here than the previous two trips and we had to stay in a different hotel.....fortunately we had checked out a place last time and got the room we wanted--corner room, cross ventilation, nicely decorated, bright natural lighting and balcony.....  The border crossing has, over the past 6 months, become very chaotic....for some reason, trucks are forced to wait for long times before being processed. The result is a huge, chaotic jumble of trucks usually blocking the entire road.  We had to unboard the bus, walk to the CR border exit, then walk to the Nicaraguan border entrance.....All this at night since the bus left 1 1/2 hrs late because of the late arrival of the connecting bus from Panama. However, we're more or less used to the trip so.......  The restaurants continue to be delicious and we have more to sample before our return.  We expect to meet up with friends from CR;  they've been in San Juan del Sur for the past two days and are coming to Granada on Saturday morning.

One of the reasons we decided to stay at Casa San Francisco is that they have (now had) a parrot like Vicka and they still have pericos (now four) so Lita can fuss over them. She can't play with them like she does with her own but they are still a focal point for her. 

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

Jan Kozak, Marketing Manager
Hacienda El Dorado
Rio Oro, Santa Ana
Costa Rica

Web: www.eldoradocostarica.com
E-mail: info@eldoradocostarica.com
MSN: jan.kozak.jr@hotmail.com
Skype: jan.kozak.jr

Tel (US) (+1) 647-477-5825
Cell: (+506) 8345 8018

  
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