Re-Hab

ISSUE #762: May 26 - June 1, 2019

2019-06-03

Brian Timmons, Newsletter Author
Brian Timmons

Dear friends,

When I started Residencias Los Jardines, I started writing a weekly newsletter -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 re-sales and rental availability. Some readers may be interested in this information.

Brian Timmons
Developer / Property manager
Residencias Los Jardines

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

Featured
rentals & sales

Paradisus Condos / Rohrmoser
FOR SALE / RENT
Visit our website

Paradisus Condos - click to visit

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

AVAILABLE FOR RENT
Unit 12-2 / $1,350 mo.

Market activity
sales & rentals

Sales: Los Jardines: Units #114, #116 and #124

Rentals:

Paradisus: Available immediately 12-2 / $1,350

Los Jardines: Units #106C, #113 and #116

Residencias Los Jardines
property management, rentals & re-sales

FOR SALE
Unit #114: $ 199,000 / See Unit
Unit #116: $ 195,000 $ 189,995 / See Unit
Unit #124: $ 125,000 / See Unit

FOR RENT
Unit #106C: $ 950 mo. / Available immediately / See Unit
Unit #113: $ 1,200 mo. / Available immediately / See Unit
Unit #116: $ 1,250 mo. / Available immediately / See Unit

For sale

UNIT #114
FOR SALE
$ 199,000

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

UNIT #116
FOR SALE
$ 195,000 $ 189,995

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 and a separate, secure storage locker. It is and end unit and therefore attached on only one side by a 6 inch cement demising (common) wall, which prevents sound transfer.

UNIT #124
FOR SALE
$135,000 $ 125,000

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.

For rent

UNIT #106C
FOR RENT
$ 950 mo.
Available immediately

Total Area (Sq Ft): 1250
Total area (Sq M): 120
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Floor(s): 1
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
$ 1,200 mo.
Available immediately

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 #116
FOR RENT
$ 1,250 mo.
Available May 1st

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 and a separate, secure storage locker. It is and end unit and therefore attached on only one side by a 6 inch cement demising (common) wall, which prevents sound transfer.

Our Lives

Rainy Season... definitely here... rain most every day for an hour or so. Plants are happy... Garden rehab is on-going.

What Happened This Week

Vacancies: No one looking... no inquiries -this is getting serious and I have no corrective ideas... this is beyond Los Jardines / Pozos...

Garden Re-hab: We started on this in a focused way. We are harvesting mature plants which are easy to transplant and which will grow in problem (shady) areas. We started the the largest areas first and will work our way down. What we have harvested to date, is barely visible and will grow back. Transplanting in CR is different than N. America... here, many plants sprout new roots if they are simply stuck into the ground... we add a dip in a root growth chemical. We do not get a 100% success rate but it is pretty good. The new transplants partially die back but if they take, they will begin sprouting new growth in a month. It being the rainy season, this is the best time to do this. We will continue refining this effort and working on smaller areas over the next week. I had estimated 4 man-weeks and I think that will be about right. Then we sit back and watch Nature do her thing...

Drive Toward Limon -Guipales: Lita and I went to look at a building. I concluded it had too many unknowns and wasn't worth the trouble. But it took about 3 hrs there and another to get back. Much of the road was under construction... widening into 4 lanes. While there is a lot of work / equipment sited, there is a lot of road work to be done.

News Items of the Week

COMMENTS

Exchange rate: It remains fairly steady at 589 - 590. A year ago, this was not expected. Now it looks like it will be managed o.k. for the foreseeable future.

1. CC Interest... think about this and so many Ticos are addicted to this and never pay off their balances... Many, many times I see CC denied and the buyer simply pulls out another one from a stack of many. It is very difficult for the mafia to operate in CR loan sharking... the banks have the space tied up... So when we find mortgages at 12-15%, this is actually cheap money... wow!!!!!!

2. Dock Workers Union- Limon: a follow on from last week's article. As I said, the government entity does not have the money to fund the payout... It is easy to promise severances but there is no money to pay...

3. Tech Vacancies go Unfilled: yes, there is 12% unemployment nation wide (higher amongst women and young people) but amongst tech students, there is a shortage in a number of disciplines... schools haven't caught on to this yet.

1. Most Ticos pay up to 50% interest on credit cards

According to a study by the Ministry of Economy, more than one million credit cards in the country have an annual interest rate of up to 50%.

Almost 180 types of these plastics have the highest interest in the market and the least number of days to pay, since most give only 15.

This situation has led to the indebtedness of credit cards exceeding ¢ 1.4 billion (latest data available from October 2018), a figure exactly equal to the amount of money required by the government to finance their needs of the first semester of this year.

It is very important that the cardholder knows the deadline and cut-off date for cash payment, not to pay interest and, of course, have a personal or family budget that allows them to order their finances and prioritize their spending,” said Erick Jara, Director of Economic and Market Research of the Ministry of Economy.

Some economists ask to lower these rates and not suffocate debtors so much, because if they go down, people would have more purchasing power and contribute to the economic reactivation.

They are really drowning families that cannot consume even the basic and indirectly and negatively impacting commerce, business dynamics, and even the emotional stability of people,” said Olman Segura, an economist at the National University.

crhoy.com

2. “The situation in Japdeva is critical”, admits the president of the entity

The executive president of the entity, Andrea Centeno, admitted on Tuesday that the financial situation of the company is critical, since its competition, the Container Terminal of Moin started operations.

In the midst of this scenario, the head of institution assured that the government will continue with its plans to encourage the mobility of one sector of its workforce to other government institutions, to promote early retirement and to liquidate another group of employees.

In recent months a very small sector of staff agreed to move to another government entity, weeks ago, according to Deputy Minister of the Presidency, Juan Alfaro, only about 11 people had accepted this agreement.

Meanwhile, to liquidate about 400 employees, the state company requires â‚¡30 billion, which it does not have in its bank account.

3. Technology and service companies face difficulties in filling vacancies

High demand for talent in the sector, added to the technical requirements and human resource costs make it difficult to hire staff for available positions

Companies in Costa Rica, in the areas of technologies and services in free zone, have vacant positions in different specialties, but face difficulties to find suitable candidates due to the high demand of personnel, as well as to the technical requirements and in the language domain.

The problems are greater when it comes to posts that require specialization, partly because of the gap between the university training programs, partly because of the costs of professional updating.

"For areas of engineering and technology it is difficult to find talent," said Alexandra Montero, recruiting manager of Manpower Costa Rica.

This firm was looking for people for 200 vacancies in service companies (financial and customer service), technology and manufacturing.

This situation contrasts with the high unemployment in the country, which affected 276,000 people in the first quarter of 2019, according to the most recent data from the Continuous Employment Survey. This figure represents 11.3% of the labor force.

"There is talent but more and more companies require specialized professionals, so recruitment must be more strategic". Jahir López, Avantica Talent Acquisition Manager.

Some companies, such as Grupo Babel, an information technology firm, have implemented training programs to specialize personnel in a short time.

In general, the industry highlights the efforts of different institutions to increase talent in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM, for its acronym in English). But it's not enough.

"It is quite difficult to find professionals that fit the specific requirements of the projects," said Édgar Oviedo, director of business and operations at Grupo Babel.

This Costa Rican developer had 15 vacancies this week that she needed to fill immediately and 35 for the rest of the year, in software engineering.

Oviedo explained that for three years they have been permanently requiring staff, as the company grows at a rate of approximately 20% per year.

In addition, customers request quick attention to their needs and the available engineers do not have all the required skills.

Christian Ávila, GBM talent acquisition specialist, indicated that there is an "acceptable offer of candidates", although there are difficulties in finding university graduates with one to two years of experience ( junior level ) due to its cost and high demand.

He added that there is a shortage in profiles and specialized positions, as experts in specific platforms and systems.

"Most positions are covered by professionals who are currently active in other organizations. At a regional level Costa Rica is one of the countries with the highest number of suppliers and with a high cost, "Avila said.

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

Brian C. Timmons
Property Manager RLJ and Newsletter Author

Costa Rica:
Cell: (+506) 8-455-59-35
Land line: (+506) 2282-4142 Ext. 101

Canada:
VOIP: (+416) 461-2203

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

 
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