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View to San Jose, Heredia and Alajuela
Our view at night - we are 7000 feet above the Central Valley. We are enjoying the peace of our home! Last night was our typical relaxing evening - admiring the view, playing games, watching a movie snuggled up in warm clothes. It can become very chilly in the evenings. We are high up the mountains - almost in a cloud forest at times. When the sun starts to set, the temperatures fall into the 50s. sometimes even chilier.
To this day, I still wonder how we ended up with a home so far up a mountain. We bought the house about four or five years ago and did so in record time. Two weeks prior to visiting Costa Rica, Steve read an article in the Houston Chronicle about real estate in Costa Rica. He said, "Heather, why don't you go online and learn more." That's all it took! I was off like a bat outta hell. Online and a few hours later an expert in Costa Rica real estate laws, systems. I found an amazing real estate agent and 20 potential homes spanning from the central valley to Jaco.
Two weeks later, we were on a plane. Eight days after - we were homeowners. We had never even been to Costa
Rica before that trip. Here's basically how it went down...
We bought plane tickets for an eight day stay; toured homes for the first three. Once we found this enchanted home in the mountains, we stopped our search. We knew this was the home for us and quickly had to figure out how to obtain it before we departed a few days later. Insane, right!
Thankfully,if you do your research and hire the right people, it is easy to purchase here. We hired a top notch attorney in San Jose, filed the paperwork, had a real estate closing in his office days after negotiating our offer. We then wired a bunch of cash to never never land - hoping all would go through ok. We got on an airplane back to the states where we started to figure out how we can furnish this house.
A month later, we came back to our empty home in Costa Rica with air mattresses and basic supplies. We were for the most part, camping out in our house until we could get it furnished
. We only brought shorts, no blankets. We had no central heat. After all, we
Paintings Made of Our Dogs
We gave a local artist pictures of Cricket and Circa (our first dog in Costa Rica). He made these paintings from the photos. were in Costa Rica - it's tropical and warm, right? We were in for a big shock that first night, basically froze to death. The next day, we were down the mountain buying blankets, space heaters and basic comfort tools.
That was years ago, we've since made our home very comfortable. Most of our furniture was handmade by a very talented Tico. I brought photos , and he would replicate anything down to the last detail. Steve converted one room into a Pub - we call Steve's Pub. He built the bar, benches and stools himself, giving it a rustic flare. (View the photos below)
Many nights, we play games in the pub! Afternoons for me, are having wine and cheese while reading. Steve works around the house as he is right now - painting our gate!
It has been a long journey to get to this point. We had to endure many frustrating situations and tasks. Because we have land and a home in a remote location, it is necessary to have a full time caretaker. We need someone to maintain the property and also to be on the land for security purposes. Having an employee
Steve's Pub
Steve converted a room into a pub. All handmade by Steve! adds a whole new dimension to our adventure. We must adhere to strict labor laws, file social security, obtain(INS) insurance for our employee, set them up on wire transfers for pay - are just a few of the things we had to learn.
For the first several visits, we never saw a beach or a volcano - but I could tell you everything about how to maneuver government buildings with my broken Spanish and abiding by laws as expats. We have had our fair share of adventures with caretakers, having to fire and rehire - I'll save some of those stories for another blog. This one is getting long... I have some crazy stories too.
Another day in paradise - tonight we will have dinner at a wonderful restaurant nearby - tomorrow, we will go to the beach for two days.
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