Being an American Citizan and seeking a retirement home in Costa Rica was not only an intimidating undertaking it was also came with much doubt and fear. Fear of the unknown , fear of the honesty of the people you are dealing with, fear of being scammed, an all around fear and lack of faith in the people. Although America is a wonderful place to live being a citizen for 52 year I have seen my fair share of dishonesty so naturally coming to a foreign country we take our past experiences and multiply our lack of trust and knowledge by 10 fold. After doing extensive research on the many beautiful areas of Costa Rica I decided my purchase would be best served close to the San Jose and surrounding areas. It allowed for easy access and a central location to all the wonderful amenities anyone would like to enjoy, beaches, volcanoes, wildlife, adventure sports and so many other things this amazing country has to offer. In addition to the simple beauties of Cost Rica I have learned the people are kind and generous. I found that refreshing coming from a fast paced, cut throat society.
After speaking with many real estate agents and emailing endlessly I met a couple that I knew where a perfect fit. Daniel Remus and Eva of RE/MAX turned out to not only be patient, and knowledgeable, but they had a tremendous desire to be helpful and honest. Right out of the shoot Daniel came across with a strong and true desire to help which is very uncommon in the USA. His moral compass was very strong and he made me feel more than comfortable. I sent him a long list of houses and made the journey and when I say he was patient Lord was he, we saw house after house and he pointed the wonderful aspects of the homes out but also offered a true and accurate accounting of each house we saw. Through asking many questions of the preceding months Daniel and I formed a trusted friendship and he added houses in my search that he thought fit my personality and desired outcome for my quest.
The final house we looked at (Daniel’s recommendation) was to me the crown jewel of my long journey. Immediately we knew this was to be the house we purchased, of course we drew up a contract and he actually did not want me to sign it on the spot. I found his request to be odd although he asked me to return to the USA and think about the transaction to be sure it was really what I wanted. After a week of contemplation, I still felt the same and we entered into the agreement. This created a whole new set of complications; how do we buy the house? what needs done? did we need an attorney? how do we communicate with banks? Again Daniel and Eva stepped up and not only made introductions to English speaking professionals to assist but stood by us the entire way through. Owning a property management company of my own in the USA, I know how complicated these matters can be although Daniel made it one of the least painful experiences I have ever had. Once the deal was finished it became a little more complicated as we did not buy in a expat community and many of the utilities and municipalities do not offer any type of translation services. We ran into a few complications with the corporation being setup in time to have everything resolved Daniel once again stepped up and put the utilities in his own personal name but paid the bills and had faith in a gringo to pay him back! I thought he was crazy at first as this never happens in the USA! When the dust settled Daniel drove hours to meet me at different offices to get those switched over to the corporation name and never asked for anything in return. Once purchased another aspect was the upkeep of the house while I was out of Country and again Daniel and Eva stepped up their true commitment and offered to arrange driving cleaning crews to my home, arranging for maintenance with the landscaping, organizing people to help with decoration, made recommendations on places to go shop, eat, and so many more things. Not only did they offer guidance and help but even went as far as sending me numerous Waze apps as it takes a bit to figure out the infrastructure of the country. After almost of year of ownership and countless trips to visit the house while awaiting my retirement I look forward to each visit also now to visit with the couple. It is not often in this life that the anyone is exceptionally helpful with no agenda of personal gain and true desire to just do the right thing and when you happen to stumble upon them I hope you have the opportunity to call them amazing friends such as I do!
If there are any regrets I may have in my life, this is not one of them! I would highly advise ANYONE that if you are looking for property , home or simply advice this couple are two of the best and most trusted people you will ever meet. Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss the journey in person with these two great people and I will be happy to oblige!