If you've ever built in Costa Rica then you are aware of the bureaucracies, language barriers and the differences between "the Tico way" of doing things.

Here's a good example:.

A man was building his dream home in the mountains above Dominical. All workers onsite were Costa Rican. As the man prepared to take the 45 min. drive to San Isidro, he stopped to ask the men if they needed anything. For which they replied "NO". "You don't need nails, screws, wood or anything else?" "Nope, we have everything."

The man returns later that day to find them sitting around with their thumbs up their butts. "Why is no one working?", the man asked. "We have no nails" the men replied. "But I asked you before if you needed anything." "We didn't - we HAD five nails." said the men.

The moral of the story is…take nothing for granted in Costa Rica - specifics are a technicality.

So what are the 5 things to consider before building in Costa Rica?

• Communication: unless you are fluent in Spanish this will certainly be something you will want to consider. Being able to communicate with the people building your home is crucial.
• Tico Time: understand that Costa Rica exists within it's own timezone. "Ahorita" is a common Costa Rican term meaning anywhere between a couple minutes and a couple of hours. So if you have a deadline or timeline you'd like to keep -- throw it out the window now.
• Availability: in Costa Rica, almost everything YOU WANT is almost guaranteed to be a "special order". And if you are lucky enough to find a source for a particular item - you might want to stock pile them because the chances of you coming back next week and them being there are slim to none.
• Gringo Prices: Maybe it will come as a surprise however more often than not, there are two prices for everything. One is often referred to as the "gringo price" while the other is the normal "Tico price" which is often far lower. Not knowing how to manuever within this retail system could cost you more than it has to.
• Standards:What standards? That's right, in Costa Rica there are no building standards like back home. Building standards here are as good as the builder himself. Take this seriously because reality is that in Costa Rica the most common phrase amongst Costa Rican contractors is, "I'll just MacGyver the thing."

  Remember him? The guy that could build you an oceanliner out of a short length of string, a match and a roll of duct tape? In other words…I'm just going to patch this thing together without thinking what could happen after you've paid and they leave.

What I am however trying to tell you is that if and when you are building in Costa Rica, please consider all your options in order to save yourself the headaches and hurdles you'll surely encounter.

And one easy way to do this is by providing us with your contact information to the right so that either Randy or Brian may contact you to give you free advice on how to avoid any of the above mentioned.

We are here to help. Call now!