With two properties and over 20% of our net worth invested in Costa Rican real estate, our actions and wallet have clearly answered Yes to the question, “Is real estate in Costa Rica a good investment.” I’m not a financial advisor so I would never give another person specific investment advice anyway, and just because real estate in Costa Rica works for us doesn’t mean it will work for you. [...]
We recently ran into a string of air conditioning issues with one of our rental properties in Jacksonville, to the tune of $10,000. Read on for details, but this is a good example of buyer beware and that old mechanical systems will fail sooner than later. Did you know there is "$5,000 Rule" for determining when to repair or replace your air conditioner?
Lenoir Preserve is a small park, only 40 acres, but has lots to offer. It wasn't at the top of our list of excursions (frankly it wasn't even on the list!), but we found it because we had a 1pm appointment in Yonkers and we were looking for something close by we could visit beforehand, and it's rectangular green space in Google Maps looked very inviting. We enjoyed the structures on the property such as the mansion and gazebo, as well as our sighting of several deer.
Loneliness is on the rise in the US. A study of 20,000 US adults found that nearly half suffer from feelings of loneliness. Perhaps Tamarindo is a solution - I feel very differently there than in New York City. It is a friendly environment that promotes experiences over stuff and is a natural detox from social media.
I have been to Costa Rica just three times, though Scott has a few more trips under his belt. There are enough restaurants within walking distance in Tamarindo that we could have eaten at a different place each day of our visit. Within driving distance, there are many more to try. However, I find that I have frequented the same places multiple times. Even though we are relatively new to [...]
The return trip from the Philippines is so much fun for me. I get another movie marathon! I can easily watch 7-8 movies on the 17-hour trip, and with the time change (gaining 12 hours), you land as if you just flew cross-country within the US. We left early morning on a Tuesday and arrived early afternoon on the same day! I watched another eclectic mix of movies, and I [...]
This trip was all about the food, ranging from the food court at NAIA (Manila airport) to the expansive buffet at the Oriental Hotel in Legazpi to several great Filipino food options in Manila, and included eating at every donut shop we could find!
Our three days in Manila were based out of Newport City, which we selected because we had considered buying here, and while we decided not to buy in the Philippines in 2017, we figured we’d give it another look. Our stay this time was at an apartment rented through AirBNB, which gives us another data point to compare to our own AirBNB rentals in Costa Rica. The location of Newport [...]
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