We have a lot to update you on! We closed on two sales in July: we sold one of our two Tamarindo condos; and we sold one of our three Florida condos. We also moved from a 2-bed condo in Florida to a 3-bed, to get more space. We considered and ultimately decided not to sell another rental. Finally, we have an unexpected offer in the works for yet a different property, so there may be a Part 2 to this post sooner than later. I wrote about the hot Costa Rica real estate market this past February, and as [...]
We miss travel but were anxious about traveling out of the country while our kids aren’t fully launched and somehow getting stuck outside the US for an extended period. At the same time, we were anxious about how our properties were doing in Tamarindo and Langosta and just curious about how Costa Rica was doing after Covid. I had received two free airline certificates from JetBlue as part of a speaking engagement I did (in 2019!), and they were expiring, so that tipped the balance. On Saturday afternoon, July 10, we landed in Liberia Airport after an 18-month absence. Seven [...]
Photo is of a sculpture in downtown Denver - a giant bear peering into the convention center. After just over two weeks in New Mexico, visiting Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos, and viewing the total lunar eclipse, we drove to Denver, CO. It was a beautiful, clear Saturday, and it was so green on the way to Colorado, it reminded me of our trip to Ireland. Colorado was higher on Scott’s travel wish list than mine (I think of Colorado as mountains and beer, and I’m neither a hiker nor a drinker), but it really exceeded my expectations. We stayed [...]
Previous posts in this series: Planning, Heading West, Albuquerque, Viewing Eclipse After a fantastic week in Albuquerque, we headed north. We wanted to spend time in Santa Fe and Taos. Given that Taos is 2 hours north of Santa Fe and we didn't want to just cover it in just a day trip, we split the week, 4 nights in Santa Fe and 3 nights in Taos. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Our time in Santa Fe was during Memorial Day weekend, so hotels were packed, and while we arrived around lunchtime, we weren’t able to check in early, so [...]
Previous posts in this series: Planning, Driving West, One Week in Albuquerque As written about previously, we planned a trip to Albuquerque to watch the total lunar eclipse. Reasons being: it was not visible in the eastern US, we tried and failed to visit Albuquerque last year, and I felt the general drier weather of the region would give us a better chance for clear skies and success in seeing the eclipse. I've become a fan of the sun and the moon in recent years. We took a road trip to the Midwest in 2017 to see the total solar [...]
Previous Posts In This Series: Planning, Driving West As mentioned in the previous posts, we scheduled a road trip to New Mexico around the lunar eclipse. It would be practice for us in being digital nomads again, since we have been grounded from travel and homebound for over a year. Our youngest tagged along and got to be a digital nomad along with us, since she secured a virtual summer internship with a company based in Los Angeles and would be closer in time zone to her employer. We planned for just over two weeks in New Mexico – arriving [...]
We are on a road trip to New Mexico and Colorado, with a week in Albuquerque (timed to watch the lunar eclipse), a week between Santa Fe and Taos, and a week in Denver. This previous post covers why we picked Albuquerque as our first stop to see the lunar eclipse. Since the drive each way from the east coast is 3 days, the total trip will be 4 weeks. It will be an interesting test of our ability to live as digital nomads, and also a good test of how much it will cost to do this on a [...]
I've become a little obsessed with the moon in recent years. Hard to say when it started exactly, but perhaps it was enjoying looking at the full moon when we caught it right, bright in the sky, when driving on our many road trips. With a lifetime mostly spent in New York City, watching the moon isn't an activity that is easy to do or accessible given all the tall buildings, so it was an interest when I saw it, but not something front of mind. The start may have been seeing a fantastic full moon in Greece when we [...]
Two towns in Italy – Santa Fiora in Tuscany and Rieti in Lazio -- will subsidize 50% of your rent if you work from there. You would need to be a digital nomad because authorization to work in Italy isn’t included in the deal. These towns are so small there likely wouldn’t be work awaiting you anyway. Or, if you’d rather stay Stateside, Zillow has named Jacksonville, FL (pictured above) the number one city to be a digital nomad. Jacksonville scores high for affordability with typical rents just under $1,000 (though Asheville also made the Top 10 for digital nomads, [...]
How are you determining (without MLS in CR) the value of the home? They ask for $400K just because they believe it is worth that price point. Most don't seem to have a P&L to back ROI. – Dom Yes, it’s true that there is no MLS, or Multiple Listing Service, in Costa Rica, so there isn’t a one-stop information site to learn at what prices properties sold for, what they were originally listed for and how long they were on the market. Whether you’re a seller trying to price competitively for a sale or a buyer trying not to [...]
