We decided to move from Vista Atenas to Hacienda El Paseo near Grecia for various reasons. First and foremost, we wanted a larger house at reasonable cost. The new house came furnished and includes 3 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, all major appliances, etc. This allowed one bedroom for ourselves, an art studio for me, and an office for Lance. The house happens to be in a gated community. But this was not one of our prerequisites. Remarkably, the appliances include television sets in three different room. That too was not one of our prerequisites.
Unlike the old house, rent for the new house does not include utilities (electricity, water, cable TV and internet). Otherwise, the rental cost of the new house is only marginally greater than what we would be paying had we remained in the old house. The added cost of utilities is likely to be less than $200 per month.
The new house does not have its own swimming pool (nor did the old house), but there is a community pool a short walking distance down a winding street. That's all we need. Looking after and maintaining a private pool can be burdensome.
Like Vista Atenas, Hacienda El Paseo is not the formal name of a town or other place in Costa Rica. Both places might be more aptly described as communities. Vista Atenas is primarily but not exclusively an ex-pat community where a number of languages are spoken. Hacienda El Paseo is more like a bedroom community for workers who commute daily to towns and cities in the region. The predominant language is Spanish.
Speaking of languages, the real estate agent who we dealt with was Chris Schoo (http://www.realestategrecia.net). He is Dutch and speaks at least 5 languages (English, Spanish, Dutch, French and German). He did a first class job introducing us to the community and the services available in and around Grecia.
2 comments:
So good to read that you are getting settled into your new residence. The community pool sounds like a great bonus! Enjoy getting to know your new area.
Thank you, Bobbi.
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