Hello Everyone,

My name is Joe and I have been researching our future move to Costa Rica for over a year now. I am happily married with 3 small children (2 1st graders and 1 in kindergarten). My wife sadly went on permanent disability for a back condition a short time ago but the great news is that with the social security disability she qualifies (and the kids and I as dependents) for the pension residency in Costa Rica. Quite a huge obstacle to overcome.

There are a few more issues to consider. We don't have near the liquid income available to pay cash for a home. Our hope is to find a nice place to rent or lease option for under $1000 per month. I'd love to be near the ocean and nature yet close enough to civilization to get into town when necessary. Of course good schools are a must. That's the dream anyway.
Any suggestions?

The children continuing to have a solid upbringing is most important to us and I still need to compare raising such small kids in CR compared to the USA. Do you have any comparisons for me to consider? We certainly want them to have a great life. One of the main goals for me is to have more time with them. I work 65-70 hours a week and they are growing up so fast. I need more balance in my life.

I just feel so good about this idea for some reason. As stated above I am used to working alot and I am assuming that I will have to do that in CR as well the first few years but I hope that my hard work will payoff better in Costa Rica than here in the USA. My background is real-estate. I have deep background in sales, mortgages, and title work. I would certainly need to find work in these areas. It seems that there are alot of commission jobs available in these areas (boy I'd really need to produce!). It's a bit scary.

We're on a limited budget but are still working hard to get this done. Any input you all have would be greatly appreciated? We have a young family and want to do this right.
_________________
Family man looking to do the best he can for his wife and kids 

Hello Joe:
For $1000 a month you can find a nice house or condo to rent in a good neighborhood.
Public schools which are very good are in every town, there are also private bilingual schools where many expat kids go to and are near the central valley and a couple near the beaches.
The pace of life in Costa Rica is a lot slower than the USA and people always find time to do other things beside just working day and night, the general attitude is to enjoy life, a common phrase is ¨Work to live not live to work¨.
Raising kids in Costa Rica is a lot safer and the general standard of living is on the upper side than most neighboring countries.

Lic.Gregory Kearney Lawson.
www.attorneykearney.com
_________________
Lic.Gregory Kearney Lawson
Attorney at Law/Real Estate Broker
KEARNEY LAWSON & Assoc.
www.attorneykearney.com
attorneykearney @ yahoo.com
Ph:(506)8841-0007 Ph/Fax:(506)2232-1014 

Joe,
First of all, moving to another country is NOT like moving to another state. There are many many implications that you have to look and worry about. Such as, if you plan on staying for more than 3 months, you have to either have residency status or a work visa. Since CR has the lowest unemployment rate in latin america, the government has been cracking down on the number of immagrants that come into the country. Just for instance, I am from the US, and have received a position in San Jose. I have my future employer and there attornies working on getting my work permit approved....and 30 days later....I'm still waiting. My suggestion to you is to call your "local" CR consulate, and ask them what it takes, they'll inform you on anything that you need to know or do.
As far as your family is concerned, your wife is she's working may apply for temporary residents or a work permit also (both let you stay in the country, you must have a job lined up to get a work permit.), and with your child, they are the easiest. Apply for a student visa for her, so that she can go to school in the country (considering your receive residence within 4yrs, for thats as long as a student visa lasts.)
For your living expense question, living in CR is quite cheap compared to the US, but can be very expensive as well. The average income for non-educated peoples is $200-$300 US, and proffessionals is $400-800 per month. You can see this is nothing like wages compared to the US, so living cost are some what low, depending on where you live. Living on the water, just like anywhere else is obviously high, although living in the city, you can easily find a place for anywhere from $300-$1000, depending on how nice, number of rooms, and what part of town. Utilities are very low, and so are taxes. I would also say that my food expenses are about the same as in the US. I also want to say that you are considered very wealthy if you are making $2000 US per month, if that gives you any idea of living expenses in CR.
I don't know what Greg is talking about with the education system. Even those there are stats that say something about 97% of residents can read or whatever, the education system in public schools aren't the best. I would recommend schools that have english teachers and private schools, although they are priced about the same as in the US.
I do agree with Greg in the way that life in CR is alot slower paced and more relazing than in the US. This is with everything (i.e. - government, restaurants, general business', and people). This took a little adjusting for me in the beginning, and didn't know what to do with my time, but learned to love it. The size of costa rica is something like the size of the carolina's, so it is also quite easy to travel across country in a day or two, and many people like panama for the shopping. Also, what most people don't realize...if you have a US drivers licence, you can drive in CR.
Again, I wanted to talk about the education system here, although costa rica is known very there high education standard, I would highly recommend a US teachers school, there are many, and not hard to find.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask, since I am moving there in the near future, and have had many twists and turns along the way, I have learned a great deal about the culture, and what it takes.  

hope this helps

This is a great info about cost of living based on a colegue
of mine did www.grupoci.co.cr i just translated into english
this based in a family with 2 kids in private school living in
central valley on a monthly budget

FAMILY BUDGET
Hipótesis: Parents with 2 kids in Bi lingual "High School"
CONCEPT ESTRATO SOCIO ECONÓMICO:
Medium Medium Medium high high
rent $700 $1000 $1400
school
(no bus no meals) $590 $700 $700
Supermarket $400 $500 $600
Insurance Medical
(INS plan ¢6.000.000,00)$115 $115 $115
Maid service
( incluye 45% prestaciones $230* $320 $320

Publc Service
Energy $40 $45 $56
Phone
(850 impulsos sin Internet ni celular)
$13 $13 $13
Long distance ( global aproximado)
$20 $30 $40
Celular (200 minutos) $24 $24 $24
Internet (Racsa, plan tarifa plana 90 horas)
$35 $35 $35
Televisión per Cable Amnet o Cable Tica
$27 $27 $27
water (global aproximado)$10 $15 $20

VEHÍCULOS Car
Gasolina (250 litros mensual por 2 vehículos x US$ 0.60)
$150 $300 $300
insurance (US$22,500 x vehículos x 4.5% x2 semanas
$169 $338 $338
year taxes (derechos circulación anual)
$25 $50 $50
Mantenimiento (global aproximado)
$50 $100 $100
Extras (misceláneos, otros, etc.)
$771 $1075 $1241

TOTAL Monthly BudgetL $3342 $4600 $5379
** 1 vehículo/car

also check
Business Environment
www.cinde.org/index.shtml

Costa Rica Technology Insight 2006 www.costaricainsight.com/

for internet / cable
www.directv.co.cr/english/index.htm
www.racsa.co.cr/english_version/

hope this helps daniel

groups.yahoo.com/group...ealestate/
groups.yahoo.com/group/escazunews
groups.yahoo.com/group...leyLiving/


ps links of schools in central valley
groups.yahoo.com/group...leyLiving/  

I also have questions about re-locating with a young family:

1.Is it possible to homeschool in Costa Rica?
2.Are there english speaking playgroups in San Jose?
3.I am a Stay-at-home dad, are there any others?
4.My daughter is half Chinese, how will she be treated?  

- yaffle

I also have questions about re-locating with a young family:

1.Is it possible to homeschool in Costa Rica?

seemingly - just found this last night: www.costarica-homeschool.com/
we also found out about trips there from the US in back issues of www.lifelearningmagazine.com  

Yes Yaffle, It is possible to homeschool in CR; but like in the US, there are guidelines for learning that you have to do. Which you can go to any english speaking school (there are alot of them), and ask what is needed in order to do this (unfortunately, I wouldn't know who to contact to find the guidelines). There are also private tutors, just like a homeschool class, with 3-4 students, that english speaking teachers run out of their home. CR likes to pride themselves on their education, and many American teachers go down to CR to teach, so it is not hard to find english schools.

With your second question, I am geussing you are asking about something like "latchkey"? Around San Jose there are many youth groups designed for a variety of age groups.

I would say the obvious question for #3 is yes, ofcourse there are going to be a certain number of fathers that stay at home with the children. Unfortunately, I would not know where or how to find others in that sort of area. However, San Jose does offer many "Men's Organizations"(i.e. Freemasons) that you can join if you are looking to get away from the house and children every so often, and be with other guys.

There is a wide variety of race in CR, mainly people are "light" skinned, and have earopean ancestry. Many of the "natives" and "tribes" live outside the city. There would not be anymore problem with a race of a people more than there would be in the US. Tico's are very friendly people, and I would consider them some of the friendliest of all the countries that I've been to (much more friendlier than "city people" in the US).

If you would like, I would be more than happy to assist you in finding the information that I have stated above. I know how difficult it can be to move to another country. Just reply and ask.

Also, feel free, to ask any more questions or concerns you have, I will try my best to answer them.