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Despite the fact that it has one of the highest standards of living in Central and South America, Costa Rica offers a bargain in real estate that allows a retirement that you thought you could only dream about. Costa Rica real estate is affordable and has a low cost-of-living. So your purchasing power in Costa Rica is very high. San José has one of the lowest costs-of-living of any city in the Western Hemisphere. The cost of living in San José is nearly 15 percent lower than the cost-of-living in Guatemala City or Panama City. Utilities cost roughly 30 percent of what similar services would cost if you lived in North America. This is partially because of the wonderfully mild climate. Costa Rican real estate will never require heating, as it just does not get cool enough to require it. Air conditioning costs are also not as high, because although it gets quite warm, it is rarely truly hot. Property taxes on Costa Rica real estate are also typically lower than they would be in the United States. Even transportation costs are more affordable in Costa Rica. Bus fares to nearly anywhere in the country will only cost you around $10, and gas is considerably less than two dollars per gallon— What a bargain! You may have heard that the great deals in Costa Rican real estate are simply a thing of the past. Advertisements in Central America Weekly and the Tico Times show a sharp increase in prices, but looking at these inflated prices alone does not reflect the benefit of the low cost-of-living in Costa Rica. There are still many cheap properties to be found, and the Costa Rican government keeps the cost of goods and services affordable for its residents. This has allowed them to avoid many of the social difficulties that plague nearby countries. These are only a few of the factors that make Costa Rican real estate so attractive to retirees. The great weather year-round, the low crime rate, and the friendly reputation of Costa Rican natives combined with the low cost-of-living means that many people can retire to their very own little piece of heaven in Costa Rica.
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