Your move to Costa Rica is a chance to start over, start fresh. Surely you won’t need to ship all your personal belongings to Costa Rica. You are going to get rid of everything and live the simple life. Well, not everything. In fact, there are a few sentimental things you simply can’t part with, like pictures and that antique vase. Those things will fit in a suitcase, you decide. Should you ship the rest?
But what about Grandma’s dresser? In fact, maybe it would be better just to ship down all your old stuff and not have to buy all new things when you get here. Wouldn’t that be simpler? Surely, they wouldn’t charge much for my old junk. What would it cost? How long will it take? Which items will they tax? Will they arrive damaged? Suddenly life doesn’t not seem so simple.
So which is better—ship items to Costa Rica or buying them here? You will need to ask: Is what I want, and/or need, available in Costa Rica? How do I go about shipping things to Costa Rica and what does it cost? How much will I pay in import taxes?
With the exception of Grandma’s dresser, most of what you need or want is available in Costa Rica. International retailers like Walmart and Pricesmart (similar to Costco) are countrywide. Appliances can be found there as well as in local appliance chains such as El Gollo and Casa Blanca or Monge. Well-known brands such as Samsung, Whirlpool, Oster, Frigidaire, GE and others are available . Check out these stores’ websites to compare prices. Many household items–from linens to lamps–can be found at inexpensive prices in Pequeno Mundo, a national chain with a store in Liberia, Guanacaste. Better quality home goods can be found in stores such as Cemaco and Aliss in the Central Valley. Unless you have a favorite platter or vase you cannot live without, it is unnecessary to ship household items. You will find what you need here at comparable prices.
If you choose to ship Grandma’s dresser and that oh-so-comfortable recliner to Costa Rica, your possessions can be packed in an ocean freight container. Stackable steel cargo containers measure approximately 8 feet wide by 8 feet tall and come in 20- and 40-foot lengths. The 20-foot model will accommodate a 1- 2 bedroom household, and the 40-foot model is large enough to hold the items from a 3 -5 bedroom household. A vehicle can also be shipped in the container, but it takes up a lot of floor space and you can’t pack up to the ceiling unless you build some sort of framework over it. If you have just a few items to ship, you can place your items on one or more pallets and ship them in a shared container. This is called a “less than container load” (LCL).
As far as cost goes, when you opt to use an entire container, you pay a set price no matter how much or how little you pack into it. The cost of a shared container is based on volume and weight. You will want to contact a shipping company and ask for a quote.
I did a quick search for the cost to ship a container from ports on the East Coast of the United States to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica’s Caribbean port. The search revealed an average cost of $1200 for a 20-foot container and $1700 for a 40-foot container. However, the costs don’t stop there. You will need to pay warehousing fees until your shipment can be inspected and import duties calculated. Customs officials will review the inventory of your shipment and assign a value to each item, whether new or used. Generally the tax is between 13% and 49% of the assigned value. A list of items and their tax rate can be found at https://www.costaricatax.com/import-tax.htm. Reviewing these lists will help you decide whether an item is worth importing. After paying the import duty, you will need arrange for transportation of your goods from the port to where you live, and if that is Guanacaste, the land transportation could be as much or more than the ocean passage.
If you are considering importing a vehicle, be sure to consult the official government website https://serviciosnet.hacienda.go.cr/autohacienda/. Enter the make, model, and features of your vehicle, and the calculator will tell you how much the tax will be. Be warned that vehicle import duties range from 52% to 79% of the Blue Book value. You are better buying a new one here.,
As you can see, it is extremely important to do your due diligence before deciding to ship everything you own. Knowing what is and isn’t important to you will be a lot easier when analyzed in the light of time, effort and costs. The answer to the question of whether you should ship your things or not is very individual, very personal. If you make an informed, well-thought-out decision, your move to Costa Rica will be as easy and refreshing as you always dreamed it would be!
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Knowing how to choose a realtor in Costa Rica makes all the difference in whether your purchase or sale of real estate is a success or a struggle. It can be a nerve-wracking process. It always involves money and unknowns, and, frankly, salesmen have been the subject of many jokes, even if they aren’t selling used cars. No one likes to feel like they are being swindled, and the feeling of uneasiness is even greater when you are selling or 
First of all, do your due diligence. Research the area you are looking at and read articles about the general condition of the market there. There are a lot of people writing blogs about every little aspect of life here in Costa Rica. Some of these blogs are really good, some are people that just complain, but both can be a wealth of insider information. But – beware of accepting just one person’s opinion. As and example of how to go about finding a potential place to live in Costa Rica, google the phrase “
The next step is the Glass Slipper Test: Line up the prospective realtors and see which one the show fits, especially if your intention is to sell a property. Just because someone calls themselves a realtor, the only people that can legally 
Good realtors should be able to list off all the promotional websites and platforms they will use. How many sales have they completed in the last year? Of course, the answer to that question may depend to some extent on the market in the area, so it is a good idea to investigate the market trends beforehand. If the realtor in question begins to make excuses for why they haven’t sold anything in 2-1/2 years when you know properties are selling like hotcakes in that region, well…you may have an ugly stepsister on your hands. Sanitize your glass slipper and try it on the next eligible one! If things are clicking and the shoe seems to fit, it is time to discuss fees and terms of the contract. Any agent worth his salt will have all that information readily available.
When you have reviewed the roster and chosen the realtor with whom you feel most comfortable, it is time to let him know. If you are selling a property, you will need to decide if you want to commit to an exclusivity agreement. It may seem like you will have better odds if you are non-exclusive with one realtor. Prince Charming may want to keep his options open! However, and this is