Dental Dilemma

Since my exploration in Ecuador, I have kept my heart, ears and eyes open for the best place to serve and get me closer to THE tropical island location of my visions.

After months of planting thousands of seeds worldwide, the Universe gave me a unique clue in a manner I totally wasn’t expecting. A shattered tooth was the form of that puzzle piece – bottom back right. Promptly I contacted a dear friend who’d been a Dental Angel to me in the past only to find that she didn’t practice currently. I reached out to an amazing DMD in Encino CA who had gently and expertly done endodontic treatments for me maybe 15-20 years ago. Dr. Thomas Jovicich kindly evaluated my situation to give me an idea of what I needed to get done. I began looking for work-exchange situations in David, Panama and near Uvita,

Costa Rica so I could get my dental work done there as it is 1/4-1/3 of the price in the US. Weeks after the shattering event, while flossing my teeth, a crown popped off – bottom back left. Since I hadn’t found anything that clearly showed me the green light yet, I sent inquiries to 3 dental practices in the States. I was comfortable considering the dentist in Panama as I’d been to him before and, along with being gentle and speaking English, he did a great job. Uvita is near Ojochal, Costa Rica where my 2 beautiful lots are that I am offering for sale. I thought perhaps, if I was in the area, I might make some connection that could help that process. Weeks went by and the communication with both the Panama and Costa Rica dental offices went south. The 3 US practices never got back to me at all. Again, I don’t get upset by these things but see them as signs – that’s not where I’m supposed to go. Since I felt a little urgency with the teeth after a number of weeks, I investigated an opportunity heretofore pushed aside. I’ll tell the story as this is a great example how things weave their way in my life.

Anyone who uses email is familiar with junk mail. Ironically, I got a message trying to sell me property in Costa Rica. I responded, “I don’t know how I got on your mailing list but please remove me……Unless, you truly believe this is a fabulous time to buy in Costa Rica as I have 2 lots to sell.” Amazingly enough, Jason Haney responded and asked me to tell him more about my properties. After some communication back and forth, he agreed to pass on my info to people for whom it may be appropriate. On top of that, he invited me to dinner if I found myself in Costa Rica. Later, when I was looking through all the potential information I had for dental prospects, I emailed Jason to see if he had any suggestions. He highly recommended CostaRica Dental Team as he knew the owner, the practice and even worked a number of years at the connecting lab. I really didn’t investigate it right away as it was in San Jose. If I was going to be somewhere for an extended time period, San Jose definitely wasn’t the place I wanted to be. 

As the weeks and the pressure to get my teeth cared for increased, I called the practice and was amazed at the prices…..significantly lower that even the other places in Costa Rica and Panama. Ok, a sign. Next step, I contacted my lovely friend, Lisa, who I’d visited 6 years ago when I was in Costa Rica after my “failed” move to Panama. You can read about that in my earlier posts. Lisa is a Travel Consultant with Costa Rican Vacations living in La Garita.

 She graciously agreed to host me while I got my dental work done in San Jose. This would require bus and taxi travel both to and from the dentist but that fact that I would be with her made it equal my "next sign". Finally, I’d decided to investigate airlines and had all sorts of parameters necessary in my mind. The travel planets had to line up a particular way to show me, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I should book the trip. Everything lined up and I ended up in the chair of the Costa Rica Dental Team. The place was comfortable enough, everyone I’d met so far was friendly and the lab was on the premises. After the extensive preliminary exam, it was determined I needed way more work than I initially realized. After a cleaning, my first day was done and I contemplated how I could get all the work done. The second day went well as Alejandra was very solicitous, caring and has small hands. Day 3 brought a night and day difference as I encountered “the specialist”. That traumatic day quickly brought an end to any additional treatments I may have been considering. In the meantime, I’d finally been able to get in touch with the real estate agent Jason. We agreed to meet for lunch at Denny’s. It wasn’t quite going to be a nice dinner but I’d be able to get there fairly easily considering I’d need to take bus and taxi to do so. The morning of our lunch, I was greeted by a text from him informing me his wife just let him know of a family event that day and hoped we could reschedule. I was looking forward to meeting with him in hopes that it might help in moving my property in a little more timely manner. I left him a message acknowledging his and have not heard from him since. 

Another interesting situation involves folks in the Osa Peninsula area – where my two lots are. Communication previous to the trip indicated a level of enthusiasm to get together with me. When I had the opportunity to actually travel there, that level of enthusiasm mysteriously diminished. If it was just one, I wouldn’t have thought much of it, but all of them? Another sign, I was not to make the extra effort to visit there. Thanks to some leads from a few friends, I was able to contact an agent in the area that seems genuinely interested and I feel really wants to assist. I also created a facebook page to show people the beauty of the property in hopes of finding the perfect new owner(s). Got some nice attention and a few inquiries via that avenue. The Ocean View Lot is almost an acre and the Creek Lot a little over half an acre. A 10 minute drive from there and you are at the beach! If you are…or know anyone who is a good candidate for some Pura Vida land, please email me for more information.

When I travel to different places, there is always a reason I think I am going that prompts me in that direction. More often than not, it isn’t actually the real reason I am being guided there. As the title of one of my previous blog posts indicates, if I’d have known what awaited me here, I definitely wouldn’t have come. However, I’m not privy to the hows and whys of the Divine but always have an intense absolute knowing in the NOW moment that I am in the right place at the right time. Maybe that whole thing with Jason was to get me to re-connect with dear Lisa and her 6 precious pups.

Maybe it was to have the peace, quiet and personal space to make the myriad of connections I was able to make. The possibilities are infinite!

Those who know me a little more closely will know the significance of this picture.....

One Gringa’s Experience With Real Estate In Costa Rica

Peoples’ motives for acquiring and moving real estate are as varied as the myriad of listings on the market. In 2004, my former husband and I bought tropical land with an ocean view for our future dream home. This was done via a seminar in the US in which a group of us purchased lots in a Canadian presented development. The land….in Ojochal near the Osa Penninsula on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. For those a little more familiar with the area, it is a little south of Uvita and north of Golfito.

Sometime later, one of our friends who bought at the same time we did was having marital issues. Living in the US, it was not a good time for him to have a lot in Costa Rica. We weren’t really interested in another lot but bought it from him anyway as a favor. Since it was in the same phase of the development, we figured maybe we could expand later or simply have it as an investment property.

In 2007, we were having our own difficulties with real estate and otherwise. We opted to list both properties with a local Canadian real estate agency to see what kind of action we might get.

2009 saw us divorced…..our dream home definitely wasn’t to be. An incredible journey toward the end of that year found me in Ojochal, right near the lovely lots. Since I ended up in the area, I played around seeing if there was a way I could make things work there on my own. What a surprise I found when I dropped in on the real estate office that had the listings for the 2 properties. Previously, I’d tried to find the lots on their website. Even though I knew exactly what I was looking for, I never could find them without the listing ID numbers. At their office, it even took them a while to find them. They had over 700 listings and almost no buyers. No wonder we hadn’t heard a peep from them before. The more I checked opportunities around there, the more I got the feeling that what made the area special for me was what I had there with my former husband. So now it was almost the opposite with me having no desire to stay in spite of the amazing nature around. That incredible beauty included delightful beaches, scarlet macaws, colorful beaked toucans, dolphins, whales, howler, cappuchin and spider monkeys….that all barely scratching the surface of wonders.

I realized when I was there, the real estate market was pretty much dead. Since we had a non-exclusivity agreement with the RE agency, I’d casually put ads on craigslist, ree.com and other sites here and there. Except for an occasional inquiry, there was still no action. Now I realize if there were houses already built on the lots, they would be an easier sell. Many people want to buy something turnkey ready. The original reason we were buying was to find a gorgeous piece of land and create our custom home to fit that property. We even had a number of designs dancing in our heads. That was the draw of buying raw land for us. Since we purchased, many people have built their own creative homes on their land. So for those who may have like the idea, but were a little fearful of being the “pioneers”, there are many resources now available from the ones that have paved the way.

In my opinion, the area is the perfect blend for those who want the feeling of being “away from it all” yet within easy driving distance to restaurants, shops, farmers’ market and entertainment. If you are interested in an ocean view lot of almost an acre (.94) and a forest lot that backs up to a creek a little more than half acre (.55), let me know. I am a highly motivated seller – especially if you’d like both lots as a package deal. In addition, I can refer you to some resources in the area to help you get started creating your own Pura Vida Dream!

If you are interested or a little curious about this property - for sale or trade, please email me. Thanks for "traveling" with me!