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Chapter 11
Getting
Your Things to and from Costa Rica
Ok, so you’ve decided to make the plunge and come to Costa
Rica.
What should you bring and what should you leave behind or sell?
The answers, of course, are entirely up to you, but there are
some things that are easy and cheap to find here, while others are expensive
and hard or impossible to find.
First off, you should start with things of a personal nature
that you just can’t or don’t want to leave behind. You also need to ask yourself, especially if
you are loading a container with your house contents, whether it should go with
the container or should be brought on the plane with you..
Most of the reputable shipping companies have a good track
record at NOT breaking things, but if you are really attached to something, you
might want to bring it on the plane with you.
Of course, there is the problem of the occasional “lost luggage,” so
there is really no way to absolutely guarantee anything while you are
traveling, especially for objects of personal value that are thus not
replaceable.
Otherwise, a good insurance policy should protect you from
breakage or other soruces of loss.
Furniture, depending on type, can be easy and cheaper to
obtain here than going through the trouble of shipping your whole
household -- but, Tico
furniture tends to be a bit smaller, sofas more lumpy (unless you pay premium
prices, that is), chairs a bit smaller and less comfortable than what you may
be used to at home. So, this might be a
reason for you to just pack up the whole house and move it all. It’s up to you.
As to appliances, if you buy the local brands, like LG, you can generally find them at cheap prices, relatively
speaking. But, there again, stoves tend
to be smaller, as are refrigerators, etc.
The larger “American style” appliances tend to be on the expensive side
here, so, if your appliances at home are fairly new and you don’t mind paying
import duty on them, then go ahead and ship them – otherwise, it might be just
as well to leave them at home.
Whether you are buying or renting here may also factor into
your decision. We don’t recommend that
you buy property before you have lived here about a year, because there is no
way of telling if you will like the country or not. People seem to either love it or hate it
here. And there doesn’t seem to be any
way to predict which type you are in advance.
Those that hate it often “hit the road” on or before their
first year here. If you like Costa Rica
after your first year, chances are you will want to stick around indefinitely,
in which case buying property is better than renting.
This is yet another factor you need to factor into your
decision of whether to pack up the whole house and move it down here, or just
pack up your suitcase.
If you decide to put your things in storage back home during
your “trial year,” then you can easily find a rental here that is furnished,
although you will pay more for a furnished than an unfurnished house or
apartment, and the furniture may not be up to your standards. But, if you can “rough it” your first year
here while you decide if you like it here or not before you set down roots,
that is probably the safest strategy.
You can then go back home to ship your stuff when you finally buy that
new home here!
There are many subjects we could discuss on this topic and
more, and we will be adding more to this website all the time with more
information, but this should suffice for now.
The bottom line is that if you are moving a lot of stuff
here in a container, it is IMPERATIVE that you deal with a good, reliable
moving company and customs broker here.
The best can do almost everything for you, including packing up your
things back home and moving them right to your new door here. It is well worth paying for this all
inclusive service so that you do NOT have to deal personally with the nightmare
that is the customs service here. The
professionals can get your things through relatively quickly and easily,
whereas if you attempt to do it yourself, you are likely in for a very rude
awakening and lots of headaches.
We can recommend various moving and relocation services to
you. Please contact us at our customer
service email address for full details.
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