Sorry for the delay - I'm sure many of you couldn't stand the suspense :) Now without further ado:
Day 3
They started maintenance on the guest house today (the workers looked eager for us to leave so that they could tear things apart). This picture of the shrubbery trimming is telling - the top 2/3 that they are cutting off is a year's worth of growth (probably with some trimming along the way). They will use a lot of the cuttings (with leaves cut off) for stakes and fencing - if they stick them in the ground, they will grow, as we noticed several stakes growing as we were looking at properties!Oh and today is the day we had to pick which lot(s) we were going to purchase. After talking with Patrick (one of Ventana del Pacifico's on-site employees - he is originally from Canada and lives in his custom house in the development), we learned that our "package" provides us with a price freeze of lot types and standard lot/house combinations until June 2010.
Knowing that the price freeze applied to the land as well, we saw no advantage to purchasing more than one lot now, therefore...
we bought lot #37 in NWA-D (after a brief husband-wife pow-wow)
As you might remember, this is the larger lot (0.56 acres) that backs up to a river/creek (and the protected land 150 feet on either side of it). We liked the "in the jungle" feel. Apparently that is similar to the type of lot Patrick has - he made a comment about the lots being priced at a premium for ocean views, but his thought that people who buy in Costa Rica (as apposed to Hawaii or Mexico or other coastal areas) like the rain forest - that is the distinguishing factor.
Patrick also gave us feedback on the things that would be important if we are planning to rent it (which we are, but hopefully not for too long :) ). At the top of the list was a pool - which Rebecca would certainly like - people like to be able to jump in a private pool to cool off after they have been galavanting about Costa Rica.
Apparently pools also don't add significant cost to the property management - the gardner does most of the maintenance, and a pool company comes out once a month to check the chemical balance, etc.
He also mentioned that the highest demand was for 2 BR rentals, less for 3 BR and very low above that (as couples most often vacation as two couples, rarely more).
After we committed to purchase the lot (and put 20% down - less a $500 credit), Patrick took us to the hotel we were staying at for the next couple of days - Cristal Ballena (http://www.cristal-ballena.com/). All of the main rooms and the pool had great ocean views - it really was beautiful!
We just relaxed the rest of the day - hung out by the pool for most of the morning, had a couple of nutrition bars for lunch since we had such a large breakfast at the guest house, then napped a bit in the afternoon.We had a wonderful dinner at the hotel restaurant - we each got appetizers (not typical) in order to try as much as possible. I tried ceviche - it was delicious! (Rebecca even tried it and liked it.)
We learned an important lesson when we made coffee to have with dessert in our room - don't drink Costa Rican coffee shortly before bed! I don't know if it was the brand (Don Ramon) or what, but we tossed and turned in bed for hours - this NEVER happens to me.
Tomorrow we have our meeting with the designer to start the house design process. This should be interesting...
