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Part 2:
I think that at this time, I have to admit that I am not a handy guy. Sure, I can do
the basics. I can hang shelves and change my own oil. I used to restore old
Volkswagens. However, completely renovating a house, even a small one, is beyond my
level of expertise. Also, this is a house in a foreign country. If I hired local
talent, they would have to be supervised. I simply did not have the knowledge or time
to do this. Also, if things turned bad, I had no idea what I would do.
I turned to my friend Paul Bel for help. Paul by all accounts, is a very handy guy.
Several years ago, Melissa and I purchased an eighty year old wooden home here in New
Orleans. It was a beautiful old two story structure with hardwood floors and five
fireplaces. The previous owner had done almost no maintenance. To say that the home's
beauty had faded would be an understatement. It had great potential, but needed a ton
of work. Paul was already a friend and we knew that he was a very talented contractor.
Working with his crew, they turned our house into something special. Later, I needed
to build a new building for the Costa Rica Travel Exchange office, and I again turned
to Paul.
Luckily for us, Paul had been to Costa Rica, and was becoming as addicted as we were.
We gave him a call and asked if he might be interested in coming with us for a few days
to look the property over. An all expense paid trip was too good a deal for him to
pass up, and in July we all traveled to Monteverde. Our daughter Carla also came
along. She had lived in Monteverde for almost a month the previous summer while she
attended CPI language school. She was anxious to visit her old friends.
We spent the better part of two days looking over the house. Paul pronounced it sound,
and started measuring and drawing up a rough blueprint. From here we compiled a partial
materials list, and got an idea of the budget necessary to do the renovation. In the
meantime, I met with Kattya and ironed out the details of the transaction. She needed
to travel to San Jose and we agreed to meet in our attorneys office before we left town.
Once in San Jose, we went to Abonos Agro. This is the Home Depot of Costa Rica, on a
much smaller scale. We spent an afternoon pricing materials, then moved on to the
small "electrico domestico" stores in San Jose to price appliances. Everything cost
much more than in the U.S. I could see that this was going to get expensive. Oh well.
Nothing ventured. Nothing gained!
I have to tell you that buying a home in a foreign country is a nerve wracking
experience. I spent many years in the real estate business in Michigan and Louisiana.
Everything was a little different from what I was used to. Also, because of the way we
did the financing, we had to form a Costa Rican corporation. About the only familiar
thing was the title insurance. Stewart Title in San Jose was very helpful, as was our
attorney, Rita Guzman. It was very reassuring to have such talented people looking
after our interests.
The deal finally closed in early September. We had wired the money to the title
company, and left power of attorney with Rita. We anxiously await her E-mail. When
the news came, Melissa and I shared a bottle of champagne. I chased mine with a little
Malox.
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