大咖福利影院

It's less than an hour to the San Jose Int'l airport and San Jose.

It's got a hospital there (important for us older folks)

It's a beautiful area - cloudforests in the surrounding mountains.

It's a perfect sized town - not too big and not too small.

They have banks, a mall, an open air fruit and vege market where farmers sell their wares every weekend, a cinema, a super store, quite a few restaurants, almost anything you'd need.

It's a very safe town, at least in terms of violent crime. I have heard of some break-ins when people aren't home, but that happens in most areas of Costa Rica, here and there. There are ways to minimize it. Our land is in an area where I have not heard of that happening.

It's at a high enough altitude that it's cooler than most areas of Costa Rica.

It's a couple hours from nice beaches, and from Lake/Volcano Arenal which is a beautiful place for a weekend getaway. (hot springs, volcano views, horseback riding, waterfalls, lake, etc)

All in all it's a really great area. I looked at several other areas very closely before deciding on San Ramon. One of the considerations is that the prices for property are still lower in San Ramon than the "discovered" areas like Grecia, Atenas, etc.

Ask any specific questions here and I'll be happy to answer if I can, or PM me if you wish.

ExpatDave wrote:

Jerry,

One of the many nice things about living in Costa Rica is that if you don't like the weather where you are, drive a few hours and it will be 100% different. Sometimes, quite literally, you can drive just a few minutes and the weather will be different.

Two days ago I was 500 feet up the mountain at a friends house.聽 It was foggy there and about five degree cooler.聽 My house is three minutes down the hill.聽

It's is common to receive non-stop rain for days and even weeks in October.聽 It's the one month out of the year that I prefer to travel to another country.聽 BUT, depending on the storm, that time of year certain part of the Caribbean side are much nicer.聽 And remember, no matter what, it's always warm.

- Dave

This is very true.
Altitude also makes a big difference. If it's too hot where you are, drive up another thousand or two thousand feet for cooler weather. But weather patters are all over the place creating many micro-climates.

In fact, if you get up around 4500-5000 feet, to me it is quite cold - too cold in the evenings!

gloriamy wrote:

Hi Linda,
We have been living in San Ramon de Alajuela for over four years and write a lot about our experiences as well as the weather and cost of living on our blog. We also have a free newsletter if you are interested.

Gloria

Hi Gloria, thanks for the link, I'll check out your blog.
I don't live there yet, but we own property (and selling some lots from that property) and plan to retire there next year.

What part of San Ramon do you live in. Maybe I know you, or of you. I know quite a few people in San Ramon area.

ahimsa108 wrote:

Hi. I would very much like to live in San Ramon. I'm a retired female, former social worker, living on social security of approx $1400 per month. Ive read blogs that state there are affordable rental apts available but cannot find any listings for them. I will not have a vehicle so I would need to be within walking distance to shopping, etc. And I do like to be around people

Can you give me any advice as to how to locate affordable apts in San Ramon? I really could use some help.

Any help would be much appreciated

elayne

Hola Elayne,

There are quite a few apartments in San Ramon - downtown.聽 I would suggest that you come down, stay in a downtown hotel, not the nicest but they are safe, and then look at apartments from there.聽 Many in that area are going to be word of mouth or posted on boards at the local stores.

You should be able to get a furnished apartment for around $350-$400.00 per month.

Do you speak enough espanol to arrange for an apartment?聽 If not, you could hire a Tica to translate for you and show you around.聽 If you want some help with that you can send me a private message on this site and I can recommend someone for you - a local lady who's English is good and is a very nice person.聽 I think she charges 垄2,500 ($4.37) per hour plus you'd have to pay for a taxi.

Let me know if you want some help with this.

- Expat Dave

ahimsa108 wrote:

Hi.

Your information is invaluable. I'll connect w the website you suggested and get a Facebook account. If I could find a good Samaritan in San Ramon who would short term rent I'd be thrilled. I'm doing this alone and would feel much more secure if I had a contact or two in Costa Rica.聽 Again you've been awesome

Initially, you can stay where many Gringos start out in the area.聽 There are furnished cabins about 7 km outside of San Ramon with a bus stop within easy walking distance.聽 A taxi from there to town is only 垄3,000 ($5.25).
See cabins at:聽

Cesar,聽 ("see-zar" en espanol) the manager, speaks very good English and does allow dogs.聽 The rate is $700 per month.聽 You could start there and search for a more permanent location.聽 The cabins are rented by Gringos the majority of the time so you'd have others to talk with and get ideas from.

The Tica that I mentioned before also lives close by and could help you with communicating, negotiating for apartment.聽 Send me a private message if you'd like her info.聽 聽

- Expat Dave

GinnyP wrote:

I sure hope it's not, hard to get a place because I have a service dog that helps me to move around.
I can move around a house just fine but when I'm outside, I need him.
He's not a therapy dogs like what SOME people use there regular pets as "therapy dog/cat/ whatever" animal. I even have his coat with ID like a driver lin. And I have my dr's letter too.
Please let me know if this helps to get a place.
Thanks guys

Does anyone know what the laws are here with respect to service dogs????

- Expat Dave

ahimsa108 wrote:

Okay! Last question I swear. If I lived on the outskirts of town...a suggestion you made..Would I be able to walk to town?

Depends on how much you like to walk and how far out you live!聽
Seriously, that's hard to say. I have never looked into renting around town because I don't like living in a town/city, I live out in the sticks.

I have seen various places for rent just walking around town in San Ramon, and I would imagine there are some just outside of town a half mile or so but not sure.

Start making contacts with some of the realtors in San Ramon who have rentals (google them) go to the facebook page for San Ramon and so on and start just talking to people if you haven't already. Sooner or later you will find some answers and probably find a rental that will work for you.

Can't remember if you speak Spanish but if you do just go around town talking to people, that's how a friend of mine found some rentals outside of town (he wasn't looking for IN town). If you don't speak Spanish Dave mentioned someone who can translate, also many of the realtors are bilingual.
Note you will likely NOT get the best price via realtors, but they can be helpful in finding rentals.
Best prices are usually by meeting people at random... But sometimes that's just not practical.

And by the way if you don't know Spanish start learning NOW. it is imperative if you want to do well living here, to learn Spanish imho. Even if you just were to learn words for looking for a rental, that might lead you to something. Amazing what you can do with even just a LITTLE Spanish.