Hi Renee,
While I live along the northern portion of the Pacific coast I’ve interviewed southern zone expats for the magazine and the common sentiment regarding bugs seems to be the higher the elevation the less bug issues you will have. The great thing about that area is you can actually find quite high elevations that still aren’t too far from the beach so that’s certainly something to consider.
I also wanted to share with you our International Living rolodex contacts for real estate in the central and south pacific – they could be potentially good contacts to discuss popular home styles and what currently exists on the market to give you and idea of what people are already doing, which could also be an indication of whether or not the style of home you’re interested in would work in that area:
Central and South Pacific Coasts
2Costa Rica Real Estate, Plaza Itskatzu, Local 206 San José; tel. +506 2588-2332 and (866) 374-7798 (toll free in the U.S.); email: info@2costaricarealestate.com; website: http://www.2costaricarealestate.com. And in Jacó: tel. +506 2643-5100 and (800) 578-1773 (toll free in the U.S.); website: http://www.cb-jaco.com.
Century 21 Tropical Breeze Realty; tel. +506 8392-6122 and (800) 346-8142 (toll free from the U.S.); email: info@century21cr.com; website: http://www.century21cr.com.
Rainforest Properties, Apartado 34, Golfito; tel. +506 2775-0518; cell +506 8820-4628; email: rainforestproperties@gmail.com; website: http://www.rainforestproperties.com.
All the best,
Jackie
IL Coastal Correspondent