As mentioned before, there’s certainly a gringo rate in the rental market, just like there’s a gringo price for real estate. The gringo rate, however, generally restricts itself to two circumstances. First, the location – places like Escazú are more expensive across the board (restaurants, furniture, clothing, everything). The second is tourism – a lot of landlords in touristy areas are holding out for that Canadian family that’s going to rent the house for $2,500 for a month of vacation, and they’re not so interested in appealing to locals or residents.

Every little market is different in terms of rental prices. Without traveling to Costa Rica, however, there are plenty of places online where you can go to get a feel for rental rates in different areas:

* La Nacion (www.economicos.com). This is a widely-circulated Spanish language newspaper. The rates you find there are the rates Ticos are paying.

* The Tico Times (www.ticotimes.net) Local English-language weekly.

* CraigsList.org (http://costarica.craigslist.org) Yes, CraigsList.org has made it down to Costa Rica. Unfortunately, its content is still a little thin, and those who advertise on there are usually trying to reach gringo renters with some pretty high rates.

Generally speaking, in and around San Jose you can expect to get a furnished, two-bedroom apartment for somewhere between $400 and $800. Anything less than that would be either a good deal, or very sketchy. Anything more would need to be either large or extremely well located. Houses in small towns and rural communities can be had for between $500 and $1,500, depending on the size and location of the house. Rentals in condos and gated communities always cost a little more.