Concepción

About Concepción:

Concepción sits on the north-eastern edge of San Ramón canton, between the Río La Prensa and the Cañuela, the river that separates it from Naranjo. Coming from town you cross the La Prensa bridge out of San Juan, and Volio, where the Punta Sur ends at Sifón, lies alongside. National routes 704 and 725 cross the district, and the road into San Ramón was gravel until it was paved in 1990. By car the centre is about fifteen minutes away. Without one, the San Ramón–San Juan–Chaparral–Concepción Arriba bus makes around a dozen trips on weekdays, from five in the morning to early evening, and takes about 35 minutes.

The district was created in 1886, in the same municipal decree that set up San Juan, San Rafael, Santiago and Piedades, and it was known as Calle Pérez before that. The name survives in the village of Pérez and in the lower school, the Manuel Quesada Bastos, which started life as the Escuela de Pérez. Up the hill, the Mercedes Quesada Quesada school dates from 1902, on the site where the first chapel stood before the church moved down to its present spot. Electricity came in 1974, the community came together to build a new aqueduct in 1986 and the first telephone lines reached a handful of houses in 1994. Everyday life still revolves around the church, the plaza, the community hall and the turnos of 8 December, while banks, the hospital, the big supermarkets and the university campus are all in San Ramón.

The district averages 1,155 metres above sea level, and coffee has long been the crop on its slopes; back in 1888 Concepción also ran seven cane trapiches, two of them iron. Its two streams shape the land. Along the Cañuela, on a farm belonging to the ASADA, the river drops over small waterfalls through a strip of riverside forest that shelters tirrá trees, and since 2016 the La Prensa and Cañuela micro-watershed has carried a Bandera Azul award. The water can also rise: during Hurricane Fifi in 1974 it rained for two days and two nights, and several houses in Concepción flooded. Look at where a property sits relative to the river before you look at the view.

Concepción has grown fast for a rural district. The census counted 1,083 residents in 1984 and 2,348 in 2011, more than double in under thirty years. The houses on offer reflect that growth: family homes on their own lots, some built upward on small plots, and roomier houses on quiet dead-end streets. What sellers usually lead with is the view, the calm and the short run into San Ramón. Once the Punta Sur opens, the Bernardo Soto and the road north to San Carlos will both be much closer, but the rest of that highway, the Sifón–La Abundancia stretch, is still unfinished.

Houses in Concepción:

Most homes here are detached family houses facing a public road. You will also see newer two-storey houses, such as a three-bedroom, three-bathroom home with a double garage and 315 square metres of construction on a lot of just 236, alongside more modest three-bedroom houses of around 130 square metres. When you compare houses for sale in Concepción de San Ramón, check the construction permits against what is actually built, especially where a second floor or an extension was added later.

Rentals in Concepción:

Rentals are mostly whole houses, from two-bedroom homes to roomy family houses on quiet side streets, plus the occasional apartment. They are let by the month in colones. Ask whether water, electricity and internet are included, and if you are coming from the bus, check how far the house is from the stop.

Land and Lots in Concepción:

Building lots of a few hundred square metres with views over the valley come up regularly, some sold with permits already in hand, and larger pieces of land turn up too. Much of the district slopes toward the La Prensa or the Cañuela, so walk the lot, see how much of it is actually buildable, and price in the retaining walls a steep plot may need. A lot in Concepción de San Ramón near either stream also has to respect the protection strip that the Forestry Law sets along rivers, and that can take a real bite out of a small plot.

FAQ:

• Will the new Punta Sur highway affect the property I am looking at?

  It might, so check before you make an offer. The new road runs straight through the district, and the MOPT acquires the land a road like this needs by expropriation. Lay the cadastral plan over the MOPT’s alignment, ask the seller whether any part of the finca was affected, and search the property at the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario) for any annotations.

• How long does it take to get from Concepción to San Ramón?

  About fifteen minutes by car. The bus through San Juan and Chaparral takes around 35 minutes, with roughly a dozen departures on weekdays and fewer at weekends, and some trips turn round at Chaparral rather than going up to Concepción Arriba.

• Can I build close to the Río La Prensa or the Cañuela?

  Only outside the river protection strip, which the Forestry Law treats as off limits for building, and its width depends on the slope of the bank. Houses in Concepción flooded during Hurricane Fifi, so ask neighbours how high the water came during past storms and get the land-use certificate from the Municipalidad de San Ramón before you design anything.

• Who supplies water in Concepción?

  The community aqueduct, which neighbours built in 1986 and which the local ASADA runs today. If you are buying land to build on, get the ASADA’s availability letter for that specific lot first, because the municipality will ask for it when you apply for a building permit.

• What if the land belongs to several heirs?

  It is worth asking, because family land in long-settled districts like this one is often passed down in shares. If the finca is registered in rights held by several owners, every one of them has to sign, and you should confirm at the Registro Nacional that the cadastral plan matches the parcel you are actually being shown.