San Juan

About San Juan:

San Juan begins where the streets of central San Ramón run out to the north and east, and on the ground you will not notice the line. Its barrios are Americana, Bajo Tajos, Belén, Cipreses, Lirios, Llamarón, Pueblo Nuevo, Tanque, Tejar and Vicente Badilla, and the district also takes in part of Juntas. Two national roads cross it: Route 703, which carries on to San Rafael and Volio on its way toward Naranjo, and Route 704, which heads for Concepción and Naranjo’s San José district. Local buses connect San Juan with the centre of San Ramón, with lines that also serve Calle Ángeles and Calle Jiménez. For San José or the Pacific you drive back through town to the Interamericana.

People have lived here for a long time. About 700 were counted in 1864, and the population stayed small until the middle of the twentieth century. Then it filled up fast: under 1,800 residents in 1963, 5,757 in 1984 and 11,695 in 2011. San Juan has its own health post with a CEN-CINAI childcare centre beside it, the Ermita de San Juan with weekly mass, and a run of shops along the main road, including a Palí supermarket north of the Santamaría petrol station. The hospital, banks, university campus and most offices are in central San Ramón, a short ride away.

Putting eleven thousand people on five square kilometres leaves little open ground, and in 2011 the district counted roughly 2,300 residents per square kilometre. Streets are lined with family houses on lots of a few hundred square metres. Some barrios began as planned housing, and Vicente Badilla still carries the initials of INVU, the national housing institute, in its full name. Others grew one house at a time, which is why lot shapes, frontages and setbacks vary from one block to the next. The district centre sits at 1,085 metres, a little above the city centre.

Most buyers are local: families from the canton who want a house close to the city’s services, and owners trading up or down within San Ramón. Tenants are young couples, people working in town and students at the university’s Sede de Occidente. A house with its own separate apartment, one unit to live in and one to let, is a familiar arrangement here. Corner plots and frontages on the main roads draw buyers who want a shop or office at the front and the house behind it.

Houses in San Juan:

This is the core of the market. Expect detached or semi-detached family homes, often with three or four bedrooms, on lots of around 300 to 400 square metres. Some come with an extra apartment, a garage turned into a shop, or a second floor added later, so ask what was built when and with which permits. Barrios like Vicente Badilla, Tejar and Pueblo Nuevo keep you within minutes of central San Ramón, while the stretches along Routes 703 and 704 put you on the way out toward Volio and Concepción. A corner house in a commercial strip is a different purchase from a house on a side street, so weigh traffic and noise against the business potential.

Rentals in San Juan:

Rental stock is mostly whole houses and small apartments built beside or above the owner’s home, with the odd room let to a student. Tenants choose San Juan because it is close to the centre and on several bus lines. Before you sign, check whether the unit has its own water and electricity meters or shares the main house’s, because that decides how the bills are split. If you are buying to let, a property that already has a legal, separately metered apartment is worth more to you than one where the second unit still has to be built.

Land and Lots in San Juan:

Empty ground is scarce in a district this built-up, so lots for sale in San Juan tend to be infill plots of a few hundred square metres between existing houses. That makes access and services the first things to settle: confirm that the plot fronts a public street, that water and power reach it, and that the frontage matches the cadastral plan. Ask the Municipalidad de San Ramón for the land-use certificate before you agree on a price, because it tells you whether a house, a second unit or a business is allowed on that parcel.

FAQ:

• Is this the same San Juan as San Juan de Tibás?

  No. San Juan de Tibás is in San José province. This San Juan is the third district of San Ramón canton in Alajuela, postal code 20203, right beside central San Ramón. When you search or check a document, look for “San Juan, San Ramón, Alajuela” so you are not comparing the wrong place.

• Which barrios belong to San Juan?

  Americana, Bajo Tajos, Belén, Cipreses, Lirios, Llamarón, Pueblo Nuevo, Tanque, Tejar and Vicente Badilla, plus part of Juntas. Juntas is shared with a neighbouring district, so on a property there, the cadastral plan is what tells you which district it is actually in.

• What should I check on a house with an added apartment?

  Extra units are often built years after the original house, and not always with a permit. Confirm with the Municipalidad de San Ramón that the construction is approved, compare what stands on the ground with the cadastral plan, and look the property up in the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario) for the owner’s name and any mortgage or lien. Separate meters for the apartment are a good sign it was done properly.

• Can I live in San Juan without a car?

  Yes, more easily than in most of the canton. Buses run between San Juan and the centre of San Ramón, and the supermarket, health post and shops along the main road cover daily errands. For the hospital, university or regional buses you go into town, which is a short trip from most barrios.