Los Guido

About Los Guido:

Los Guido covers about three square kilometres in the north of Desamparados canton and sits at 1,250 metres. It borders San Miguel to the west, Gravilias to the north-west, Damas to the north-east, and Patarrá, the district it was split from, to the south and east. A local company, Auto Transportes Los Guido, runs the buses from a terminal in Sector 3, and the line to San José passes through San Miguel and the centre of Desamparados on its way into the capital. If you do not drive, check how far a house sits from the route before you compare prices.

The district began in the 1980s as an unplanned settlement of families who arrived from every part of Costa Rica, along with some from abroad. Many lived in makeshift shacks without services until the housing bond created in 1986 paid for prefabricated houses, while other families built in concrete block on their own. Because the land was occupied before anyone held a title, ownership stayed irregular for decades. In September 2019 the national housing institute, INVU, began handing deeds to the 376 households living on land it owned, under a law passed for this settlement alone.

Some 24,000 people live here in close to 5,800 homes, which makes Los Guido one of the densest districts in the country. Daily life runs on neighbourhood businesses, such as corner shops, bakeries, butchers and hardware stores, and the main Catholic church is the Jesús de Nazareth parish in Sector 2. Alongside the numbers, several areas carry names of their own: Las Letras, also called Balcón Verde, Lomas del Bosque, Las Palmas, Los Robles and Lomas de Patarrá. Street widths change from one block to the next, because over the years some homes were built out past their original lot lines.

Since 2019 two state-backed projects have added a new kind of building. The Las Anas condominium in Sector 4 holds 198 homes in two-storey blocks, and Torres de la Montaña in Sector 6 is ten four-storey towers with 160 apartments, both built for low-income families from the canton with space for shops and community use. Where they meet the rivers, the banks were kept as protected green strips with paths. On the open market, what changes hands is the older stock: block houses on compact lots, often with an added storey or a separate unit that brings in rent. For a bigger stretch of green, Parque La Libertad lies in neighbouring Patarrá.

Houses in Los Guido:

Houses are the core of the market. Most sit on small lots, built in concrete block or grown out of the original prefabricated units, and many have gained a second floor, a front extension or a separate flat at the back. A house that comes with an income unit is common here, and it changes the sums for anyone who plans to let part of it. Before you commit, set the cadastral plan beside what is actually standing, since walls and additions do not always match the lot on paper.

Apartments in Los Guido:

Apartments are mostly second-floor units above family homes, with one or two bedrooms, water often included and frequently no parking. The units at Las Anas and Torres de la Montaña went to families through the state housing system rather than onto open sale. If one of them is offered to you, find out first whether it can legally be sold or leased yet.

Rentals in Los Guido:

The rentals in Los Guido are small houses, flats over the owner’s home and single rooms, let to families and workers who want to stay near Desamparados and the bus to San José. Monthly rents sit at the low end of what Greater San José asks. Utilities are sometimes bundled into the price. Put the terms in writing and settle who pays water and electricity before you move in.

FAQ:

• Can I buy a lot that INVU titled to its occupants in 2019?

  Not until its restriction runs out. Lots donated under Law 9561 were registered with a ten-year limitation from the date of each deed, during which the owner may not sell, transfer or lease the property or use it for anything other than a home. The first deeds were signed in September 2019, so the date on each title tells you when that lot becomes free to sell.

• What should I check on a house’s title and boundaries here?

  Los Guido grew as an informal settlement, and for years many families lived on land they did not hold a deed to. Pull the record from the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario), confirm that the seller is the registered owner, and compare the cadastral plan with the walls on the ground, as extensions out over the street line are a known issue in the district. If you plan to add a floor or a rental unit, ask the Municipalidad de Desamparados what its zoning plan allows on that lot.

• How do people get from Los Guido to San José?

  Mostly by bus. Auto Transportes Los Guido runs the service from its terminal in Sector 3, and the route to the capital goes through San Miguel and central Desamparados. If you drive, make sure the house has its own parking, because many streets are narrow.

• Is there land or new development for sale?

  Very little. The district is densely built, so nearly everything on the market is an existing house or a rental unit. The recent condominiums are social-interest housing allocated to families, not sold to the public, so buyers after a bigger plot usually look in surrounding districts such as Patarrá.

• Which schools are in the district?

  Primary pupils go to Escuela Los Guido, Escuela Las Letras or Escuela Sector Siete, and the youngest to the Jardín de Niños Las Letras. For secondary there is the Colegio Técnico Profesional José Albertazzi in Sector 5.