Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Owner financing has become one of the most effective tools for selling a house or a condo in Costa Rica — especially in a market where many foreign buyers struggle to obtain traditional bank loans. If you’re considering offering financing to attract more buyers and close your sale faster, understanding…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes Selling your property in Costa Rica while living in another country can feel like a tropical breeze… until reality hits. Between legal requirements, access issues, missing documents, and the classic “Who can open the house for showings?”, the process can quickly turn into a challenge. You have bought a property…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes Buying directly from a real estate developer in Costa Rica can be an excellent investment—but only if you do your homework first. Over the last twenty years, Costa Rica has seen hundreds of successful residential communities, condominium towers, gated neighborhoods, and beachfront developments. At the same time, there have also…
Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes Buying a home in Costa Rica is an exciting investment, but you should also know about professional Costa Rica home inspections. Buying a house is one of the largest financial commitments most people will ever make. Whether you are purchasing a vacation home, retirement property, investment property, or your dream…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes The role of the closing attorney should be clear before every real estate closing in Costa Rica. Each real estate agent works differently, and usually many details are left to the closing attorney. The role of the closing attorney is central to ensuring that a real estate transaction for the…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes Let’s give you some ideas on what to do with a tiny townhouse backyard or an apartment balcony. Property in Costa Rica is becoming more expensive, and developers are leaving less and less space for a private backyard. Nonetheless, with a small budget, it is possible to turn the tiny…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Today, I’m going to give you a rainy season ToDo list. It is now April, and the rainy season in Costa Rica starts soon. As usual in Costa Rica, we are having a beautiful summer. I’m sure you know all about our famous microclimates. But the weather in Costa Rica…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Clients often ask if they should rent short-term before buying a property in Costa Rica. That depends largely on your plans for moving to our beautiful country. Some people have rented long-term their whole life, so that’s not going to change. This question is meant for those who sold their property…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Has anyone ever told you not to throw away your old passport? Probably not. Well, you can throw them all away, except the one(s) that you used to purchase a property in Costa Rica. Crazy eh! It sounds like a pretty stupid request, doesn’t it! Who wants to keep an…
Estimated Reading Time: 8 Minutes When you purchase a house in Costa Rica, you want to know what inventory stays with the house. During a property showing, there are always questions about what stays with the house for sale and what goes. Often, agents don’t even know what stays and whatnot, but will say anything…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Quite a few communities in Costa Rica are not condominiums but agricultural communities. Therefore, they have no registered bylaws in the National Register, as condominiums do. Most have rules of cohabitation or similar, but there is no legal enforcement. Readers often ask if this type of community can be changed…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Is it a good idea for a buyer to make repairs before closing? In Costa Rica real estate, homes are offered for sale “as is”, but should you negotiate any repairs to be made or not? And when can the repairs be made? You’ll find that every real estate agency…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes Today is a big day; it’s the closing day on the property you are buying in Costa Rica. Local real estate agents do not give additional relocation services. They’ll show up at the closing to make sure the seller pays them the real estate commission, but don’t expect them to…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes A reader who did not receive the title documents at closing is now unsure of the title to her property. She commented on an article I wrote years ago for the Tico Times: I purchased land in Costa Rica about 4 years ago and I only have “la carta catastrada”…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes Listing is easier than to sell your home in Costa Rica, believe me. In 35 years of selling property all over the country, I’ve seen hundreds of properties just sit on the market for year. Often, the reason is that the property is priced too high. Many sellers do not…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes I encounter unprepared property sellers quite often, but they’re only a few minutes away. That’s because I don’t list properties more than 10 minutes away from my office anymore. Lazy? No, not really, I’ve never been lazy. I’m just tired of so many unprepared property sellers who are an hour’s…