What was the reason Barry Ashworth of Coronado Realty, Kjersten van Horn of Tucan Realty and I started the American European Real Estate Group Costa Rica in 1996? We wanted to have an organization with agents who know where the Costa Rica real estate bones were buried. That was the only way we could help our…
Smart people always search for bargain real estate in Costa Rica when looking to make an extraordinary real estate investment. No matter how good the economy of a country is or if real estate is in a seller’s market or not, there is always an owner who is in the need of selling a property…
The advantage of searching for a Costa Rica luxury home online is that you can endlessly click on photo slideshows and see what each home has to offer. If you can’t afford a luxury home, dreaming is fun, so read on! Not always do listing agents in Costa Rica realize how important it is for a home…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Choose between paying a hotel bill for $200 a night in a nice hotel in Costa Rica or renting a nice vacation rental condo for around $1,500 a week; where would you prefer to be? Are you a couple with no kids, and you like to be pampered by the…
Do you hate to pay taxes too? Better to pay the least taxes possible, especially on your investments? How about not paying any taxes in the US at all? How can you invest tax free in a Costa Rica vacation home? Looking for a luxury vacation home or a beach condo instead of renting on…
Should you worry about squatters in Costa Rica or not? If you own a property in Costa Rica and you have abandoned it, yes you should worry about squatting. Try leaving your car on a street in downtown Los Angeles, Amsterdam, or New York for a month and try to recover tires, radio, and whatever…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Do the home improvements you would like to make to your home make sense? You bought your house in Costa Rica 10 years ago, time for a change. Living in the same house, day after day, can get boring, especially if you are retired and spend full time in it.…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Property hunting is fun, but the property hunting process in Costa Rica is quite different from what you’re used to. Planning to purchase a house, a vacation home, a retirement home, or an investment property in Costa Rica? Before you start looking, get to know the market, know what you…
“Hi, my name is Ann I saw this one-acre rental property in Santa Ana online and would like to see it”. Me: “yes Ann thanks for your call. We would love to show you this property at your convenience. Do you have pets?” “Oh yes, I have pets. That’s why I want to rent a one-acre…
Almost ready to retire and enjoy your retirement? Is there any retirement community in Costa Rica? Is Costa Rica a good place to retire? If you are an active adult, if you like to re-invent yourself and you are ready for the next adventure, if you’re full of energy, if you’re a nature lover, if you…
Are you reading this on your cell phone or iPad? If you are, you will see that our MLS is fully mobile friendly. You will still be able to use your desktop or laptop computer to look for real estate and read our articles. Google has been warning website owners that the growing percentage of mobile…
Is it a good idea for a buyer to make repairs prior to closing or not? In Costa Rica real estate, it is customary to buy a home for sale “as is”, but should you negotiate this or not? It is easy to include a home inspection contingency into your offer, which is not always…
Most sellers in Costa Rica want to set their own listing price. Even if every real estate agent in town tells them they’re wrong about setting the listing price. Should your realtor appraise your property before listing it or the other way around? It’s like the dilemma of the chicken and the egg. When going…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Johnny P. emailed the following question “We are planning a small remodel. We want to update our kitchen, bathroom, floor tiles, and windows in our 20-year-old condo. We are not planning any structural changes. Do we need a permit from the municipality for such a small remodel?” Don’t we all…
Why hire a surveyor before your property purchase? Maybe the fence was moved by a neighbor? Maybe the seller never made the effort to check the property boundaries by hiring a surveyor? Should you hire a surveyor before making a Costa Rica property purchase? A great example of why you should hire one is the…
While doing your due diligence before retiring in Costa Rica, you might read that you should rent before you buy a home. Though this might be a great option for some, I will show why this is not always true. Moving to Costa Rica, no matter if you doing so as a business person or…