No one in the Costa Rica real estate market can take our place when it comes to sharing local knowledge and expertise. That’s why we publish our weekly blogs. It’s embarrassing to see so much wrong information published by many real estate websites because they lack local knowledge. Many years ago, I took on the…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Residential real estate developers and builders in Costa Rica make promises quite easily. That’s because promises are easily made, as long as the sale is made, right! A buyer often cannot even start to imagine how difficult those promises are to fulfill. Especially in a buyer’s market, when you will…
Looking for a survey map or plano catastrado of your property? Then you’ve arrived at the right place. I will show you how to get a survey map of your property online. You just need to follow the steps. In exchange for this FREE information, I have a great deal for you: do business with…
Have you ever thought about buying a jungle home in Costa Rica? I bet you have. Where you can hear the howler monkeys calling and the surf breaking when everything is quiet? You will find the best and most incredible jungle homes in the Caribe Sur of Costa Rica. It’s that secret haven where the beach meets…
In this blog, I’d like to attend to a question we receive almost daily: what is the construction cost in Costa Rica? I wish the answer was simple but there are many details involved that will change the building cost of a home. Now, in 2019, construction cost in Costa Rica runs anywhere between $70…
I’d like you to take advantage of the additional ROI you can receive when you buy an investment property before August. “How is that?” you might ask. Well, it has everything to do with the new capital gains tax that the Costa Rican government will start charging as of August 1st, 2019. You can read…
Loan to value ratio or LTV is a ratio that reflects the relationship between how much you borrow and the appraised value of your property. For example, Joan wants to purchase a home for $100,000. She plans to make a down payment of 10 percent ($10,000) and finance the rest. This means her loan is…
You might not know it yet, but soon we’ll have capital gains tax in Costa Rica. How will this interfere with your home and your real estate investments in Costa Rica? Will this new tax law hurt future business in Costa Rica? One of our beach property affiliates told me this week that a seller…
Watch the new legal requirements on Anonymous corporations in Costa Rica. In the past, property in Costa Rica was almost customarily purchased into anonymous corporations by foreign buyers. One of the most important reasons was to protect the property for the personal liability of the owner. Another good reason was that several owners could possess a…
The internet allows us to work from home, so a comfortable home office is now more important than ever. Some 20 years ago, few people had a home office. Few professionals worked from home, like surveyors, real estate agents, insurance agents, and maybe civil engineers. Others, who sometimes took work home, had no more than…
Quite often buyers from out of the country ask why real estate developments in Costa Rica are not listed on the MLS. If you are interested in buying a condo or a house in any of the real estate developments, they are really hard to find. You have to be on the ground (in Costa…
It’s pretty easy to make the wrong investments in a country that you know well. It’s much easier to make the wrong investments in a country that you don’t know. One that has a different culture and where people speak a different language than you do. I’ve been there, done that. Believe me. A few…
Planning of living off the grid? Check out some incredible off the grid property our agents have listed. To be able to find quality off the grid property in Costa Rica, you really need to stay out of the Central Valley, the most populated area of the country. Fortunately, the Central Valley is only 1/5th…
Most homeowners in Costa Rica don’t even think about fire and earthquake insurance and if they still have to pay the mortgage after their house was destroyed. You own(ed) a house in Costa Rica. This house was destroyed by a natural disaster or fire and you are paying a mortgage. What should you do? Can…
Amazingly enough, homebuyers are sometimes their own worst enemy without knowing it, until it’s too late. It speaks for itself that most homebuyers only purchase a home only once or twice in their life. Therefore, it’s not really their fault. Is it? 1. Love the house Homebuyers who express their feeling too easily to a…
Your first due diligence when buying land or a property in Costa Rica is to request the zoning or certificación de Uso de Suelo for that particular property. The certificación de Uso de Suelo is extended by the engineering department at the Municipality where the property is located. Each city has its own zoning plan…