Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes When selling to a local buyer, there is a good chance that the seller will purchase with bank financing. If you want a smooth process and do not get stuck with unknown procedures, follow the recommendations in this article. If only one real estate agent is involved, especially a Godutch…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Many foreign buyers make the wrong approach when looking for a property on their own in Costa Rica. This mostly happens because they want to save themselves the realtor’s commission or they don’t believe the realtor’s expertise is necessary. Unfortunately, there are many pitfalls when buying a property in a…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes What is Costa Rica escrow, and why should you use escrow for a real estate closing? Is it really necessary? The Costa Rican authorities don’t want you to purchase a property with a wheelbarrow full of money. For many years, cash purchases happened all the time. Worldwide, authorities want more…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes When selling your property, it’s crucial to NOT be an unhappy seller. An unhappy seller usually turns into an angry seller, which makes the sale of their property almost impossible. After writing this article about the 5 crucial keys to NOT being an angry seller, I have come up with 9…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Did you know we might measure properties in Costa Rica differently than you do? It depends on which measurement system you were educated in. When in school, you might have learned to measure properties in yards, inches, square feet, and acres. In our beautiful country, all that is no good,…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Do you have a house in Costa Rica for sale, and do you have pets? Are your pets like a nice and cute Doberman that scares the hell out of most people? Or maybe a scary poodle that bites you in the ankles when you turn around? A lot of people…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Why is there so much razor wire everywhere? It seems there are security issues in Costa Rica, or not? Many clients ask if Costa Rica has security issues when they start their due diligence. Usually, that is because they see so much razor wire and bars everywhere. Most cities and…
Estimated Reading Time: 13 Minutes Often homebuyers in Costa Rica forget to check on nearby amenities before they fall in love with a house. Are nearby amenities important to you? Or is lots of sunshine enough for you when you move to Costa Rica? Are you unsure whether you’d like to live in the Central Valley…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Did you know that Law 8204 can freeze your property sale proceeds if you cannot show the origin of the funds? The sale proceeds are the funds received by a recipient from the sale. You might think, “What do I care where the buyer got the money.” But, unfortunately, you…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Yes, squatter rights exist in Costa Rica. Absent landowners sometimes complain about it. Once you have squatters on your property, getting rid of them is difficult. Is it a risk to purchase a property anywhere in Costa Rica and lose this property to squatters? Here is what you can do…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Do we have zoning? Imagine buying a property and finding out later that you’re not allowed to construct, or install the business that you had in mind? In my opinion, that is a great reason to investigate first. Before you purchase real estate in our beautiful country, you first want…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Last week, I showed clients of another agent a property I recently listed and found the perfect home seller. This was probably the first time in my real estate career that I met a seller who really cared about her property, making an effort to want a buyer to fall…