subject: Buying Properties In Costa Rica: Helpful Insights Before Your Purchase [print this page] Have you consider buying properties in Costa Rica? If not, then you should start thinking about. Costa Rica properties are really worth investing. No wonder why people around the globe are heading in this beautiful Central American country to seek for investment opportunities. Wide selection of properties for sale in Costa Rica ranges from single homes to luxury homes, condos, hotels, villas, farm, lots and beachfront properties.
If youre already decided in buying properties in Costa Rica, there are couple of things that you should know before starting your research.
First, do a title search in the a centralized system at the Public Registry in San Jos that lists nearly every property for sale in Costa Rica. If youre from out of the country, you can search property listing on the internet. It will give you all the information you need, including a property's area, ownership, locations, property descriptions and other details. Properties not yet entered into the "Folio Real" system are still registered in other systems at the Public Registry and information on them can be accessed.
Potential property buyers will want to know whether they are buying ownership rights or occupation rights Ownership rights are for registered properties. This form of property purchase is quite similar to owning land in the United States or Canada. Conversely, occupation rights would involve properties that have not been registered and cannot be title-searched. The process of registering them can be a lengthy one.
And beachfront buyers will want to find out if the property is affected by a concession, in which the government gives you the right to the land for a specific period of time, like a lease. The registration system for concession properties is different than the one for regular land.
Just like buying property in many other countries or purchasing real estate in Costa Rica, buyers need to take some steps prior to making a research on the perfect parcel of land or building in the Costa Rican Real Estate market, may it be a residential house, condo, vacation or investment.
One important thing a potential real estate buyer should note when buying properties in Costa Rica is a closing cost which is 1.5 % of the purchase price. Also, that taxes are 0.25 % of the declared value of the property. Buyers should also consider purchasing property through a Costa Rican SA Corporation, as this gives the buyer limited liability in case of a law suit.
