Once you reach that place as a visitor, you come out wishing you owned a piece of this mystical land. There are innumerable reasons to buy real estate here. Starting from the cheerfulness and warmth of the Costa Ricans to the affordability of the properties, every single aspect invites people to invest in real estate here. This article outlines the processes that will benefit you while considering an investment in real estate here.

In Costa Rica, the natives quote different prices for the “ticos” (native Costa Ricans) and the “gringos” (foreigners). The price is up to 50% higher for a “gringo” compared to a “tico”. Hence, the first and foremost step when you plan to buy a property in this part of the world is to engage the services of a “tico”. This will assure you of the fact that you can clinch the deal at a better price.

After you have entrusted the “tico” with the responsibility of getting you a good pricing on the property, the next step is to decide on a property that you are interested in buying. Post making the decision, confirm with the owner, if he/she will sell you the “ownership rights” or “occupation rights”. If the owner will give you the “ownership rights”, then, the entire process is a cakewalk. However, the process is extremely long if he/she wishes to give you the “occupational rights” since it means that there is not definite owner for that property.

After these two steps, the next step is to ensure that the property you are interested in has a definite owner. If it does, then it will be registered in “Folio Real”. “Folio Real” is a centralized system which stores the titles details of the properties in Costa Rica. You can obtain this information from the offices of the Public Registry in San Jose.

If you are unable to find any result by running a search in “Folio Real”, then, look up for the details in special books, which store registration of some properties which are very old. In case, if searches in both these don’t yield results, then, it means that the property has not been registered and there is no definite owner for that property.

The next logical step is to ensure that all the property taxes on the property that you are interested in has been paid and is up-to-date. If the owner of the property has not paid his/her tax dues, then you will be in trouble at a later day. Also, ensure the home insurance is in place.

Once all documents are in place, verified and affirmed, the last step is to engage the services of a local attorney who can draw up the documents for sale of the property. It is recommended that this attorney also be a public notary so that once the deal is complete, he/she can immediately update the records on “Folio Real”.

by Randy Berg
of CR-home