Costa Rica Real Estate, from Coast to Coast, the Right Way!!!

Before you buy any Costa Rica beach front real estate, you should know there are certain restrictions for a Costa Rica real estate concession held by foreigners and the maritime zoning laws of Costa Rica.

If personally held, the foreigner must first have five years of legal residence in Costa Rica. For this reason, many foreigners purchase the rights to beach real estate or ocean front property by first forming a Costa Rican corporation, a simple process that takes about 30 days and can cost from $150 to $1,000, depending on the attorney that constitutes it, the type of corporation or if you use a typical shelf corporation.

Your Costa Rican corporation must have at least fifty percent of its shares held by a Costa Rican resident or citizen. Most people are not comfortable with this so at the time of closing the sale, the "token" Costa Rican shareholder, simply endorses the shares to the foreigner so that the foreigner is holding 100% of the shares.

When buying Costa Rica beach front property, you should first of all do so through our knowledgeable affiliate beach real estate agents. Second, you should use any of the closing attorneys our affiliate real estate agents recommend. But the following blog is hopefully useful so before you purchase Costa Rica beach front property in the Costa Rica Maritime Zone, you will be more knowledgeable than you were before, which will help you in your due diligence.

Land in the Maritime Zone of Costa Rica has certain restrictions that you should know about and we also want to tell you about the precautions you should take before purchasing land in the Maritime Zone.

Although local governments will collect a land use tax known as a canon from occupants of land located in the maritime zone it does not mean that a concession has been granted.

III. Post Closing Issues of Costa Rica real estate.

1. Dealing with Utilities on the Property in Costa Rica that you are buying.

(a) Changing the Name on the Utility Bills

Once the property transfer title is recorded it is the responsibility of the property owner to transfer utilities from the name of the Seller to the name of the Buyer. Although this would appear to be a simple task, in Costa Rica it is not. In many cases a telephone line cannot be transferred and the Buyer must use the telephone line and leave it in the name of the Seller.

By Isabelle Jones for The Easy Times

When you purchase Atenas real estate in Costa Rica, you will need not only a great Atenas real estate agent but also a closing attorney. Pablo Arias Gonzalez, is a bilingual attorney who specializes in everything that involves real estate in Atenas for sale.

I have worked with Pablo for approximately 6 years.  He is honest, efficient and hard-working.  He truly goes the extra mile for his clients. Real estate law especially in a foreign country can be overwhelming, complicated and constantly changing. Pablo is dedicated to providing the guidance and information needed so that you can make the right decisions.

By Roger A. Petersen for the Easy Times

At every Costa Rica real estate closing, the role of the closing attorney should be clear. Each real estate agent works different and usually many details are left to the closing attorney.

And the choice of closing attorney is not always in the power of the real estate agent. In a cash purchase, the buyer has the choice of the closing attorney and the real estate agent can of course recommend the buyer who to his/her opinion is the best closing attorney to work with.

In case of a mortgage by a Costarican bank, the bank's attorney will do the closing. In case of owner financing, the seller will want to protect his interest and generally there are two attorneys involved.

 For this reason, I would like to clarify some details that during the real estate purchase process will be important.

When you plan to purchase a property in Costa Rica you will probably contact a Realtor to help you find the right property. By doing so, you want to hire the best and most qualified Realtor. As a fully bi-lingual Real Estate Attorney in Costa Rica, I am closely involved in many Real Estate Closings in Costa Rica with local and foreign Buyers, Sellers and Real Estate Agents in Costa Rica.

Many real estate agents in Costa Rica dont really get involved in the closing process, which is a mistake. You can recognize a good real estate agent when he/she is involved in the constant communication and coordination between the Buyer, the Seller and the closing Attorney during the entire real estate purchase process.

The purpose of this article is to highlight the responsibilities of the parties involved in the real estate closing process and for you, the buyer or seller, to understand a bit about the process. I will describe this process in several articles for the Easy News.

By Ivo Henfling for the Easy Times

You are investigating the purchase of Costa Rica real estate, but before you move to Costa Rica, you would of course like to know what is waiting for you tax-wise. If you move to Costa Rica or buy real estate in Costa Rica, do you need to pay taxes or not?

Capital gain taxes

Let's start with the best news: Costa Rica doesn't have any capital gain taxes, which makes it a great investment environment. When you retire to Costa Rica, no matter which country you come from, you probably pay taxes on your retirement income already. 

This exempts you from paying income tax in Costa Rica. Yes, retirees in Costa Rica do NOT pay any taxes on their foreign retirement income.

By Ivo Henfling for the Easy Times

I wrote a blog just this last week about the approval of the new tax on corporations in Costa Rica which you can read on my own companies´ website.

Today, I’d like to give you my opinion, the opinion of a Costa Rica real estate agent, how this new tax can interfere with your business or with the car or property in Costa Rica you own.

I really don’t think the Costarican government came up with this scheme to charge taxes on corporations to get rich. Soon, they’ll find out that maybe half the corporations that are registered were abandoned by their owners. Get a better idea of what this new tax on Costarican corporations can mean to you.

By Attorney Roger Petersen for The Easy Times

 IV. Real Estate Commissions and Attorney Closing Fees

The Costa Rica Real Estate Agent should ensure that the real estate commission agreement is specified within the Buy - Sell Agreement (also called option to purchase - sale agreement) signed by the Buyer and the Seller.

The agent should include provisions which contemplate a commission split in the event of a default by the Buyer. We also include a clause which authorizes the escrow agent to disburse the commission directly to the real estate agent simultaneously at closing.

 

By Ivo Henfling for The Easy Times

You are ready to purchase Costa Rica real estate and you want to take the property off the market by depositing the earnest money. Where do you deposit that money? Does it work the same as it does back home? In another article about the use of escrow services when buying Costa Rica real estate, I pointed out that you have several options of using escrow in Costa Rica (or trust account) when you have made the choice of the property you plan to purchase. Some real estate agents in Costa Rica has a different opinion about what should happen with the earnest money when the buyer and the seller sign a reciprocal purchase – sale agreement, but I’ll leave it to you, the buyer to make the right decisions. These articles are only meant as a guideline for the buyers and sellers alike, in a country where there are no defined rules and licensed real estate is not obligatory.

What are your options when you have to choose your escrow agent?