Journey Costa Rica
Buyer Beware
Purchasing land in Costa Rica can be carried out safely and without too much difficulty, but make
sure you do not skip details in the purchase process to make it happen quicker, this could end up
loosing you your money and your land. Below is information about what to do and ask for during
the stages of your property purchase.
1. Once you have located the property you wish to purchase and are happy that it is The One,
sit down with the real estate agent and the owner to agree the terms under which you are happy to
purchase the property. At this point you will negotiate the items you want researched before the
sale is completed, you will then have a contract drawn up containing all the agreed upon items.
Once this contract is signed you will be required to give YOUR lawyer the deposit amount agreed
upon to hold for YOU in ESCROW. Do not give any money directly to the owner or selling agent
only to your lawyer.
2. Once stage one is complete the work really starts, you now want to check everything you
possibly can about the property and as quickly as you can.
Purchasing land in Costa Rica can be carried out safely and without too much difficulty, but make
sure you do not skip details in the purchase process to make it happen quicker, this could end up
loosing you your money and your land. Below is information about what to do and ask for during
the stages of your property purchase.
1. Once you have located the property you wish to purchase and are happy that it is The One,
sit down with the real estate agent and the owner to agree the terms under which you are happy to
purchase the property. At this point you will negotiate the items you want researched before the
sale is completed, you will then have a contract drawn up containing all the agreed upon items.
Once this contract is signed you will be required to give YOUR lawyer the deposit amount agreed
upon to hold for YOU in ESCROW. Do not give any money directly to the owner or selling agent
only to your lawyer.
2. Once stage one is complete the work really starts, you now want to check everything you
possibly can about the property and as quickly as you can.
- Have the land re-surveyed and your boundaries exactly marked. To make sure what you
are being told you are buying is what you are getting i.e. size and location. This will not cost
you much to carry out, but could be a great help in the future and on your decision to go
ahead with the final purchase of the property. At the same time ask for a check to be made
that there are no boundary disputes already registered with the courts.
- Check for water, if it is not already there, and if it will be possible to get permits for a well
to be dug or connect to the mains supply.
- Will any trees need to be removed for you to build? If yes can you get permits for them to
be removed (if you do not get permits and you start building the building inspector can shut
you down completely both for cutting down trees illegally and building illegally)
- How far away is the electricity? How much will it cost to bring it to the property?
- Make sure your lawyer has an ESCROW account that you can transfer money into.
- Make sure you have the money ready to be sent to your lawyer well in advance of the
final date for the contract to be completed and signing of the papers (if you do not have the
money in Costa Rica by the date on the contract, you stand to loose all your deposit, you will
only get your deposit back if there proves to be something wrong during the background
check and you made sure that this was written into your contract when you put the deposit
down).
- Ask your lawyer to carry out a background check on the property, to tell you:-
- If there are any debts associated with the property or any company which might hold the
property in its name. - The person who is selling the property is he the registered owner.
- Is the property correctly registered.
- What use is the property zoned for.
- How much land can be built upon.
- Please note property over 70 meters from a public road cannot legally be used for
commercial purposes. As far as land sizes are concerned these are changing by law all the
time so it is good to have your lawyer find out what the current minimum size is for a lot more
than 70 meters from a public road to make sure that the lot you are purchasing is the legally
the correct size.
- In Costa Rica you can only build 5 meters from a river however small it might be, your
septic tank cannot be closer, to a well, than 50 meters and 50 meters from the high tide line. A
public road should be 14 meters wide (not all are) if you are purchasing public road front
property, if the road is not already 14 meters wide leave enough room for the road to be
widened before building or putting down underground cables. Chances are they will widen
the road at some point and you will have to move not them.
- If you are purchasing concession property only do so once the concession has been
approved by the Municipality.
- You will have to pay closing costs, check how much these are with your lawyer before
you enter into any contracts.
- If you are purchasing any property and it does not come with a debt free company then I
would advise asking your lawyer to set up a company, and put just the land and anything
you might do with it to be held by the company.
- And finally wow you own a piece of paradise........please be careful with it, do not remove
trees unless absolutely necessary they are the lifeblood of Costa Rica and are necessary for
many things including tourism and therefore money, home to wildlife which is at risk, they are
essential for anchoring soil, stabilising slopes and platforms and stopping it from being
washed or blown away, provide oxygen, stimulate rainfall, provide shelter and shade, are
beautiful to look at and so much more.
Costa Rica Law Firms
(The following are lawyers our company has dealt with directly and we have found them to be
quick, reliable and able to do the job required without overcharging for their time or not doing the
work asked of them and we are happy to highly recommend them).
Aland Masis Angulo, MBA
Attorney at Law
Tel: 640 0540 Cell: 384 1325
alandmasis@msn.com
Located in Mal Pais, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
Specialising in Obtaining Concession's, Able to Close Property Sales Within a Month or Sooner
and Costa Rica Residency.
Senior Ignacio Gallegos
Zurcher Odio Raven
Attorney at Law
ignacio.gallegos@zurcherodioraven.com
http://www.zurcherodioraven.com/law_firm_members_ignacio_gallegos.htm
Office in Escazu, San Jose, Costa Rica
Large corporate law firm specialising in all areas of law in Costa Rica, bank accounts in the USA
for easy transferal of money to Costa Rica and an ESCROW account.
Marther Guardia Murillo
Associate
LLM
Attorney at Law
Tel: +506 872 2592/+506 872 2565
Fax: +506 289 0275
http://www.llm.co.cr
Offices in Mal Pais, Nicoya Peninsula, and San Jose, Costa Rica
Large corporate law firm specialising in all areas of law in Costa Rica and an ESCROW account.
It is normal in Costa Rica to pay your lawyer a small amount of money to undertake the work and
the remainder once all the work has been completed.
Please make sure YOU tell your lawyer what it is YOU want them to do, please do not expect them
to do it for you, you have to ask questions or tell them what it is you require down to the very last
detail. Below is information to help you through the purchasing process in Costa Rica and
information it is good to acquire before completing on the contract for a property purchase.
(The following are lawyers our company has dealt with directly and we have found them to be
quick, reliable and able to do the job required without overcharging for their time or not doing the
work asked of them and we are happy to highly recommend them).
Aland Masis Angulo, MBA
Attorney at Law
Tel: 640 0540 Cell: 384 1325
alandmasis@msn.com
Located in Mal Pais, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
Specialising in Obtaining Concession's, Able to Close Property Sales Within a Month or Sooner
and Costa Rica Residency.
Senior Ignacio Gallegos
Zurcher Odio Raven
Attorney at Law
ignacio.gallegos@zurcherodioraven.com
http://www.zurcherodioraven.com/law_firm_members_ignacio_gallegos.htm
Office in Escazu, San Jose, Costa Rica
Large corporate law firm specialising in all areas of law in Costa Rica, bank accounts in the USA
for easy transferal of money to Costa Rica and an ESCROW account.
Marther Guardia Murillo
Associate
LLM
Attorney at Law
Tel: +506 872 2592/+506 872 2565
Fax: +506 289 0275
http://www.llm.co.cr
Offices in Mal Pais, Nicoya Peninsula, and San Jose, Costa Rica
Large corporate law firm specialising in all areas of law in Costa Rica and an ESCROW account.
It is normal in Costa Rica to pay your lawyer a small amount of money to undertake the work and
the remainder once all the work has been completed.
Please make sure YOU tell your lawyer what it is YOU want them to do, please do not expect them
to do it for you, you have to ask questions or tell them what it is you require down to the very last
detail. Below is information to help you through the purchasing process in Costa Rica and
information it is good to acquire before completing on the contract for a property purchase.
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