Although Costa Rica has become one of the world’s emerging real estate locations, it’s still very much a developing market. Retirees should keep this in mind as they begin their hunt for a house, a condo, or a piece of property. The current lack of a multiple listing service may make it difficult for buyers to quickly find product. However, all this may change in the next couple of years. Several organizations are now in the process of organizing a multiple listing service for Costa Rica. In theory this looks very good. Despite the present lack of a multiple listing service there are lots of nice properties out there at good prices in the current market – just that they’re harder to find in Costa Rica than in developed markets like Canada and the U.S., and locating the good deals requires searching newspapers and on the Internet. The Costa Rican market is indeed becoming more sophisticated, and there are a lot more places to shop for real estate and compare prices than there used to be. A few hours on the Internet will give you at least a basic idea of what’s available. Classified ads in local newspapers will probably give you a better idea of fair prices, and a few E-mails to brokers of properties that catch your eye will help you get started doing some basic due diligence. All this without leaving your desk at home. If you’re pressed for time and you know where you want to buy, you can hook up with a broker, fly in, and search hard for a few weeks. If you don’t know the country or you want to check out places you haven’t been you could take an introductory retirement tour like the kind I offer (Live in Costa Rica Tours), which will show you around the different areas, give you a sampling of properties, show you the infrastructure, give you innumerable contacts at our two- day seminar and introduce you to a whole network of trustworthy brokers, developers, and real estate lawyers. The whole process works better if you are not short on time and have a few months to search for property. In this case you’ll want to rent an apartment or house somewhere in a central location as a home-base, rent a car, and take short trips to view different properties. It’s a good idea to hook up with a broker and sometimes even to hire a Costa Rican intermediary who can go with you as a translator so you can stop at all the little farms with the se vende signs out front, if you are just looking for raw land. In coming articles I’ll give you a step-by-step explanation about how to finding a property for your retirement dream home.