There has been a lot of talk here about inept and unscrupulous real estate agents since the business is unregulated in Costa Rica. Unfortunately, there are always a few bad apples who spoil everyone's perception. On the other side of the coin are the ungrateful and difficult clients. Since the crisis in the States more and more of these creatures have appeared on the scene and have really screwed some good brokers. I have a friend X who I think is one of the most hard working realtors I have ever met. His clients rave about his services and usually end up buying several properties form him. In all of the years I have dealt with him I have never heard any of his clients complain. Recently my friend had a bad experience when dealing with a couple of ungrateful clients. Jim and Marta are a couple that came to Costa Rica to live and invest. On the surface they seem like great people - always smiling and friendly. You have to understand that they are a disfunctional couple to begin with because of the huge difference in age. Nevertheless on the surface they appeared to be very bright and well educated. As they say in Spanish, Jim didn't appear to have “one hair of stupidity on his head." My broker friend took them all over the Central Valley and found them two good properties: one in a rural area and a home in one of the suburbs of San José. They purchased both properties and seemed to be very appreciative of their broker’s efforts. A few months later my broker found an another excellent investment for them in the Santa Ana area. He got them an incredible deal for almost nothing down and a free $10,000 furniture package. Another added bonus was the right to sell the condo before it was finished. In the mean time they sold their rural property for almost double of what they paid for it in less than a year. I'd venture say that their broker did a great job by finding them that property. They probably made $100,000 or more tax free. However, there turned out to be a minor issue at the closing and they would end up having to pay about $3,000 to clear it up. The first thing they did was complain to their broker and insist he pay the $3000. What nerve! After making all of that money for them they stuck their broker with the small bill. How petty! Concurrently they sold the home they bought near San José for about a $75,000 profit in less that two years and didn't use my broker friend because of the issue I mentioned and the fact that they didn't want to pay him a small commission ($10,000) after all he did for them. So from both properties they probably made $200,000 or more tax free because of my broker friend's help. As you can see they turned out to be ungrateful clients in the end.