Title insurance is a relatively new concept for Costa Rica. Until only recently, it was rather difficult to get title insurance in Costa Rica. It is not required to have title insurance when purchasing a property since the properties are usually purchase by foreigners in cash Now, there are some very good options for obtaining

Carrying out due diligence on a condominium or gated community development is somewhat different than due diligence on a piece of property or a stand-alone home. In some respects, it’s easier: A lot of the due diligence issues mentioned in this chapter (utilities, property surveys, environmental impact, taxes, etc.) are already taken care of by

Especially if you’re buying a piece of land for construction, you’ll also need to do some due diligence on utilities: Their availability, their quality, and their cost. In most cases, documentation provided by the seller is sufficient. However, in the event it is not available, you or your attorney must do this locally as well,

Property taxes, building permits, and zoning are all handled by local municipalities. The country is divided up into 81 municipalities, each one representing a cantón (like a county) with a seat, a mayor, a council, and all the attendant elements of bureaucracy. Some municipalities are easier to work with than others. The municipality in your canton of

Not all your due diligence can be carried out in the National Registry. If you’re still interested in the property after the title search, your next step is to hire some professionals to do a more detailed assessment of various aspects of the property. This part of the chapter will discuss three things you’ll want

The most basic – and essential – part of any property due diligence is the title search. The goals of a title search are to establish the seller’s legal right to sell the property; and to find out if the property has any legal entanglements, like mortgages or rights-of-way. Remember, however, that Costa Rica operates

At least visiting a property before buying it should be the no-brainer first step. Unfortunately this isn’t always true in Costa Rica. There are people in the U.S. who buy Costa Rican property site-unseen. Often there are no problems; sometimes, there are big ones. The idea behind scouting a prospective property is to confirm the