Once the seller and the buyer have agreed on a price, the buyer can do one of two things to bring to deal closer to the final handshake. One, the buyer can sign a purchase option and put down a non-refundable fee, usually a percentage of the value of the property that can vary greatly depending on the situation. The purchase option gives the potential buyer exclusive right to buy the property within a certain amount of time, essentially taking it off the market. A buyer would opt for a purchase option if he or she needed a period of months to investigate and guarantee the feasibility of a large development or to line up large-scale financing. The money put down for the purchase option is non-refundable.

The second thing the buyer could do to bring the negotiation to a close is put down a deposit and sign a sales agreement: a document of several pages, usually drawn up by your broker, that lays out all the terms of the purchase. The terms should include not only the agreed-upon price, payment timetable, and property description, but also any mitigating circumstances, financing arrangement, and the closing date. On that note, there are two main things to keep in mind.

First, as mentioned above, it can take time to get money to Costa Rica. Before you sign on the dotted line, make sure the sales agreement allows for this, or that your money is available. Most sales agreements call for a deposit from the buyer (usually 10%, but that amount, like anything else in the transaction, can be negotiated) that allows anywhere from a week to several months to line up the payment.

The second thing to keep in mind is that you will need roughly another 30 days to carry out the rest of the due diligence process. If the preliminary due diligence went off without a hitch, it shouldn’t take your lawyer or due diligence professional much longer to finish the background check on your property. The contingency in the sales agreement should state that your deposit is refundable should your due diligence background check turn up any deal breakers, a clause that should be as broad as you can make it to cover all eventualities. (The seller will want to make it as narrow as possible.) How much time you need for due diligence also depends on what you’re buying. A new condo will require only the briefest background check, while a 300 hectare plot destined for high-density development will take considerably longer. You will also need to request more than 30 days for due diligence should you have a special case like a Maritime Zone concession or an IDA property. In that case, consult your lawyer and Chapter 8 on due diligence.