Using a broker to sell your property is expensive. It will cost you at least 5% of the final sale price, often more. In exchange for that steep fee, brokers are supposed to do all the work of selling your property. Chapter 2 gives extensive advice on finding a broker as a buyer, but finding a broker as a seller is an entirely different task. Though it’s true that brokers are first and foremost looking out for their own interests, as a seller you are the broker’s employer. You are paying a fee in exchange for services, and you should demand those services be carried out thoroughly and efficiently. With zero regulation of real estate brokers in Costa Rica, it’s entirely up to you to make sure everything goes smoothly.

What services do brokers provide? At the most basic level, a broker’s job is to sell your property for the highest price possible (hence the commission as a percentage of the sale price). Technically speaking, how the broker does this isn’t your concern. Realistically though, you are the broker’s employer. As such, you should expect a few specific services and a nice bedside manner in exchange for that juicy commission. Here’s what the broker should do for you:

1. Marketing

Selling a property is mostly a matter of getting it noticed by someone willing to buy it – that is, marketing. The recent real estate boom in Costa Rica has brought with it a lot of lazy brokers who don’t do much marketing. They sit in their offices, waiting for e-mail leads or tourist walk-ins. That worked before, when demand was off the charts, but with the market maturing, it won’t work for much longer. You need to find a broker with good, active strategies for marketing your product. This could mean listing it in real estate magazines, putting it on Web sites with good search ranks, or notifying other brokers in his or her network to be on the lookout for clients seeking the kind of property you’re selling. The broker must also be good at marketing him or herself on the Internet, in local newspapers, and in real estate magazines. That’s how most potential buyers will find your place: By finding the broker first.

2. Client contacts

A really good broker won’t have to market your property to strangers, at least not at first. He or she will already have a fairly extensive list of clients shopping for properties and, if you’re lucky, will be able to match your property with a buyer right away. How can you tell if the broker will have a lot of clients? Visibility is important. If you can find the broker easily online, that’s a good sign. Also, brokers get more clients from spending lots of time in the market and getting good references, both qualities that you should be looking for.

3. Advice

Even if you have sold a house before, you’ve probably never sold one in Costa Rica. Every country and every micro-market in every country is different, and a good broker will be able to help you navigate the shark-infested waters. This means estimating the market value of your property, helping you set an asking price, advising you during the negotiation, and helping you make the property more presentable to potential buyers. A good broker will be able to tell you how to show a house and instruct you on any improvements you need to make (a new coat of paint, revamped landscaping) to make your property more presentable.

As mentioned in Chapter 2, there is absolutely no official government regulation of real estate brokers. Anyone can be a real estate broker. There are a handful of real estate broker chambers, but legally, the government requires no training and no certification, and there is no official legal framework for commissions. Because of this lack of regulation, there isn’t a lot of trust in the business either. Exclusivity (the agreement to sell a property through a single broker exclusively) is rare and collecting referral fees difficult, making multiple listing services a hash of repeat listings, wild price variations, and outdated notices. Real estate sales in Costa Rica is a veritable wild west that can be very confusing for the seller.

When approaching a broker to sell your property, therefore, you have a lot of options, anything from the Century21 offices, to the connections of your taxi driver. The safe route to go is to pick a well-known broker in your area who has years of experience, residency in Costa Rica, good references, and who offers the services mentioned above. This does not necessarily mean a brand like Coldwell Banker or ReMAX, whose franchises can be bought with enough money and whose logos don’t necessarily indicate real experience. Also, many brokers double as developers, so if you pick a single brokerage to sell your property or project, make sure the brokerage doesn’t have a property of its own on the market that’s similar to yours.

As far as commission goes, experienced brokers will probably want to draw up a commission contract, which is a good idea. Expect to pay between 5% and 7%. Anything higher than that would require extraordinary circumstances. Consult your attorney about the details of a commission contract.

Entrusting the sale of your property to a single broker is safe. But because of the lack of an MLS, exclusivity, and commission sharing, handing your property over to one broker is not necessarily the way to get the best exposure. The other route you could go is to simply put the word out, and to the winner goes the spoils. It’s an odd situation because someone you’ve never met could – honestly or dishonestly - try to claim a commission once the property sells as the person who first showed the property to the buyers. You as the seller run little risk, as absent a contract you have no legal obligation to pay out. Still, it’s best to be honest and perfectly clear with the brokers to whom you are willing to pay a commission.

The real estate boom and lack of regulation have brought quite a few unscrupulous brokers out of the woodwork. Avoid up-front, hourly, or half-now-half-later commissions, for obvious reasons. Also, your broker will probably want to shield potential buyers from direct contact with you. The broker will take charge of showing your house, and price negotiations will take place by proxy. The reason for this is that, in the absence of any regulation, too many sellers take advantage of the broker’s hard work by cutting him out of the deal once the buyer is on the hook and stiffing him on the commission. The shielding of you from the buyer, therefore, is understandable. However, be sure to meet the buyer at the signing (not the buyer’s attorney or some other representative) to confirm the final price. The aforementioned unscrupulous brokers occasionally try to scam sellers by agreeing on a price with the buyer, reporting a lower price to the seller, and keeping the difference for themselves. Keep your eyes open.