How quickly your property sells depends partly on your motivation, partly on market conditions, and partly on the location and characteristics of the property itself. As far as motivation goes, first you must ask yourself the question, why am I selling? If you’re selling for reasons of liquidity (you need cash), crisis (you need to be back home to take care of a sick relative), or anything else urgent, the speed at which your property sells will be of the utmost importance. Here, the timetable is up to you: Properties priced to sell do, indeed, sell, and if your need truly is urgent, pricing your property at or below market value will make it move quickly. If you’re selling to recoup an investment, profit from a development, or simply move somewhere else, time will be less important than a good price, so you’ll be willing to wait longer to get a better price.

After motivation, market conditions will hold the most sway in how quickly your property sells. Like anything else, real estate follows the rules of supply and demand. The greater supply-to-demand, the harder it will be to sell. The reverse is true as well: With demand outstripping supply, properties sell fast, and at higher prices. One rough way to measure supply is to take a look around your neighborhood. The more “for-sale” signs you see, the greater the likelihood that the market is not good. To measure demand, talk to a few brokers and see how quickly product is moving. A busy broker means demand is up. A broker with a lot of inventory might be a sign that demand is down.

Finally, the cliché that the three most important characteristics of a piece of real estate are location, location, and location, is especially true in Costa Rica. As you’ve probably gathered from reading this book, Costa Rican real estate is a series of micro-markets. Beach condos in Guanacaste sell to a completely different rhythm and clientele than country homes in Cartago. The area where your property is located might be hot (southern zone), might be established (Escazu), or it might be peaking (Tamarindo). Coupled with the variety of property you’re selling (condo, retirement home, million-dollar mansion), location will be a deciding factor in how quickly your property sells.