Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes When you rent in Costa Rica, you always have to make a security deposit. Do you want to learn more about the security deposit? This article focuses exclusively on security deposits for long-term renting. Information about short-term and vacation rentals is not included here. Among the various aspects of the…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Does the property you are purchasing have a water easement? When you buy a property in Costa Rica, you will want to verify if the property has access to water and if the water is legally connected. Do you know why? In many countries, the water connection on a property…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Foreign buyers often assume we have lockboxes in Costa Rican real estate. Well, we don’t! Potential buyers assume real estate agents can make a showing appointment on the spur of the moment. Unfortunately, it takes more than just finding space on the realtor’s agenda. We don’t have lockboxes in Costa…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes How many times do you purchase a property in a lifetime? Not very often, right? You want to do it correctly, especially when you’re not used to real estate transactions in Costa Rica. Of course, you don’t know which real estate contingencies you should consider when offering on a property…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Due to the significant restrictions, it is essential to learn as much as possible about Costa Rica’s beachfront property before purchasing it. To begin, find an attorney who specializes in maritime law and zoning. Most attorneys probably know as much about maritime zoning and beachfront property as a realtor in…
Estimated reading time: 11 Minutes I’m sure you already know that, like everywhere else, there are advantages and disadvantages to living in Costa Rica. My lifestyle differs totally from my neighbor’s, so what can be an advantage for my neighbor is probably not for me. My neighbor thinks the world turns around him, and we…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Obtain residency in Costa Rica through your real estate purchase. You can buy a property anywhere in Costa Rica, live in it, and use the purchase as an investment to apply for your Costa Rica residency. In January of 2011, the government published the proposed regulation to the Immigration law,…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes It is not always easy to stay happy in Costa Rica, and for anyone from a different culture, moving to paradise can be a little hard at times. Moving to another country can be exciting but also challenging. After over 45 years of “almost” complete happiness, I still live in…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes To FSBO or not to FSBO in Costa Rica: that is the question. Well, we’ll get to that. First, what is FSBO (pronounced fizz-bow)? FSBO stands for For Sale By Owner Costa Rica, which is precisely what it sounds like: a property owner trying to sell their property in Costa…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Is the cost of living in Costa Rica high or not? In May 2022, the Tico Times published an article by Christopher Howard titled “Why is the cost of living in Costa Rica so high?” Christopher and I have both been here since the 80s, so we’ve seen the Colon…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes Do you need to send money to Costa Rica? Is it easy to wire money to someone else to make payments? You could give your realtor cash to make your payments some years ago. Money laundering laws have made that impossible. The whole process of moving to Costa Rica is…
Did you know that finding an address in Costa Rica is difficult because we don’t have addresses? We don’t have street names or house numbers. Google Maps calls the road where our office is Carretera John F Kennedy. Don’t try to ask a Tico for this street name, because they won’t know. They’ll only understand…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes It takes some guts to move to Costa Rica, but it’s a lot easier now than 45 years ago. For most of those years, I’ve relocated thousands of expats. Some consider moving abroad when a new president takes office in the USA or Canada. Costa Rica is usually pretty high…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Christmas is coming up, so your employees will receive the Aguinaldo, or Christmas bonus. Under Costa Rican labor laws, the Aguinaldo is an obligation if you employ a maid, a gardener, or any other employee in Costa Rica. The Aguinaldo, or Christmas bonus in English, is an “additional salary.” Any employer…
Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes It is important to know, for all parties involved, what the role of the real estate agent is in the purchase process. When you plan to purchase a property in Costa Rica you will probably contact a Realtor to help you find the right property. Doing so makes you want…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes There are several great benefits to listing a property for sale on the MLS Costa Rica. When looking to sell, property owners often don’t know where to advertise their property for sale. Of course, you can try listing on For Sale by Owner or Craigslist. Nonetheless, buyers will find very few…