Loan to value ratio or LTV is a ratio that reflects the relationship between how much you borrow and the appraised value of your property. For example, Joan wants to purchase a home for $100,000. She plans to make a down payment of 10 percent ($10,000) and finance the rest. This means her loan is…
It’s amazing how many emails we receive from future expats who ask about financing a business purchase or a startup. Lots of people who would love to move to Costa Rica but don’t have enough money to start or buy a business to make a living. A great option for those who don’t have enough…
Did you know that the mortgage rate in Costa Rica is outrageous? I pay 9.5% interest rate on my mortgage in U.S. dollars! Politicians have been debating, due to the elections 2018, about economic solutions for the last few months. Because the government needs money. Don’t we all? Now that Carlos Alvarado of PAC was…
The purchase of a Boutique Hotel on the Caribbean coast can be easy if you know what you’re doing. For an inexperienced hotel buyer and someone who doesn’t know how to do business in Costa Rica, it’s definitely not. Buying a hotel through a FSBO might only be a good option if you have a…
Are you buying a house in Costa Rica and needing bank financing to purchase? In that case, you need to qualify for a mortgage first. And you will also need a bank appraisal. The Spanish name for a bank appraisal is “avalúo bancario” and an appraiser is “perito valuador”. There are many more steps involved…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Questions like “we were wondering if it is possible to obtain financing as I am looking to finance a home purchase in Costa Rica” and “I am interested in this property, but need to know about financing first” are very common. So in this article, I will cover the issue of being…
The advertisement on Craigslist carries the title “Take over an existing mortgage on this property, cheap financing”. The first one to answer on the ad is a foreigner, Jim Luckydeal, who plans to move to Costa Rica and has been planning to buy a Costa Rican property for quite a while. The problem has been…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes You are selling a property in Costa Rica, your counteroffer was accepted, and now what? In Costa Rica real estate it is common to have sellers from different nationalities. They all have sold houses in their home country. And now they think they have experience in selling a property in…
I had the opportunity to a mortgage refinance on different properties in Costa Rica in December last year. So I’d end up with a mortgage on just my house. That way, I’d have the other properties free and clear. With the mortgage refinance I would pay no mortgage administration fees and make a much lower…
The Costa Rica real estate market has changed tremendously after the world wide real estate boom. Banks in Costa Rica never got involved with bad lending practices like what happened in the United States and Europe. So Costa Rica real estate prices have remained stable through the last 4 – 5 years. Will that go…
When you buy Costa Rica real estate and you need to finance the purchase, you will need to know some important facts about the mortgage cost. Like, who will register the mortgage and who will pay for this? Of course, you will ask the bank or whoever finances the purchase for information first. In case…
Owner financing might be a good solution when you try to sell your property in Costa Rica. But you need to get a good perspective of the market before you do so. I’d like to share my comments. I hope will be informational and helpful concerning owner financing to you, your family and friends. My…
Your American-European real estate agent can help you determine the best route for mortgages or financing in Costa Rica. This should be done according to conditions in the market and your personal situation. In today’s market, if you are looking to purchase a property through mortgage financing with a Costa Rican bank, you need to…
Looking to get financing for a Costa Rica real estate purchase? Then you need to fulfill several requirements for a mortgage. The most important one is that you need to be a resident of Costa Rica or you have to buy cash. Very few banks will give a mortgage to a non-resident. The mortgage rates are…
You need to have a hard look at the mortgage conditions each bank will give you if you plan to buy a Costa Rica property with a mortgage from a Costa Rican bank. Getting a mortgage in Costa Rica is very different from many other countries because we don’t have any mortgage brokers in Costa…