Costa Rica

About Costa Rica:

Costa Rica sits between Nicaragua and Panama, with the Pacific on its western side and the Caribbean on its eastern one. The country is divided into seven provinces, San José, Alajuela, Heredia, Cartago, Guanacaste, Puntarenas and Limón, then into 84 cantons and close to five hundred districts. Of those layers, the canton is the one a buyer deals with, because each canton’s municipality issues the land-use certificate and the building permit and collects the property tax. Two international airports anchor the property map: Juan Santamaría in Alajuela serves the Valle Central, and Daniel Oduber in Liberia serves Guanacaste and the northern Pacific beaches. From the capital, Route 27 runs west to the Pacific port of Caldera and Route 32 crosses Braulio Carrillo to the Caribbean port of Limón.

The country holds a handful of property markets that barely overlap. The Gran Área Metropolitana spreads across parts of San José, Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago and carries most of the year-round demand, from towers and gated condominiums in Escazú and Santa Ana to older suburbs of detached houses and new housing near the free zones of Heredia and Alajuela. Guanacaste’s coast, from Playas del Coco and Tamarindo down to Nosara and Sámara, is the biggest beach market and grew up around the Liberia airport. The Central Pacific has Jacó, the closest beach town to the capital, and Quepos beside Manuel Antonio; further south, Dominical, Uvita and the Osa Peninsula are smaller, wetter and greener. On the Caribbean, Puerto Viejo and Cahuita draw a very different buyer from the port city of Limón, and the northern plains around San Carlos and La Fortuna mix cattle land and farms with tourism around Arenal.

Most of what sells is bought by Costa Rican families looking for a house within reach of work in the Valle Central. Foreign demand gathers in a few places: the Guanacaste, Central and South Pacific coasts, the southern Caribbean, and highland towns west of the capital such as Atenas and Grecia, long popular with retirees. The countryside runs its own land markets, with coffee fincas in Los Santos and on the slopes of the Valle Central, and cattle, fruit and farm land across the lowlands. Prices at the coast and at the top of the metropolitan market are mostly quoted in US dollars, while much of the rest is quoted in colones. Expect to compare offers in both currencies.

Terrain and rain decide a lot of what you buy. Volcanic ranges run down the middle of the country, and the altitude of the Valle Central, where the capital stands at 1,161 metres, is much of the reason people settle in its towns rather than on the hot coast. On the Pacific side the year splits into a dry season and a long rainy season, so in Guanacaste a dependable water source comes before the view, and further south a dirt road that is easy in March can be hard going in October. The Caribbean slope gets rain through most of the year. Two kinds of land sit outside the ordinary market altogether: the protected areas, and the 24 indigenous territories, which cover around 7 percent of the country.

Houses in Costa Rica:

The detached house is still the standard home. Around the capital it comes either in an older barrio on its own lot or inside a condominio, a gated development with shared security, common areas and a monthly fee. At the coast the range runs from simple houses in town to villas with pools in gated communities near Tamarindo, Playas del Coco and Nosara, and in the highlands from town houses to country homes on a few thousand square metres of garden. When you look at houses for sale in Costa Rica, compare the built area on the municipal record with what is standing, since many houses have been extended over the years, and in a condominio read the rules and the fee history before you make an offer.

Apartments in Costa Rica:

Apartments are mostly a Valle Central product. Towers cluster around La Sabana and Rohrmoser, in Escazú and Santa Ana, and increasingly in Heredia, sold to professionals, young couples and investors who plan to let them. On the coast the equivalent is the beach condo, in low-rise buildings and resort complexes in Jacó, Tamarindo and Playas del Coco, many bought as second homes and rented out when the owner is away. Ask how the building’s reserve fund stands and whether the condominium rules allow short stays before you buy with rental income in mind.

Rentals in Costa Rica:

Long-term renting is common in the metropolitan area, from furnished condos let in dollars to people posted to the country to family houses let in colones in the suburbs. At the coast the market follows tourism: the dry months from December to April fill holiday rentals, and long-term leases are easier to find in the green season. Renting for a season before you buy is the most useful thing a newcomer can do here, because a town in January and the same town in September are not the same place.

Land and Lots in Costa Rica:

Inside the metropolitan growth ring a buildable lot is scarce and usually sits in a condominio or on a slope. Outside it the choice opens up: view lots in the hills around the Valle Central, coffee and cattle fincas, riverside parcels, and titled lots a few blocks back from the beach in the coastal towns. Walk the boundaries with the plano catastrado in hand, because the drawing and the fence do not always agree. Before you sign for a rural lot, get a land-use certificate from the municipality and a written statement of water availability from AyA or the local ASADA, because the municipality will not approve construction on a lot that has no water. Land that came out of the state’s agrarian settlement programmes, now run by INDER, can carry limits on resale noted in the registry.

Beachfront and Concession Property in Costa Rica:

Under the Maritime Zone Law of 1977, the 200 metres measured inland from the ordinary high-tide line cannot be owned outright. The first 50 metres are public and nothing private may be built there; in the remaining 150 metres the municipality can grant a concession for a fixed term, normally where an approved coastal zoning plan exists. A concession is a right of use, not a title, and a foreigner can only hold one after five years of legal residence, a limit that also applies to companies more than half owned by foreigners. Much of what is sold as beachfront property in Costa Rica is in fact titled land just behind the zone or inside a town, so confirm which of the two you are buying before price comes into it.

New Developments in Costa Rica:

New building is concentrated in the metropolitan west and around Heredia, where towers and condominiums of houses go up on the remaining lots, and along the Guanacaste and Central Pacific coasts, where projects are beach condos and gated communities. Many are sold off-plan with a reservation deposit. Before you pay one, check the municipal construction permit and the environmental approval from SETENA, confirm that the condominium is or will be registered, and get the delivery date and the refund terms written into the contract.

FAQ:

• Can foreigners own property in Costa Rica?

  Yes. The Constitution gives foreigners the same individual rights as Costa Ricans, and that includes owning titled property, either in your own name or through a Costa Rican company. You do not need residency or a local address to buy. The one real exception is concession land inside the maritime zone, which a foreigner can hold only after five years of legal residence.

• How does a purchase work, and what should I check first?

  A Costa Rican notary public drafts the deed, both parties sign it, and the notary presents it to the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario) for registration. Before that, pull the folio real to confirm the owner, liens and annotations, and match the plano catastrado to the land on the ground. For a lot, add the municipal land-use certificate and proof of water. A straightforward cash purchase can close within a couple of months once those checks are clean.

• What does it cost to buy and to own a property?

  Budget three to five percent over the price to close. The largest part is the 1.5 percent transfer tax paid to the registry, with registry stamps and the notary’s fee making up the rest. Once the property is yours, you pay the municipality an annual property tax of 0.25 percent of the registered value, and homes above a value threshold set each year also pay the solidarity tax on luxury homes. In a condominium, budget for the monthly fee as well.

• Does buying property give me residency?

  Not on its own. Costa Rica has an investor residency category, and a property purchase above the minimum set by migration rules can support an application, but the figure and the paperwork belong to the immigration office, not to the sale. Check the current requirement before you plan a purchase around it.

• Where in Costa Rica can I not buy land?

  Inside state-owned national parks and reserves, in the 50-metre public strip along the coast, and in the country’s 24 indigenous territories. Under the Indigenous Law of 1977, territory land cannot be sold, rented or leased to anyone who is not indigenous, and any such deal is void. Several cantons contain a territory alongside ordinary land, so for rural property have the plano catastrado checked against the territory and protected-area boundaries before you pay a deposit.