Buying a Home in Costa Rica

Step 1: Build your team

Before you fall in love with a house, line up the people who protect you:

• A reputable Costa Rican attorney, ideally one who works with foreign buyers every week, not once a year. We connect our buyers with attorneys we trust.
• An independent escrow service, reputable closings run funds through escrow, just like home. Never wire purchase funds directly to a seller.
• Us. Costa Rica Vision has spent more than 10 years guiding buyers through this coast’s market, which listings are priced to move, which need a second look, and what’s actually worth your time.

Step 2: Search the title

Every property we show has clean, verified title, and you should accept nothing less. Your attorney searches the National Registry to confirm the seller actually owns the property, that it’s free of liens and that the boundaries match what’s being sold. If a deal can’t produce clean title, walk away. No exceptions, no matter how pretty the pictures.

Step 3: Make the offer

Offers here work much like home: price, closing timeline and contingencies for due diligence and financing. In today’s market, deep inventory heading into high season, serious buyers have real negotiating room on price, terms and timelines. This is where having someone who knows which sellers are motivated pays for itself.

Step 4: Do your due diligence

This is the step that separates a great purchase from an expensive lesson:

• The maritime zone. You can never privately own the first 50 meters from the ocean’s high-tide line, and the next 150 meters require a municipal concession. Buying near the beach? Your attorney confirms exactly where the property sits.
• Permits and construction. Confirm the build permits exist and match what’s standing. Unpermitted construction is one of the most common headaches we see.
• Own it the smart way. Most foreign buyers hold property in a Costa Rican corporation. We’ll explain why and connect you with the right attorney to set it up.

Step 5: Understand the closing costs

Beyond the price, budget 3.5–6% in closing costs: 1.5% transfer tax, 0.5% National Registry, roughly 0.35–0.85% in municipal and agrarian stamps, 1–1.5% notary and legal, plus 13% VAT on the legal fees. Escrow adds about 0.25%, worth every colón (pronounced koh-LOHN, the currency of Costa Rica). These are traditionally split with the seller but fully negotiable. For the homes we build and sell in our area, the realistic number tends to land right around 3.5% of the purchase price.

One more thing worth knowing: in Costa Rica the seller pays the realtor commission (typically 5–6% plus VAT, split when both sides have agents). Come straight to us without a buyer’s agent and that 3% stays in your pocket, not in a commission split.

Step 6: Close through escrow

Funds move through independent escrow, the notary executes the transfer deed, and the new title registers in your name (or your corporation’s). From accepted offer to keys, a clean transaction typically closes in 4–6 weeks.

Step 7: After closing

Set up your corporation’s annual obligations, arrange property management if you’ll rent the home while you’re away, and, this is the fun part, start planning your first trip as an owner, not a visitor.