Real Estate purchase

The Costa Rican legislation guarantees the absolute right to own a private property.

It secures the acquisition, the property and the sale of real estate and includes not only properties but also the buildings on them.

Even for non-resident persons, buying and owning real estate in Costa Rica is possible and can be quite profitable. There are restrictions on 50-meter coastlines (which is public domain) and on 150-meter coastlines (where a management plan is required).This regulation is valid for both locals and foreigners.

Property Registration:

The system of the property registration is organized and optimized. According to the Civil Code (Codigo Civil) of Costa Rica, all proprietary titles are in the national registration authority in the department of property (Registro de la Propiedad) located in the Registro National. All property documents are stored here (Informe Registral) and contain extensive informations about the surrounding properties, including mortgages or usufruct rights. Each document with a registration number (folio real) is indexed, so fast access is secured.

To buy a Property:

Careful investigations always should be done about the corresponding proprietary title. Existing mortgages or usufruct rights, are registered at the time of a purchase will be effective for the buyer. The Seller should give the corresponding land-register plan to the buyer to check, if the legal stamp of the land-register office (Catastro Nacional) shows up on it. This land-register plan, (plano catastrado), shows the exact borders of the property. If the property was parceled before, the necessary authorization stamp of the community (visado municipal), is on the rear part of the plan.

The actual transfer of the title is sealed by the sales contract (Escritura de Traspaso). If you stretch the transfer process over a longer time period, a pre-contract or optional contract (Promesa Reciprocal de Compra-Venta) can be made. The buyer of a property has the election, to write the sales contract for individual, together with other people or complete in the name of a public limited company, with the advantage that the protection against hidden obligations is in this way bigger since the shareholders of a public limited company are not liable with their entire fortune. Another possibility of the liability restriction applies for couples: If both partners are together and inclusive for living they acquire a property, it can be used for the control of the common debts.

For the signature of the sale contract, an official notary, who runs a private office and is a licensed lawyer in addition, must be present.

For extra expenses: real estate taxes, land taxes, stamp, and for the lawyer duties add about 3,6% of the total investment

DISTANCE AND LAND AREA CONVERSION TABLE  

DISTANCE AND LAND IN COSTA RICA IS MEASURED IN THE METRIC SYSTEM  

DISTANCE:

1 MILE = 1.61 KILOMETERS

1 KILOMETER = .6214 MILES

1 METER = 3.28 FEET

1 FOOT = .304 METERS

1 YARD = .914 METERS

1 METER = 1.09 YARDS

1 INCH = 2.54 CENTIMETERS

AREA:

1 HECTARE = 10,000 SQ. METERS = (107,600 SQ. FT.)

1 MANZANA = 7,000 SQ. METERS = (75,600 SQ. FT.)

1 ACRE = 4,049 SQ. METERS = (43,560 SQ. FT.)

1 MANZANA = .698896 HECTARES

1 MANZANA = 1.73 ACRES

1 ACRE = .405 HECTARES

1 HECTARE = 2.47 ACRES