Moran Real Estate

The Arenal Report

Purchasing Property

Costa Rican law does not restrict foreign ownership of Costa Rican property.

The process of purchasing a home or land here in Costa Rica is quite simple. Our agency will walk you through the process with ease and efficiency.

Once you have selected a home or parcel of land you may make a verbal offer to The real estate agent. We present the offer to the seller. The seller may agree to the offer or come back with a counter offer. Once a price is agreed upon we provide you with a well established Real Eatate attorney. The attorney will discuss with you the details of getting you to the closing.

A Purchase contract will be prepared with all the details and signed by the buyer and seller. You may want to set up a corporation and put your property in that corporation.

In some cases the property you are purchasing is already in a corporation and you can consider simply purchasing the shares of that corporation.

It is customary that the buyer pays the closing costs and the attorney fees (3.9% of the agreed sale price). The seller pays the Real estate commission.

In every purchase a due diligence is preformed by the attorney. Most buyers prefer to open an escrow account through a secure title company (STLA) designating that account to that particular property being purchased.

All Deposits are made to the escrow account and the (balance) full amount is transferred to the escrow account just prior to the closing date.

A closing statement is prepared and sent to both buyer and seller. On the closing day The Title is transferred electronically while the funds are also transferred to the seller.

The Costa Rican Government operates a computerized public registry of properties in Costa Rica which provides information as to ownership, title, liens, encumbrances, boundaries, property taxes and other recorded documents, so that clear title can be assured when property is purchased.

We recommend the use of a reputable attorney when purchasing property in Costa Rica and we can provide you with a list of honest lawyers.