Costa Rica Real Estate Law

In that sense, we visit the Costa Rican National Registry, the Municipality where the property is located, determine the tax status of the seller, and especially inform our client if the property has a clear title with no liens, encumbrances, mortgages or any other note present in the registry report of the centralized system. Trust GLC Real Estate Attorneys Title Search services.

GLC International’s Real Estate Attorneys will recommend the best legal structure to proceed with the negotiation once the title search has been carefully analyzed. Contact us for more information about Costa Rica Title Search.

Escrow services is a common practice in North American closings, the escrow services are provided in Costa Rica only by authorized entities. In that sense, GLC Real Estate Attorneys will be able to assist you in the opening of a Costa Rican escrow account with specific instructions that will describe in detail how the payment disbursement will occur. Contact us for more information about Costa Rica Escrow Service. 

Once the title search determines that the property can be purchased, our Costa Rica real estate lawyers will draft an option to buy agreement, which constitutes a promissory contract in which both parties, the seller and the buyer agree on the terms in which the purchase will take place, price, timeframe, special conditions, payment schedule, all prior to the closing of the property.

The option to buy is government by Costa Rican real estate law and should be prepared by qualified real estate law specialists, in many cases it is a sine qua non-requirement for obtaining financing from local and international banks.

Today most of the considerable land transactions taking place in Costa Rica are conducted through a guarantee trust that has basically substituted the use of mortgage recording offering several taxes, fees, and image benefits.

The Costa Rican guarantee trust has three main parties, The Trustor (The Seller), The Trustee (a third-party depositor), and the Beneficiary (The Buyer). If you find a property that you want to purchase and don’t have all the necessary funds, you could obtain private financing through the figure of a guarantee trust, in which the owner of the property transfers the property to a recognized trustee until you make all the payments, once the payments are confirmed the trustee will transfer the property to you, if the terms are breached by the buyer, the property is transferred back to the seller. Contact us for more information about Costa Rica Trusts Service.

Our attorneys specialized in Costa Rican real estate law are also public notaries who will take care of all documents and procedures necessary to record the property in the buyer’s name and Legal representation at closing. We work on:

• Creation of the legal structure for the Costa Rica Closing, which could include the incorporation of a Costa Rican company.
• Draft of the Purchase and Sale Agreement in a public transfer deed or Share Endorsement Agreement, according to the specific needs of each client for the closing.
• Professional coordination with the seller and his attorneys.
• Registering of the Transfer Deed at the Public Registry and specialized legal follow-up after the Costa Rica Closing.

Prior to the closing our Costa Rican real estate lawyers will calculate all the closing expenses and fees so that you can negotiate payment with the seller, please take into consideration that transfer deed expenses are estimated by the government based on a percentage of the declared fiscal value and at the same time real estate lawyers have a mandatory predetermined official fee-based also on the value of the transaction, it is important to have a clear idea of this aspect so that you can focus on the negotiation.

Property Taxes

It is mandatory to pay for property taxes in the corresponding local government, the taxes are paid every three months and include land taxes and municipal services. Our firm can establish a property tax service for you so that you can avoid dealing directly with this aspect. Contact us for more Costa Rica Post Closing.