Real Estate in Costa Rica
You do not need to be a resident or citizen of Costa Rica to buy and own real estate. You can even use your IRA funds to buy properties here. Property in Costa Rica used to be cheap but due to the popularity of the country, the days of $2,000 or even the $20,000 lots near the ocean are long gone. In fact, land here often sells for as much or more than land in various parts of the United States.
Protect Your Investment Dollars
The best way to protect yourself from fraud or or other scams is to educate yourself on the different tactics used to separate you from your money. Here is a quick summary of some of the things that you need to be aware of:
Real Estate = Caution!
The truth is almost anything goes. I strongly you read about some of the real estate scams to get an idea of why each step is important. There is no Multiple Listing System (MLS) like the US and anyone can and does call themselves a “Real Estate Agent” or even a “Realtor.” The vast majority of all real estate transactions here still occur the same way they transpired for generations - by word of mouth.
There are no standard contracts, there are no escrow companies, the real estate agencies have no fiduciary duties to any party, the attorneys are never to be trusted with money and the title insurance companies do not protect you from the most common types of fraud. Even the Costa Rican Supreme Courts are divided on who keeps the property and money in the event of real estate fraud!
Costa Rica has been called the “Wild West of Real Estate.” In part this is due to some of the arcane laws of Costa Rica but, the real culprit is due to the unregulated real estate industry. Leave what you know about real estate in the US or Canada at home and start over from scratch.
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