Guides
How to buy land in Costa Rica, step by step
From the first visit to a deed registered in your name. Four to eight weeks, half a dozen documents, and one decision that matters more than the rest.
1. Walk the land
Go in person if you possibly can, and go in the rainy season if you can choose. A parcel in Guanacaste in February and the same parcel in October are two different pieces of land: the road that is dust in the dry season is what you will be driving in the green season, and the low corner that looks like a nice flat spot may be where the water sits.
Walk the boundaries with the seller and a copy of the cadastral plan in hand. Note where the power line ends, where the water pipe is, and where the neighbour's fence actually runs, which is not always where the plan says it does.
2. Hire your own attorney
This is the decision that matters. In Costa Rica the notary who drafts the deed is frequently proposed by the seller, and that is legal and normal. It is also not the same thing as having someone whose professional duty is to you.
Budget a few hundred dollars for an independent attorney to do the title search and review the contract. Ask for someone who works in Guanacaste; the Registro is national but the municipalities are not, and local knowledge on land use is worth paying for.
3. The title search
Your attorney pulls the estudio registral for the folio real, the property's registry number. It shows who owns it, the registered area, and every lien, mortgage, easement, judicial annotation and usufruct attached to it.
What you are checking: that the seller is the registered owner, that the property is free of liens, that the registered area matches the plan, and that there is legal access to a public road. That last one catches more people than everything else combined. A parcel reached across a neighbour's land with a handshake is a parcel you cannot get a building permit for.
The search is repeated on the day of signing, not a month before. Liens can be registered in between.
4. The reservation and the contract
A reservation deposit takes the parcel off the market while the checks happen. Put it into escrow with an attorney or a licensed escrow company, not into the seller's personal account, and make sure the agreement says what happens to it if the title search turns something up.
The purchase agreement, the compraventa, should state the price, what is included, who pays which closing costs, the deadline, and the conditions under which you walk away with your deposit. If you are financing with the developer, this is the document where the questions on the owner financing page get answered in writing.
5. Signing and registration
The deed, the escritura, is drafted by the notary, signed by both parties, and filed with the Registro Nacional. Registration takes days once filed. Until the transfer is registered, you are not the owner, whatever the contract says.
Your attorney should give you the filing receipt and then the registered folio real showing your name. Do not consider the purchase complete until you have seen the second one.
6. Afterwards
Register the property with the municipality for the annual property tax and file the declaration of value they ask for every five years. If you skip it the municipality assigns a value itself, usually not in your favour.
If you plan to build, the sequence is land use certificate, then water availability letter, then plans stamped by the CFIA, then the municipal building permit. Start the water letter early; it is the one that takes the longest and the one that can stop the project.
Frequently asked questions
What are the total closing costs?
Budget around 3.5 to 4 percent of the registered value between transfer tax, documentary stamps and notary fees. Who pays them is negotiable and is often split; put it in the contract.
Can I do this remotely?
Yes, with a power of attorney granted to your Costa Rican attorney, executed at a Costa Rican consulate or before a notary with an apostille.
What if the registered area is wrong?
It happens, especially on older farms. The fix is a new survey and a correction filed at the Catastro, which takes time and money. Find out before you sign, not after.
Do I need a survey of my own?
If the cadastral plan is recent and matches what you walked, usually not. If the plan is decades old, or the fences do not match it, pay a topógrafo. It is cheap next to the problem it prevents.
This is not legal advice. Hire your own Costa Rican attorney before you sign anything or send any money.
This is a referral site. The developments belong to their developers; the commission is paid by the developer, not by the buyer.