Costa Rica Real Estate, from Coast to Coast, the Right Way!!!

By Ivo Henfling for Easy Times

Before you plan to move to Costa Rica and you do your due diligence online, I'm sure you'll find some online Costa Rica forums that have interesting information and some other where you will find great info once in a while but don't let the bitchin' that's going on there scare you off.

The American European Real Estate Group offers you, the reader, an excellent online forum that is full of Costa Rica real estate information and other stuff. I try to keep up with questions and answers on different forums, which is where I get lots of ideas for my blogs and newsletters, which is where I found 'a good deal' too.

A good deal

What is a good real estate deal? To my opinion, a good real estate deal can only be called a good deal if you have all the necessary information to take the decision this is indeed a good deal. This is unfortunately what lacks most of the time, when people talk about getting a good deal. Every buyer, as well as every seller has different standards of what a good deal is. Recently, I found a great example forums that show you how wrong some can be and others listen to these comments like they were given by a real estate expert.

Question on Costa Rica Forum

This question was posted on a forum:  "Anyone knows if $159k is a good price for a property in Grecia with a river running through it and is on a mountainside? The property is 4800 sq meters and is on a paved road at edge of town- thank you"

Comment 1 on forum: "yes, that is high. Does it already have electricity and water in place?"

Comment 2 on forum: "I second that....we bought 3/4 of an acre with a wonderful vista, 3 years ago and paid $32,000.00...check around...be careful."

Is the price right?

Like in every location in the world, it is impossible to say if a price is right for a property without having seen it and having all the information about the property and its surroundings. You have to take into account:

1. Location, location, location. The building lot can be in the middle of town with high land prices and it can be in the middle of nowhere with low land prices. It depends on the town, the city, the amenities available in the close vicinity and the utilities available on the property itself.

2. How much road frontage is there, can the lot be subdivided?

3. If power and water are connected in front of the lot or need to be brought in from afar.

4. How the water pressure is and if there is need to build a water reserve tank with a pressure tank on the property to get sufficient pressure.

6. How is the topography of the property? How much flat land, how much buildable, how much so steep it is unusable.

7. Is the building lot or farm sub-dividable into several home sites, which will give it more value? Is there a zoning plan that does allow or prohibits it?

8. How does the property drain? Is it necessary to make new drain ditches? Sometimes the land was subdivided from the original owner incorrectly into several lots and these drains and other issues were not taken care of.

9. You are confirming a river goes through the land. Rivers have setbacks and other regulations. Some rivers have a 10 meter setback but some even 50 meters. You cannot build within that setback. The property might be worthless.

10. The property might have other regulations like a protection of a forest reserve, indicating you are not allowed to build at all.

11. How is the topography of the land? Could there be any possible future landslides ON the property? Or higher up on the mountain, or below it.  

12. Views are important to some, not at all to others, but a fact is that view property is always more expensive than property without views.

13. Can that view possible be taken away by a neighbor building right in front of you? What are the regulations there? Two stories, three stories? Is there any zoning plan that protects or regulates anything?

14. And last but not least: what are you prepared to pay and what is the seller prepared to sell for.

Use a good realtor no matter what

Many of these points show you would do well for yourself to use a (good) real estate agent to purchase a property, just to be sure you don't end up with all kinds of problems. When you can buy a property for a bargain or not, make sure you do a home inspection.

By Ivo Henfling, Costa Rica realtor covering Escazu real estate and Santa Ana but by lack of a good realtor in the Alajuela area also covering that area.

If you're ready to invest in property for sale in Costa Rica, cash or through your IRA, your 401K or your Canadian RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan), contact me now.

For any properties for sale we have in Grecia, contact Brooke Bishop. If you have any questions about Costa Rica zoning, go to our forum. AE realtors can show you plenty of testimonials from buyers as well as sellers.