Processes

Sales Process Overview: Part 4

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This is part 4 of a 4 part series. Click for: Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3

Due Diligence

The term for due diligence is normally 3 weeks, and closing is usually in 4. Due diligence starts when the deposit is made, which follows the the written Offer to Purchase having been signed by buyer and seller. This document will have the contingency points detailed out. Some properties have no contingency points, some have several, it depends on the property. This is one of the more important areas where you, the buyer, have to rely on the expertise of your broker.

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Escrow in Costa Rica Real Estate

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signing-costa-rica-real-estate-contract

About a year ago, my business partner Ben, with his unique perspective on Costa Rica real estate, wrote about the changes with “escrow accounts” in his blog article- Wire Transfers, Escrow & An Investment Idea. He explained, For years we have used a rather casual system here in Costa Rica by which lots of land … Read more

Getting Health Insurance in Costa Rica

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Photo of a stethoscope for the article on health insurance in Costa Rica

I am 53 years old and have just gone through the process of applying for private health insurance. There are two types of health care in Costa Rica. One is socialized medicine. All residents of Costa Rica are required to pay into what is called “caja” (KAH-hah) insurance. This runs me about $25 per month. … Read more

How To Buy… And End Up Happy

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We had an inquiry recently that concluded in a remarkable way. This gentleman said, “I will accept defective land due to lack of funds. (I was ripped off 5 times!).” I had to ask myself, how does one experience being “ripped off 5 times” in a country where the process of buying land it quite … Read more

Wire Transfers, Escrow and an Investment Idea

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When you buy a piece of property in Costa Rica, you will likely wire money from your home country bank to a Costa Rica escrow service. This can be quick and easy, or it can be a major pain in the neck. Life used to be so easy before terrorism… and drug running… and global economic crisis… and climate change and…

Funny thing, we used to find things to complain about, even before all this wonkiness in the world. Had we only known then what we know now.

It has gotten a bit dicey moving money around this planet. There is the off chance that you might be laundering some drug money, setting up to fund an attack of some kind, or generally not doing things just right, so there are safeguards.

For years we have used a rather casual system here in Costa Rica by which lots of land was bought & sold. Buyers generally put 10% of the purchase price of a piece of property into escrow while we real estate guys and the lawyers went about being duly diligent making sure that the property was what it claimed to be.  That money was put into what we called an “escrow” account.

Well, as it turns out, those escrow accounts were anything but actual escrow accounts.  They were simply

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Real Estate Guy’s Super Powers

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A typical conversation in a-day-in-the-life of a Costa Rica real estate agent.
Visitor – Hey Ben, howzit going?
Ben – Good man. How’r you?
Visitor – Good. How are things in The Zone?
Ben thinking to himself – (Translation: Are properties selling? Are prices going up? What is this season like? What is the coming season going to be like? How much is my property worth? What is the effect of the global economic crisis on Costa Rica? I’m thinking of selling my property, is now a good time to sell? I’m thinking about buying a property, is now a good time to buy? Etc etc…)
Ben talking – Going fine. We’re not in a boom by any means, but by contrast with the last couple years, we feel encouraged.
Visitor – Sounds good. What’s selling?
Ben thinking – (or – Are prices going up? What is this season like? What is the coming season going to be like? How much is my property worth? What is…)

It is like having a super-power. Perhaps a bit overstated, but essentially true. The nature of the business of real estate does give one an ear to the ground on how things are going with the economy, social trends and by extension, the quality of life In The Zone. We all are curious to some degree about “what’s going to happen” and so we are on the watch for data, for information that’ll give us a clue as to what the future will be like.

To illustrate: Pre-Super Bowl talk shows. These popular shows are really about nothing more than guessing what is about to happen in the next few minutes. Player’s strengths and weaknesses are analyzed, their past injuries are discussed, and notable personal traumas might even play a bit into the picture. And this is all around what is about to happen with something that really isn’t going to impact the quality of anyone’s life to any appreciable degree! We humans love to speculate on what is going to happen in the future.

So, I’ll give you my read. I’ll tell you what my crystal ball says regarding what the future might look like here in The Zone. To do so however,

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