Costa Rica

Some people that decide to move down to Costa Rica picture their perfect house as an exotic bungalow surrounded by lush palm trees and facing the beautiful Ocean Front. Others see themselves living in a cattle-ranch hacienda. Still, others would prefer a more "civilized" option, and would settle for a home in or near a major city. Whatever your Real Estate need is, whether it be the City Loft or the Ocean Front Condo, we would love to help you find it in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is divided into seven provinces: San Jose, Heredia, Cartago, Alajuela, Guanacaste, Puntarenas and Limon. San Jose being the Capital. The last three provinces, Guanacaste, Puntarenas and Limon, all have one great asset in common- the beach. Unlike most of the world Costa Rica has a Concession line so that the beach is open to all public and cannot be owned. This gives everyone the same opportunity to live and visit any or the hundreds of beautiful beaches in Costa Rica. Concession begines 150 meters after the high tide point. A concession is in essence a “lease” on the property granted to the lessee for a specific period of time. Normally the concession period is granted for 20 years. An owner of a concession may build on that concession, subdivide the concession and perform other acts to the property. However, appropriate permits from the local municipality must be obtained. After 20 years the concession is fully re-newable assuming taxes are up to date. Playas del Coco in Guanacaste is our main area of focus and is currently booming with new developments. Playas del Coco is among the most known beach in the country. Located only 30m from the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia. Playas del Coco is the largest village in Guanacaste. A common spot for costaricans due to it being easily accessed from all of Costa Rica be it by bus which will pick you up in San Jose and bring you to Coco Beach for only a few bucks or by plan which will ensure a speedy arrival and cost on average of $100.00. Playas del Coco has a well developed infrastructure, with good costarican roads and plenty of shops, restaurants, bars, discos, casinos, hotels, resorts and markets to ensure your every need can be meet. Surrounded by steep cliffs and hills, the horseshoe shaped bay beach is the ideal place to relax and have fun. From Playas del Coco you can also head out to Pelonas Islands, Catalinas and Bat Islands, for some scuba diving which are excellent sites to spot turtles, sharks and octopuses in their natural environment.

We ourselves have a New Project which is to begun construction in June 2008. Fuente Del Mar is located in Coco Beach and is an Ocean Front, Ocean View Community consisting of 21 Houses, Condos, Villas and Apartments. There is also a small commercial center planned to ensure convenience for our members.

Recently we have completed Vista Perfecta I, which is a condominium complex of 13 units with a magnificent Ocean View of Coco Bay and the Pacific Ocean from the Master Bedroom, balcony and the third story rooftop terraces at prices that cant be beat anywhere in Costa Rica. There are no other projects like this one, centrally located with close to Playas del Coco, shopping, dining, night life and many other amenities, yet on a quiet hill side areas with a view to dream of.

Opportunity

Local Tourism market is at 7.5% annual growth rate. Rooms have been expanding at an annual rate of 4.5%. More than 1.5 million tourists visit Costa Rica every year. 48% from the USA, 16% from Europe, and 36% from other countries. The latest statistics show that more than 90% of the tourists who find their way to the airport in Liberia are flying in from the USA and that most of them spend their Costa Rican vacation in Guanacaste. The real estate business for foreigners is booming in Costa Rica and especially in Guanacaste where many pensioners and vacationers have purchased a home. More than 44,000 passengers came through Liberia’s Daniel Oduber International Airport in January, shattering all previous records. Aviation and tourism officials, who had optimistically predicted a modest ten per cent increase on last January’s passenger traffic were caught by surprise by the 24 per cent increase from the same month last year. These numbers are easy to understand when you consider that from Daniel Oduber Liberia International Airport a direct flight can easily take you to the US for a visit with the grandchildren or just a weekend of shopping, making living in a third world country more appealing and providing all the convenience of home while enjoying the beautiful beaches and nature of Guanacaste. Many great Real Estate Developments, including golf courses and marinas have filled into the Guanacaste area to help create the perfect home or investment opportunity.

Industry

The existence of great areas of tropical forests and volcanoes, as well as an affinity to tourists and the ability to quickly travel from coast to coast, has favored it to be one of the preferred ecological and nature hotspots. This magical combination, along with its large sun beach extensions, are earning for the country over $1.2 billion in foreign exchange reserves annually.

Real Estate Developments have been seen rising from $500.000.00 to $3.0M in value, including golf courses and marinas, while hotel infrastructure investment for 2003 tallied over $130 billion. Among the biggest hotel chains that have established important tourism operations in Costa Rica are Four Seasons, Inter Continental, Marriot, Holiday Inn, Best Western, Barceló and Sol Meliá, soon to start a new complex Hyatt. Employment levels for the industry as a whole are currently estimated at 86.000 people.

Workforce

The Costa Rican tourism industry  workforce has the following strategic characteristics: Highly qualified human resource availability, bilingual administrative personnel, a wide range of architectural, engineering and environmental consultants specialized in hotel development, universities and technical colleges annually graduate personnel in different areas required by hotel companies and offer specialized training in reservations, accounting, countering, maintenance and culinary skills, among many other industry oriented topics like a 2nd language.

Infrastructure

97.04% national electricity coverage → 99% urban potable water coverage (92% rural) →34.3 fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants → 933.63 internet users per 10.000 inhabitants.  

F.A.Q. about Costa Rica

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Which airlines travel to Costa Rica?

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What should I bring?

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Is there a good communication system?

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Is driving a good idea?

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What are the medical concerns and suggested vaccines?

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Buying Real Estate in Costa Rica

Most properties in Costa Rica are registered in a computer system called "Folio Real". This system is centralized at the offices of the Public Registry in San José. Before buying land (or even before seriously considering an offer to buy land) a title search in Folio Real should be performed.

Such a title search will show all data on the property, including area, ownership, boundaries, location, mortgages and other liens.

A few properties have not been incorporated to the "Folio Real" system yet. They are still registered in special books kept in the Public Register. Such properties may also be accurately title searched in the Public Registry.

When considering buying land, the first question to be asked is if you are being offered ownership rights (derecho de propiedad) or occupation rights (“derechos de ocupación”). In the case of occupation, you would be dealing with land that has not been registered, cannot be title-searched and must go through a long process in order to be registered. Ownership rights, in the contrary, are registered and are equal to the concept of owning land in the United States or Canada.

Another situation one may encounter regarding land, especially in beaches, is the concession. In this case, the government gives a private party the right to use the land for a specific period of time. In general terms, the concession may be considered as a lease. The concessions registration system is different than the one for regular land, and has particular requirements regarding zoning, terms, occupation, etc. In conclusion, before buying, before offering or even before seriously considering a piece of land, enquire about its status and perform a title search.

Building in Costa Rica

In order to build in Costa Rica, you will likely face a bureaucratic maze of governmental regulations. We at Tropical Coast Development would like to guide you and eliminate the stress of the paperwork by managing the process for you. In Costa Rica the law requires that any application for a construction permit be presented by a licensed architect or engineer. We have a large number of architects at our disposal, each with his own perspective to better suit the architectual design with your needs.

Phase 1. Construction plans and permits. This phase is further subdivided into several distinct professional services which we provided to our clients. The percentages cited below are those that the CFIA has established as minimum chargeable fees.

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