by Ivo Henfling

In all my years as a Costa Rica real estate agent, I have had very few clients ask for Costa Rica title insurance. North American buyers are used to take title insurance when they purchase a property but a European or Costarican client don’t even know what title insurance is.

When you purchase a home or land in Costa Rica, you should be purchasing land that is free and clear from any claims, debts or other impediments. Costa Rica's national registry operates under the Torrens system, so with the proper steps you can be certain that your title is free and clear. For sure you don't want the headache of a bad title, so make sure you are informed about your options.

By Ivo Henfling

Do not lose any sleepless nights over the new Costa Rica corporation tax, GoDutch Realty has the solution for you. Now, if you own a Costa Rica corporation or Sociedad Anonima or S.A. you are supposed to pay tax on this corporation. The new corporation tax in Costa Rica is something that many property owners do not know how to handle. Especially those who not live in Costa Rica don’t know how to pay these taxes. GoDutch Realty is of course the first Costa Rica real estate company offering a solution to this. There has been talk about this corporate tax for a year and now it has happened. For the exact details on the what, the how and how much, you can read our last blog about it and for even more details go to our blog on the American European Real estate Group’s website.

The fact is that many people own a corporation in Costa Rica which in turn owns a property or several properties or a car. Others had their attorney constitute a new corporation to start a business in Costa Rica or planned to buy a Costa Rica property but never got to it for some reason and left the company without use. Now is the time to act.

By Ivo Henfling

Before you sell your property in Costa Rica, you should plan for what can soon be an important issue for you. I mean, when you receive your check at closing, what will you do with it and how will you get the money to where you are moving to? I know, it sounds kind of weird but with today’s money laundering laws and before you get accused of being a drug dealer, you need to make sure you take the right steps.

First of all, by Costarican law, you don’t have to pay any capital gains in Costa Rica. You probably DO have to pay capital gains in your home country, so that is something to take into account. You don’t want to send a lot of money back home and have the tax department asking you where all that money came from.

By Ivo Henfling

Years ago, we would all get hundreds of flyers in the mail, offering all kinds of services and products. Some years later, we would get all these faxes in the middle of the night, because it is cheaper. Then the spam emails started, hundreds of them, every day. The latest waste of time and a huge bother for many is phone calls and text messages from banks, cable TV services and the phone company, offering their newest services.

I wish they were just offering, sorry, I should say PUSH their services. It drives me nuts. I sell products myself; I sell real estate in Costa Rica. But I send you only a blog once a week, and if you don’t want to receive it, you just unsubscribe from the service, you will never get it again. Financial institutions have other ideas though.

By Ivo Henfling

The new Costa Rica residency card is worrying some residents unnecessarily. Some online newspapers in English,  like AM Costa Rica, Inside Costa Rica and the Tico times reported this week about the new DIMEX residency cards but the information wasn’t clear what a DIMEX residency card is. For that reason, I have received several emails from my readership, worried about not being able to do any bank business without the new residency card. of course you will also need this residency card to buy Costa Rica real estate although you will be able to do that also with your passport.

By Ivo Henfling
 

I just went through the nicest Costa Rica real estate closing of my life, even though it was probably one of the most difficult ones too. I have had some real nice closings but I’ve also had some real impossible ones. Well, we went through practically every obstacle that anyone could ever come up with, mainly because this sale involved bank financing through a Costarican bank. I had the perfect buyers, the perfect sellers and the perfect bank employee in one room, quite a feat on itself. I am having a very low opinion of bank employees lately, but Nataly was incredible and unusual responsive and cooperative. This was a deal with a lot of heroes in it.
 

By Ivo Henfling
 

Not every Costa Rica real estate closing is fun. When you purchase Costa Rica real estate and you have a Costa Rica bank mortgage involved, the documents mentioned in part 1 will pre-qualify you (or not) and once this is all approved by the bank, you can go on to the next step.

The paperwork mentioned in part I is mostly the same in every Costa Rican bank, but make sure you ask the documents enquired for the mortgage with the bank you will be working with. My nicest Costa Rica real estate closing was done through BAC San Jose and thanx to an ourstanding bank executive and very cooperative buyers and seller, this real estate closing had a very happy ending.

Your realtor should be able to help you on the property tax certification. Some property owners will have paid their Municipal and property taxes for the whole years but being able to show a receipt is not enough.

By Ivo Henfling

My mom and dad had Costa Rica retirement dreams over 30 years ago, and they made them happen. At the time, retiring to Costa Rica was an incredible adventure and it still is.

My mom and dad didn’t buy their home in Costa Rica from a GoDutch Realty agent, because GoDutch Realty didn’t exist at the time. Big mistake! So they lived here only for like 6 years and moved on to the Canary Islands where they were not happy again. Guess why? Just joking but trying to make you clear why I wrote this blog.
 

By Ivo Henfling

Yes, why keep money in your Costa Rica bank account if they don't even pay you 1% interest on your money. Invest in Costa Rica real estate through your preferred realtor Ivo Henfling and I can get you 6% at a bare minimum. You don't have your money in a Costarican bank account but sitting in some retirement fund like an IRA, a 401K or a Canadian RRSP? Why would you want to do this to yourself?

Why am I saying this? Because I just listed this perfect investment property that I sold the actual owner about 5 years ago and is waiting for this smart investor. I personally supervised the remodeling of this property and can assure you its well done. Meanwhile, the owner got sick and let it go a bit, so it needs some care and some more love. Its some hunidity problem here and there and check on the gutters, nothing like a big deal but the potential is incredible. And when I say its not a big deal, its not.

by Ivo Henfling

When I started writing this article about the angry seller of Costa Rica real estate last week, I found out that there were more than only 5 points that made my life miserable on that last deal I did were I had an angry seller because the sellers decided to take the buyer’s offer.

Let me repeat point 1 again, so you don't have to go back to the other article all the time:

1. Yes, the Costa Rica realtor gets paid by the seller, but not until the real estate closing. The realtor does not get paid for advertising, gasoline, tires, phone bills lunches with clients and all efforts made unless he/she sells the property in Costa Rica. Just the fact that the sellers pay the real estate commission doesn’t give you the rights to abuse the realtor.

By Ivo Henfling

When you buy a Costa Rica real estate, you need to pay for it, right? Well, nowadays it is not easy to open a bank account in Costa Rica. So what do you do and how do you get your money here?

Most who are looking to buy a house from a GoDutch realty agent, do not realize this might be an issue.

That is one of the many reasons you should use a qualified real estate agent to purchase your Costa Rica property. You will need to either choose a real estate attorney for you closings who also has an escrow account in Costa Rica or you should use a Title company in Costa Rica for their trust and escrow services. Read on and ask your GoDutch Realtor to help you on this.