Do you think that as soon as the real estate contract is signed, you can take the day off and celebrate? Had you heard about those horrible contract killers than can happen to anyone? I’m sorry but unless you have the perfect real estate contract and everything else falls in place, you will not be…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes Unless you love to suffer, do not sign an exclusive listing agreement for your property in Costa Rica with any real estate agency, no matter how sexy, famous, smooth, handsome, or successful the agent who promises to sell your property next week is. Why would you put all your eggs…
Many homeowners forget to give their property manager the necessary powers of attorney to do the job. Then they find out when it’s too late. This is more or less how it happens: Everybody involved in the real estate closing is exhilarated, the buyer most of all. Of course, she is. Susan just closed on…
“Darling, I love that luxury condo in Escazu, all those appliances are included; I just sent you the link so you can have a look at the photos. I asked the realtor if that 36” Sub-Zero side-by-side built-in is included in the sale.” “And you should see the rest of the appliances in the kitchen;…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes I’m a Costa Rica listing agent myself but I am always surprised about the bathroom listing photos some listing agents post on their websites. Is the listing agent really interested in selling the property advertised or is it a joke? And what is the reason for some of my colleagues…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes A helpful homeowner is cool, as long as he/she stays out of my way during showings. When I list a Costa Rica home for sale, I always instruct the homeowner what to do and what not to do when we show their house to a prospect. At least I try…
Do you think there are Costa Rican homes for sale with too much storage space. After 30 years of selling real estate, I still have to see the first one. I’m sure you have all this “stuff”, we call them “chunches” in Costa Rica. El “cuarto de chunches” is the room where you stick all…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes For your information, we have lots of volcanoes in Costa Rica When I started selling real estate in Costa Rica, roads were less crowded and we were very few real estate agents in Costa Rica. It was necessary to take listings that were within 5 hours drive from your real…
Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes Recently, GoDutch Realty Costa Rica has been able to secure an alliance with us at Tranio. Tranio is the largest directory of overseas property for international buyers. This international property website offers property for sale worldwide in over 30 countries. This will make the Costa Rica real estate listings more…
Estimated Reading Time: 5 Minutes There are always reasons you should NOT purchase a Costa Rica property. Cultural differences can be obstructive, especially if you are not aware of them and your neighbors could be one of them. Some of those issues, your real estate agent might or might not be aware of. Your agent doesn’t live there…
I published the first 3 tips on how to turn your Costa Rica house into a successful vacation rental last week. My wife and I purchased a house in Costa Rica before we were ready to retire. Now we are trying to cover the cost of the maintenance of the property by renting the property…
Did you know that water can be an issue when you request a building permit in an agricultural subdivision? Do you have a building lot in an agricultural subdivision in Costa Rica? Or maybe you are planning to buy one? If so, you better read this blog, so you can save yourself a lot of…
In this blog, and another one next week, I will provide some tips to turn your house into a successful vacation rental. These tips may assist you to increase your success rate if your intent is to purchase a property to rent out part or all of the time. This is based on my own…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes I’d like to tell you about the decision making process before we purchased an Atenas property. Walt Disney said that “dreams really do come true.” Now we believe it – or at least we are starting to. Ten years ago, Katya and I first visited Costa Rica. We stayed on…
Estimated Driving Time: 7 Minutes I’d like to introduce you to a couple of Orosi Valley real estate agents: Carol and BF Wilkinson of Land and Homes in Costa Rica. Not that I want you to purchase real estate from them! It’s quite the contrary to that. If you are not careful when you buy…
When buying a condo, you might not realize it, but the condominium might have an underfunded HOA, or it’s almost broke. The problem is that you won’t find out until the HOA sends out a notice about an upcoming extraordinary assessment. With 30 years of selling properties in Costa Rica under my belt, I’ve hardly…