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Did you know we might measure properties in Costa Rica in a different way than you do? It depends on which measurement system you were educated in.
When in school, you might have learned to measure properties in yards, inches, square feet, and acres. Well, in Costa Rica, all that is no good, and you will have to learn about a different system. Unless you have found a real estate agent you trust.
If you are buying property in Costa Rica, you will find that we measure properties with the metric system. Although many real estate companies list the size of the house for sale in square feet and the size of the land in acres as well as in hectares.
I know you do it differently back home. But just like you have to learn the Spanish language to make your new life easier, you will also need to understand how we measure properties in Costa Rica.
To help you a little with this difficult part of buying property for sale, we’ve made a Costa Rica Land Measurement Chart below
Measure under roof
Houses in Costa Rica are measured by taking the width by the length of the house, as opposed to many places on earth where they measure interior space, a/c space or even by volume. Houses in Costa Rica are measured in square meters or m2 and everything under the roof is what counts. To get to find what the size of the house is in square feet, take the size in meters and multiply it by 11 is an easy shortcut.
Costarican builders and real estate agents just take the full measurement of interior spaces as well as exterior spaces. Some might not include a covered terrace; most do include the garage as they always have tiled floors and are mostly finished as nicely as the living room.
Registered size of a house in Costa Rica
The size of the house is never registered in the National Registry or on the survey. For those reasons, most options to purchase sale agreements will show an approximate size of construction. The only way to find out the size of the house would be to measure it. Or you can try to find the construction plans in the Municipality. You will need a lot of magic for the second option.
Registered size of a condo
The size of a condo in Costa Rica is what will show in the National Registry and will show the size of the living space only. Many condos will include parking spaces and storage spaces as common areas. Some will have a separate registered title with their own survey for the parking and another for the storage. In others, the parking areas and storage spaces are part of the common area.
Registered size of land
All land is registered in the National Registry in meters. But you will find that property will be described in a listing in m2 when it is under 10,000 m2 and in hectares when it is more than that. One hectare stands for 2.5 acres. Although, you’ll still find a lot of local farmers use the word manzana, which is 7,000 meters (1 3/4 acre). A manzana is the size of the minimal allowed agricultural lot size.
When you purchase a property in Costa Rica, make sure the size on the survey map is the same as the one shown in the National Registry. If the difference is more than 10%, you need to talk to your attorney for a recommendation before you purchase.
Shortcuts
Easy shortcuts for you would be:
- Translate 1 linear meter (m1) into linear foot: multiply meters by 3 (to be exact 3.28).
- Translate 1 square meter (m2) into square foot: multiply by 11 (to be exact 10.76).
- One meter is one big step of a middle-sized person, for easy measurement.
- One hectare is 2.5 acres.
When you buy property in Costa Rica, make sure you do it through a real estate agent who knows how to measure properties in Costa Rica. Talk to a GoDutch realty agent now.
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I want to remind our readers that we appreciate any referrals you can send us. Also, remember GoDutch Realty when talking about your home in Costa Rica to friends and family. We appreciate it.
