How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa by Christopher Howard

What This Costa Rica Real Estate Book Will Do For You
This is not a book about living in Costa Rica; it is a 140 page comprehensive English-language guide to buying Costa Rica real estate. 

When you search for suitable Costa Rica real estate, whether it is to live in or purely as an investment, you need to be informed about the challenges of Costa Rica real estate: 

Contrary to what some people may have told you, there is no Multiple Listing Service! Trying to establish the 'value' of real estate is difficult. 

Half the population of Costa Rica call themselves 'brokers' because anybody can freely call themselves a real estate 'broker'. They do not need any qualifications, training or experience to try and sell you real estate. 

An organization of real estate brokers does exist; however, few people belong to it and nobody is regulating the majority of these people! 

The laws governing Costa Rica real estate are based on Napoleonic Laws and are different from Common Laws as they are in the US and Canada. 

What this means is that when you search for Costa Rica real estate, which may be one of the biggest investments of your life, more than likely, you will listen to expert advice coming from someone with zero qualifications or training in real estate, who is trying very hard to earn a sales commission selling you a property that could be overpriced. 

If this sounds like a recipe for disaster to you, it can be!

So What Can You Do? 

More so than in the regulated first world, here you must do your homework and only hire trained, qualified and experienced real estate and legal professionals. 

In publishing "How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa", I do not claim to know everything about Costa Rica real estate. Nobody is that smart however, I know where to find the best people. 

My area of expertise for the last 20 years has been international investing. During that time, my international clients have invested hundreds of millions of dollars, safely, privately, profitably and tax-free in a handful of exclusive international hedge funds. 

With ten year's experience on Wall Street plus nearly ten years working internationally, I work for a few of the wealthiest people in Costa Rica. This has given me access to many experts that you would never be able to find even if you lived here. 

Why Is This Important to You? 

It's important because wealthy people demand and expect the best advice that money can buy. It's my job to ensure my clients are given that advice from the most qualified experts available. I have personally hunted down dozens of the top experts to help my clients achieve their investment goals both with real estate and other investments. 

Even living here, it has taken me over five years to find the small group of truly expert real estate professionals with whom my investment clients work. Imagine how difficult it would be for you to find the qualified professionals you need when you don't live here. 

That's why we are here to help you. 

If you are seriously interested in buying Costa Rica real estate as an investment or as a place to live and enjoy a secure, stress-free and affordable lifestyle then you've come to the right place. 

I am not going to beat around the bush on this point! Buying real estate in Costa Rica or anywhere in Central America, without doing your homework or, working with the wrong people - could turn out to be a very expensive "learning experience." 

The goal in writing this unique book is to help educate and protect you; to provide you with objective, non-commercial information from provenexperts so that when you buy Costa Rica real estate, it’s not just a wonderful home but also a very profitable investment.

Topics Covered:
 

Welcome  Finding A Real Estate Broker  Renting  Buying  The Purchase Process  Financing Your Purchase  Buying Ready Made  Bed And Breakfast Business  Building

Life On The Beach Home Insurance  Liens, Encumbrances And Other Bugs That Can Bite  Squatters - Just Whose Land Is This?  Costa Rica Real Estate - One Success Story Tells It All  Top Ten Countdown - Why I Love Living In Costa Rica  Appendix I Glossary of Terms: Spanish - English  Appendix II How to Understand the Classifieds  For Investors Living in Costa Rica

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How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa Table Of Contents

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1 Welcome Why Move To Costa Rica?  Some Statistics And Facts  Quick And Easy To Reach  A Few Disadvantages  Becoming An Expatriate In Costa Rica  What Major Hurdles Will You Face?  It's Not Like Back Home  Is Costa Rica A Safe Place To Buy Real Estate?  Your Living Needs And Preferences  Affordable Real Estate - Homes Under US$100K  Want To See Some Tico Homes For Yourself? Online? Affordable Homes In Costa Rica - George Lundquist's Story.  Buy Land And Build Your Own Home?  Affordable Property Taxes  So What's Where? - Look Around Before Committing  San José And Central Valley  Escazú - Too Popular?  Atenas, San Ramón And Puntarenas To Parrita  The Caribbean Connection  Pacific Coastal Areas - A General Overview  Guanacaste - Beaches Lined With Gold  Nicoya - Bargains Can Still Be Found.  Southern Pacific Zone	2 Finding A Real Estate Broker Do I Really Need A Real Estate Broker?  Some Tips (And Awkward Questions To Ask!) When Looking For A Real Estate Broker:There Is A Reason Why Brokers Are As They Are  3 Renting  Location And Price Avoiding Trouble  The Rent Law (Ley De Inquilinato) Explained  Rents You Can Expect To Pay And Where  Tico Homes Versus 'Imported' Housing  Renting Insidee And Outside The Golden Triangle - Standard Housing  Leasing  4 Buying The Culture Of Closing A Costa Rica Real Estate Deal  Just Because You Are A Gringo, Does Not Mean You Must Pay "Top Dollar" Prices  So How Do You Avoid The Money-Hungry Brokers?  You Do Not Understand Spanish?  Quick-View Guide To Land And Property Prices
How To Calculate Value  Simple Way To Assess Property  How The Municipal Authority Assesses Property Values  Some Secrets On Buying Affordable Land  Buying For Investment  What Are My Rights?  Buying As A Company Or Corporation  There Are Two Types Of Company Available 5 The Purchase Process Step By Step - The Legal Stuff  Survey Maps  Staking Out Boundary Lines (Replanteo)  Getting Registered!  Check Your Registration Occasionally  More About The Registro Nacional  Five Easy Steps To Do Your Own Simple Title Search Of A Costa Rican Property Online In Your Own Home!  How To Ensure The Car You Want To Buy Is Owned By The Person Who Is Trying To Sell It To You  Real Estate Attorneys  How To Check Up On Costa Rican Attorneys  The Public Notary  The Notary's Fees  Closing Costs  Other Costs During the Purchase Process  Manipulating The Declared Transfer Price  Title Guaranty  Property Taxes.	6 Financing Your Purchase  Mortgages  Documents You Will Need To Produce  What the Banks Are Offering  Property Protection  Using Your Retirement Accounts To Buy Property - What Are YourOptions? 7 Buying Ready Made Housing Options  Independent, Stand-Alone Housing  Condominiums  Gated Communities  Apartment Blocks  Income-Generating Properties 8 Bed And Breakfast Business Is Inn Keeping A Lifestyle, A Business Or A Hobby?  Good Health, High Energy  Unconditional Love Of Mankind  Organization  Love Your Staff  Value-For-Money Gourmet Food.
9 Building  The Land: With Or Without Title  How Do I Start?  Getting A Building Permit  Finding An Architect Or Civil Engineer  Some Factors To Consider:  Building Plans And Permits  Construction And Supervision  The Building Contractors  Alternative Construction Options  Log-Built Homes  Pre-Fabricated Modular Systems  Water In Your Well And In Your House  10 Life On The Beach The King Of Spain's Lands  Is The Beach The Right Place For You? 11 Home Insurance  Home Insurance  Home Fire & Natural Disaster Policy (Hogar Seguro 2000).  Home Theft Insurance Homeowners' Liability Insurance.	Homeowners' Policy (Hogar Seguro Comprensivo)  Looking After Your Home When You Are Not In Costa Rica  Property Management Services  Why Should You Care About This, Mr. Homeowner? 12 Liens, Encumbrances And Other Bugs That Can Bite Zoning Plans  Environmental Restrictions  Expropriation  So When Is Expropriation Considered Necessary? 13 Squatters - Just Whose Land Is This? Steps To Take To Avoid Squatters  If Squatters Have Taken Over  14 Costa Rica Real Estate - One Success Story Tells It All  Top Ten Countdown - Why I Love Living In Costa Rica Appendix I Glossary of Terms: Spanish - English  Appendix II How to Understand the Classifieds For Investors Living in Costa Rica:

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Acclaim For The Author
 

Can you afford to make a mistake in buying real estate in Costa Rica? 

Wouldn't you prefer to be knowledgable enough so that you can avoid the expensive "learning experiences" you may have read about when buying real estate in Central America? 

For only US$24.95 
How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa  - 
Could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars and a lot of headaches.
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How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa by Christopher Howard