Verified lawyers, accountants, real estate, healthcare and relocation services for expats in Costa Rica — plus a free, sourced guide to buying property here.
We are opening the verified network across these categories. Nothing appears here until a real supplier has passed the checks below, and we would rather show an empty section than a name we cannot evidence.
When a supplier does appear here, "verified" will mean we hold a dated record of all of the following:
Until every one of those exists for a given supplier, that supplier will not be shown. We will never display a rating or a review score — we have no review data and will not invent any.
Listings are paid placements and every card says so. How listing and identity verification work → · Apply for a listing →
A free, sourced guide to the process, written for a first-time foreign buyer. Every figure is dated and linked to where it came from.
Costa Rica has some of the most straightforward foreign ownership rules in the Americas. A foreigner has the same property rights as a Costa Rican citizen: you can hold titled land outright in your own name, with no residency requirement, no trust structure, and no local partner. For the great majority of properties, that is the whole story.
The exception is the coast, and it catches people out badly because it applies to exactly the beachfront land many buyers come for. Costa Rica's Maritime Terrestrial Zone (Zona Marítimo Terrestre, or ZMT) covers the first 200 metres inland from the high-tide line along virtually the entire coast, and it is divided in two:
So a concession is a fundamentally different and weaker thing than titled land, and it is sometimes marketed to foreign buyers in language that blurs the two. Titled beach-area property does exist — typically on bluffs, hillsides and back-beach lots that fall legally outside the 200-metre zone — and can be owned outright by a foreigner with no residency requirement at all. Establishing which of the two you are being offered is the first question to answer about any coastal property in Costa Rica, before price is even discussed.
Costa Rica merges two roles that Spain and Mexico keep separate: attorneys here are also notaries, and a notario público executes and registers the transfer. That efficiency comes with a caution. If the same professional is acting for both sides of the transaction, or was introduced by the seller's agent, you do not have independent representation. Retain your own.
Their substantive work is verifying title in the Registro Nacional — Costa Rica's national registry is public, searchable and unusually good, which makes proper due diligence very achievable. They should confirm the registered owner, the plot boundaries against the plano catastrado (cadastral survey plan), any liens, mortgages or annotations, whether the property is titled or concession, and any water availability or environmental restriction.
Using a registered escrow agent to hold funds is standard practice and strongly advisable. A surveyor confirming the physical boundaries match the registered plan is worth the cost, particularly on rural and larger plots where discrepancies are common.
General guidance, not legal or tax advice — sources and dates below.
Costa Rica is comparatively cheap to transact in. Budget around 5%–6% of the purchase price in total for a standard residential purchase, as at 2026.
| Cost | Typical 2026 figure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Property transfer tax | 1.5% | Charged on the higher of the declared price or the registered fiscal value. |
| Government taxes and stamps | approx. 2%–2.5% total | The 1.5% transfer tax plus registry charges and mandatory stamps. |
| Legal fees | 1%–1.25% | Due diligence, title review, escrow coordination and registration. |
| Notary and registry | 0.5%–1% | The attorney acts as notary; this covers execution and recording. |
| Annual property tax | 0.25% | Of assessed value or registered purchase price. Due 15 January each year. |
| Luxury home tax (impuesto solidario) | 0.25%–0.55%, progressive | Applies where the construction value exceeds roughly 145 million colones (around US$279,000 as at 2026). The threshold is recalculated each January against construction-cost indices, and the declaration is also due 15 January. |
The 15 January deadline catches new owners in their first year with some regularity. Both the annual property tax and, if applicable, the luxury home declaration fall due then.
Buying property does not itself grant residency, though the investor route below is property-friendly. The established categories are:
Temporary residency is generally granted for two years and renewed on a two-year cycle, with a path to permanent residency after three years and to citizenship after seven years of legal residence.
Every number on this page is listed below with where it came from and when we checked it. Last reviewed: 8 August 2026. Where a figure is set annually we have said so — treat anything undated elsewhere on the internet with suspicion.
These are secondary sources. For anything that will cost you money, confirm against the official authority named in each section, or ask a qualified local professional.
If something here is wrong or out of date, please tell us and we will fix it. If you or your business are referred to anywhere on this site and you want that changed or removed, email us and we will action it — no questions asked.
