Mortgages in Costa Rica …..what Mortgage?

Hi Scott, Hi All,

I have been an avid reader of WeLoveCR for about a year now and I too, love Costa Rica. I am a thirty something expat living in the central valley and happily running my own digital production company. One thing that many expats I know have trouble with is securing a mortgage here in CR. I pay much attention to the posts by you and the companies/brokers that you RECOMMEND on your site.

I must say, I am shocked that such a knowledgeable and helpful individual such as yourself would recommend such groups (I have decided to not name names). I am a seasoned real estate investor and I like to think I know many of CR’s top real estate professionals. I have yet to hear anything but tales of horrible experiences with certain so called “mortgage brokers”.

First off, CR only has 6 or 7 private and national banks. The private banks have reps that speak English and yes the majority of CR bank employees seem to pride themselves on giving terrible customer service. Yet and still any proactive individual can navigate this system and hopefully get trough it with a funded loan within 3 months. I actually secured my 1st home loan in around 60 days.

For my vacation property purchase I decided to go through a CR “mortgage broker”. After 3 months I pulled the plug and now want to warn others of the HORRORS you could face dealing with these incompetent people. Firstly they charge an additional 1.5%, for what I do not know, since they cannot even come up with a true list of documentation needed. Instead they prefer to email you every 2 weeks stating “oh, yes just one more document and you will be approved”. This went on for months. I started to ask myself what exactly am I paying these people for?? They are slow, seemingly incompetent, unknowledgeable and rude!!

I then started to think about the stories I heard from one Realtor who told me of an important client who actually LOST a deposit because of these people!! The client apparently received a loan estimate stating he was approved, then put down a deposit and 60 days later he is high and dry.

It should be known you are better off going to the banks directly. It will only take an hour or two and you will save yourself lots of money and most likely time as well! That was another irritating thing about the brokers….they refused to let me know what bank they are using.

I also did my homework on these so called US lenders coming to CR. What a crock. Yes they actually do offer US lenders but at what price? 10% plus 50% down….no thanks.

The best way to describe the international and US mortgage industry right now is a poker table full of super tight players. The banks sit around the table with their cards pressed tightly against their chests scared to look, scared to play, scared to LOAN. If someone sneezes that might mean a billion dollar mark down on a hedge fund!

With all the happenings in the states would any CR bank be in their right minds to actually loosen up requirements, lower interest rates and start passing out loans to foreigners like girl scout cookies? I think not, and from the looks at the current interest rates I feel I am correct.

In short I think readers should be advised on this site how these “brokers” really operate, what “service” they provide and be told to go forth at their own risk.

Sincerely

WT