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[quote=”Jrovick”]My wife and I are planning on a move to CR Since there is no multi-list I am having difficulty deciding how I should go about finding the right realtor to show us properties. [/quote]
You know there is no magic formula outside of just doing a lot of hard work. We bought a place recently and this is our feedback:
– hours and hours and [b]hours[/b] of internet research. Don’t forget to check Craigslist daily, so you don’t have to look a same listings over and over.) http://www.encuentra24.com/ is another good one source you may not be aware of.
– there are plenty of helpful real estate agents in CR, but just as in the U.S. they have only one person in their best interest, themselves. Remember that! They don’t work for buyer or seller, they work themselves. The lack of cooperation among agents is unfortunate, but real.
– multiple trips to Costa Rica solely to look at homes for sale (no vacation! – up early, in the car all day, to bed early.)
– Set your criteria as soon as possible. What do you want/need in a home? Know where you will compromise.Communicate this in the first contact to sellers/agents. Remember that some of the things we take for granted in U.S. are optional in CR. eg: whole house hot water, high speed internet, etc. Some criteria you won’t know until you visit. eg: altitude, infrastructure.
– Don’t look for the perfect home. It doesn’t exist. If you were moving within the U.S. what are the chances you would find the perfect home?—Lastly: we flew in the face of all the advice to rent, rent, rent. It just didn’t make sense for [b]us[/b]. We have moved plenty of times in the U.S. and always purchased a home. True, we moved because of my job, so the general area was dictated. But we really knew very little about where we were moving. Once we were settled we made it work. If you’re not flexible and willing to adapt, you will be miserable anyway. Do you really want to feel as if you are a temporary resident in an area always on the lookout for something better? We aren’t. We felt a need to settle and get connected and get on with our life.
Did this work? Check back with me in a year. 😯
I wrote extensively about our experiences on my blog…http://goo.gl/Yr6yz
The suggestions to rent for a period of time, are very valid. In my case, I did not rent first, however, I have been traveling to Costa Rica for the last thirteen years. In 2009, while vacationing in Guancaste, I stumbled upon a must buy beachfront home (35% discount because of divorce.) I questioned the expats in the area, as to who the best realestate broker in the area was, I was proved with an excellent recommendation. Within two days, I hired a Costa Rican attorney, hired a property management company, formed a Ltda. corporation, and had a signed sales agreement in my hand. We returned to the States two weeks later, one month later, my Costa Rican attorney completed the closing in Costa Rica for us. We were lucky in terms of the property, however, over the years, I have researched Costa Rica and Costa Rican property matters.
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