Property Ownership
Costa Rica's national constitution guarantees the right to own property to anyone, with foreign nationals enjoying the same rights as Costa Ricans. Land can be owned outright with a deed, allowing the owner to sell or pass it along to their heirs. Homes, living expenses, insurance and property taxes are all significantly lower than in the US. Owning property in Costa Rica is a great way to diversify your retirement investments by holding international real estate. Property in most cases in Costa Rica is deeded and fee simple.
Most property owned by foreigners in Costa Rica is owned in the corporate form. That is, a Costa Rican corporation is set up that is wholly owned by the purchaser (a husband and wife for example). The property purchased is transferred to this corporation, which only owns the property, nothing else. You own the shares of the corporation and the corporation owns the property. The advantages of ownership in this method are many and most property owned in Costa Rica by both Costa Ricans and foreigners are owned this way. First of all there is no capital gains tax on corporate holdings so if the property increases in value and you decide to sell it, you won't pay any capital gains tax in Costa Rica on the gain. Sale of the property is also very easy since all one has to do is sell the shares of the corporation since it owns the property. There is no real estate transfer in this case and no taxes, recording fees etc. to transfer the land. Also since the land is held in a corporation, there is limited liability to the owners if anyone was ever hurt on the property. We set up corporations on behalf of our owners as part of the closing process. We do charge $600 to set up the corporation, register the shares and transfer the land to the corporation but WE pay all transfer taxes, stamp fees and other costs on the closing of the property. The only fee you will pay is the $600 cost to set up the corporation.
One question we get all the time is do we have any beach front property for sale in Costa Rica?
Maritime Concession Laws: Real Estate in Costa Rica is typically deeded and fee simple. All property within 200 meters (about a tenth of a mile) from the high tide mark is owned by the government. The exception is a few places that were deeded as old Spanish land grants before the maritime concession laws were written. Under the maritime concession laws in Costa Rica, the first 50 metes above the beach are public land and considered to be the public zone. Land between 50 meters and 200 meters is considered to be in a restricted concession zone. This zone is admistered by the municipalities but is also overseen by the Instituto Costirricense de Turismo (ICT). On maritime concession property you can only own occupancy rights, you can not own the land outright. (see maritime concession page)