1. Initial Exploration: Find land that suits the type of project that you are interested in developing. Something that suits your needs/intentions. Mountain/ocean view/beach front, lots, condos, residential homes, hotel etc. 2. Find a lawyer to execute a legal check on the property 3. Obtain permits, ICT documents, municipality permits, Minae approval, concession papers (if applicable), property title certificate from the public registry, financial statements, hotel management contracts (if applicable), condo association bylaws, water viability, electrical situation, Invue (plan regulador), geological survey, topographical survey, evidence of payment of municipal taxes 4. Obtain architectural renderings and master plan 5. Obtain construction company, building permits and construction schedule 6. Obtain certificate of ?Sellers Legal Right to Sell?, ?Purchase and Sale Agreement? and Escrow Information/Account Information. 7. Anticipate ground breaking date 8. Begin development! Buying Titled Property There are two ways in which to buy titled property in Costa Rica. The first is to buy property that is privately owned. This process takes approximately 2 to 3 weeks and includes change of registered name of property owner in the national registry. The second is to buy property that is owned by a corporation, usually an LLC type or Sociedad Anonima (S.A.). This process takes approximately 2 to 3 days and involves 100% sale of shares of company to the new property owner who becomes the sole president of the company and thus the owner of the land. This is the easiest and most common way of buying land in Costa Rica. Property taxes, buying and owning The buyer will pay on a $100,000 property purchase $3,500 USD for taxes and legal fees. The fee includes the registration process and contract issues. There is a very small annual tax on the property that is around .01% of the value of the property and it is paid to the local municipality. The amount depends on size of the property and individual municipality laws. There is a 13% sale tax on the property that usually can be largely reduced by declaring a lesser sale price than actual selling price. This percentage is currently in process of modification to 10%.
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