By Ivo Henfling

It is not so important to have a licensed agent to sell Costa Rica real estate or not, you just need to find an agent who puts love and care in your property purchase and that is what today’s blog is all about. The day after a real estate closing, I received a call from the buyers agent, complaining the appliances weren’t there. I told the agent that the appliances were not included in the property purchase.

The property was not advertised with appliances nor is it customary in Costa Rica to include them. The agent said that in the US they are always included and since the buyer AND the sellers are North Americans, they should be.

Beside the fact that we are in Costa Rica and not in the US, which I chose to ignore, I asked the agent if she had included the appliances in the inventory attached to the offer and to the option to purchase – sale agreement. She said she didn’t check….

By Ivo Henfling

I have seen it happen over and over: buyers fall in love with a property in Costa Rica they have seen on their own, because of a sign on a property or through a FSBO website; they make a verbal offer to the seller and both parties think they have a deal as soon as they agree on the sales price. Falling in love and showing it to the seller is problem #1 and having to deal with an offer and all related to the real estate purchase is problem #2. Problem #3 is that a lot of those deals go down the drain because both buyer and seller make mistakes for lack of knowledge. And these 3 problems are only a few reasons why you should use a real estate agent when you purchase a home in Costa Rica. 

By Ivo Henfling

Ten things to remove before you have a showing

I have a request for all sellers of Costa Rica real estate. Clean up your mess before you put your property on the market and maintain it well after that. Quite a few homes for sale in Costa Rica are in terrible shape or look like they are and the sellers think it’s the bad salesmanship of the real estate agent that the house didn’t sell quickly enough. I got news for you. Those homes that look well painted, have a nice looking garden, have all the curtains open, a nicely painted front door, uncluttered rooms and no dog poop in the hallway sell relatively quickly. Building lots look overgrown and the grass gets never cut. What view? Where is that building pad where the house should go? How do you mean your real estate agent should take care of that….

By Ivo Henfling

Costa Rica has never really had a good MLS system and that is mainly because the two Costa Rica real estate boards have not organized themselves enough to make it happen. And most real estate agents in Costa Rica prefer 50% commission of nothing instead of working together. This makes it harder for a buyer to find the right home or lot for sale and this in turn makes many buyers not stay loyal with just one agent.  I turned in my CCBR (Cámara de Corredores de Bienes Raices as well as CCCBR) real estate license many years ago for the same lack of organization.

To my opinion, having a license from the CCBR real estate board doesn’t give my agents or me any value at all, except maybe for the 4-day course they teach and without doing an exam, you’re entitled to call yourself a licensed CBR real estate agent in Costa Rica.

By Ivo Henfling

The long discussed tax on corporations in Costa Rica was just approved. The first time I wrote a blog about the tax the Costa Rican government proposed on corporate tax was in December 2010, so the approval has taken quite a while.

That doesn’t mean, it’s 100% that this will all happen because the Costarican citizens have the option of what’s called Sala IV, a court where they can stop a train running at 100 miles an hour. But for now, congress as well as Costarican government has approved the new tax, and it is coming into effect on April 1st, 2012.

By Rudy Matthews

Shell Johanson, a fellow associate recently wrote a great article about remodeling in Costa Rica and renovation. Shell made a point that remodeling is many times more difficult than building new construction and I totally agree.

I have done both and once you start remodeling the problem is you find more to be done than what you thought originally. Tile replacement, cabinets etc. are basic cosmetic items but once you start tearing down walls and find you need to replace wiring, plumbing etc. then the journey begins.

By Isabelle Jones

I have a Christmas present for a smart buyer who is ready to accept a incredible deal when they see one: this absolutely gorgeous ranch home for sale in Atenas that is a rare blend of elegance, style and Value. Now you just need to make a reservation for your flight to Costa Rica and I will, out of my real estate commission, throw in 2 nights in a nice B & B in Atenas if you close before the 15th of February 2012. That will give you two months to get organized and see for yourself how great a deal this is. At closing, my broker, Ivo, will throw in another night, I have his word on this. First come, first served. 

Are you sick and tired of the noise of the city? Is it time for you to make those dreams come true and finally make the step to retire to paradise?The motivated seller has just reduced the price of his house near Atenas  to $399,000. That's incredible for this Stunning Custom built 3 Bedroom, 2 ½ bath Ranch home. The size of the property is close to 1½ acres or 5800m2.

By Ivo Henfling

Many North Americans don’t know you can buy real estate in Costa Rica with your self directed IRA (Individual Retirement Account) or your 401(k) (Retirement Savings Account). Canadians can use their RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan. Very few Costa Rica real estate agents know how you can realize the purchase without running into trouble. You will need the cooperation of your IRA custodian and you need to have a Costa Rica real estate attorney who knows what needs to be done and of course a GoDutch Realty agent for your purchase.

By Diane Farquhar

Nowadays, you, as a Costa Rica Property Owner, have many sites available on which to feature your rental property in Atenas, many of them good, reputable sites. What they cant tell you, and what you don't know until much later in the process, is the quality of the tenant. These sites have great tips, and written guarantees you can purchase that mostly protect the tenant, but you STILL don't know what type of prospective tenant you are dealing with.

 A lot of time is spent asking and answering questions before you find (you hope) the perfect tenant. At the "interview"---there should be one--you make your decision  with crossed fingers, based on first impressions and sugar-coated promises to take "excellent" care of your home; As a Bank Manager for many years I can tell you the interviewee usually  puts his-or hers-best foot forward. I  hired a few doozies over the years, and learned, the hard way, to base my decision on other factors not always related to the subject at hand!

By Ivo Henfling

My mom and dad had Costa Rica retirement dreams over 30 years ago, and they made them happen. At the time, retiring to Costa Rica was an incredible adventure and it still is.

My mom and dad didn’t buy their home in Costa Rica from a GoDutch Realty agent, because GoDutch Realty didn’t exist at the time. Big mistake! So they lived here only for like 6 years and moved on to the Canary Islands where they were not happy again. Guess why? Just joking but trying to make you clear why I wrote this blog.
 

By Isabelle Jones

I have been living in Atenas since before the boom and I can assure you my family and I still have a blast. While many retirees moved here since 2004, which is when I started selling real estate in Atenas seriously, there was only one real estate agent in Atenas and surrounding areas. Most have moved away again after the boom was over and we’re back to an easy going life as it was before.

The biggest advantage Atenas has received thanks to the boom is the much better choice for grocery shopping, restaurants and all kinds of services, while the opening of the new highway has made our visit to Escazu and San Jose a lot easier. This also gives us the necessary access to medical services, religious services and going to the movies for example.  We do have a great farmer’s market here.

By Rudy Matthews

A quirk of the housing economic crisis is that for the most part rental property in Costa Rica has held its own and has returned a better investment than the normal investment alternatives.

Rental Property in Florida

I held my breath when the housing crisis hit because I still have rental property in Florida. Over the last four years I have been 95% occupied. Florida, as you know, got hit very bad in the downturn and has yet to recover. I am sure there are pockets where rentals are better than other places so I feel very fortunate.

By Shell Johanson

Being a Costa Rica realtor in Cariari is never an easy job. There are twists and turns in every deal. Patience and nerves are always on edge. It means putting up with a lot of things from the buyers as well as the sellers, without the other party finding out about it. It’s part of the job.  

But there’s one thing that I wish I could do something about, I’m going to call it the ‘Busy Bee’. We all know this person because we all have one near. It is usually a family member, a friend or a neighbor who thinks he/she is a fountain of knowledge and loves to share his/her opinions. Never short for words, that’s for sure. The ‘Busy Bee’ is very good at screwing up real estate deals.

By Ivo Henfling

As some of you know, I bought a condo in Jaco from a developer who did a good job in Escazu, Joshua ten Brink of Desarrollos Naturales. When the crisis hit, the bank thought that most of Joshua's buyers were not capable of closing, so they didn't give Joshua any more money to finish his project. Desarrollos Naturales and the bank are fighting each other, both forgetting that many people have all their savings tied up in this project and only thinking of their own interests. Joshua didn't want to tell me who all the other real estate buyers were, so I started my own private little war against him to try to get in touch with the rest of the people. I have done so online, just like I am writing this and many people have found me.

By Ivo Henfling

Yes, why keep money in your Costa Rica bank account if they don't even pay you 1% interest on your money. Invest in Costa Rica real estate through your preferred realtor Ivo Henfling and I can get you 6% at a bare minimum. You don't have your money in a Costarican bank account but sitting in some retirement fund like an IRA, a 401K or a Canadian RRSP? Why would you want to do this to yourself?

Why am I saying this? Because I just listed this perfect investment property that I sold the actual owner about 5 years ago and is waiting for this smart investor. I personally supervised the remodeling of this property and can assure you its well done. Meanwhile, the owner got sick and let it go a bit, so it needs some care and some more love. Its some hunidity problem here and there and check on the gutters, nothing like a big deal but the potential is incredible. And when I say its not a big deal, its not.

by Ivo Henfling

When I started writing this article about the angry seller of Costa Rica real estate last week, I found out that there were more than only 5 points that made my life miserable on that last deal I did were I had an angry seller because the sellers decided to take the buyer’s offer.

Let me repeat point 1 again, so you don't have to go back to the other article all the time:

1. Yes, the Costa Rica realtor gets paid by the seller, but not until the real estate closing. The realtor does not get paid for advertising, gasoline, tires, phone bills lunches with clients and all efforts made unless he/she sells the property in Costa Rica. Just the fact that the sellers pay the real estate commission doesn’t give you the rights to abuse the realtor.

By Isabelle Jones

I have lived in Atenas for almost 8 years now and I still enjoy it. Over ten years ago, two French Canadian pioneers started Vista Atenas and build some ranch houses there (one story), they tell me that this was kind of the middle of nowhere back then. 

This is where Howard my husband, Taylor my son and myself bought our first house and did our first spec-home which is was connected us to Ivo and GoDutch Realty. I went through training and since then I have been the GoDutch realty's representative for the area of Atenas selling the best real estate available in Atenas.

By Ivo Henfling

It is surprising what selling a house might do to perfectly nice people. When you need to sell your house in Costa Rica because for some reason you need to go back where you came from, and you have been waiting for a while for the right buyer to show up, then you suddenly might have to take this low ball offer that doesn’t make you happy at all, but you decide to go for it.

I just finished up the ugliest sale I have done in my Costa Rica real estate career, because my sellers wanted to take a bad offer and apparently thought it was my fault, though I never put a gun to their heads to accept.

Just like some of the abusive buyers we get, the angry seller is what takes the fun out of being a real estate agent in Costa Rica. From day one, after signing the option to purchase sale agreement at a sales price they really didn’t want to take. The sellers were never cooperative during the 2 months to closing, especially when the buyer was asking for perfectly normal procedure to Costarican standards.

by Ivo Henfling

One more time, I'd like to prove to you that climate and real estate are definitely related to each other, especialy Costa Rica real estate. When you purchase a property in Costa Rica, you should not only look at the property you are buying, but also at the surroundings. In a former blog, I wrote all about checking our the surroundings of a property before you buy and the damage water can do to your property. In another blog, I told you all about the mess of an unfinished job by irresponsible engineers in charge of a constract that they are doing for A y A (The Costarican Water Company). In another blog, I have told you about sending an email to the Mayor of Escazu, complaining about it.

By Ivo Henfling

Becky Clower of Blue Water Properties in the Tamarindo area just wrote an article for the We Love Costa Rica newsletter titled “how not to treat your realtor”.

For some time, I have been thinking about writing about “the abusive buyer of Costa Rica real estate” but after getting bombarded with negative comments from some abusive people on the home invasion article, I’ve tried to make my Costa Rica blogs more “easygoing” as they are supposed to attract buyers of Costa Rica properties and not scare them off. Some readers misunderstood Becky´s article and comments like “I find the article condescending” is from people who don’t care about anything but for themselves. People like that, I prefer they go to my competitor.

Some buyers abuse of their realtors because they think that the realtor has an obligation to play tour guide, information desk, relocator and chauffeur all for the opportunity to earn a commission sometime in the next 5 years.