The investor
Yield, residency, and full ownership in one purchase.
- Inversionista residency at $150,000 of real estate
- Same property rights as Costa Rican citizens
- No foreign-buyer surcharge or special permits
- Most transactions clear in USD
Costa Rica Foreign Buyer’s Guide
Buy Costa Rica with the right playbook.
A free reference for serious US and Canadian buyers, whether the goal is investment, second-home luxury, retirement, or a remote-work base. Covers foreign ownership rules, tax structure, residency paths, market areas, and the closing pitfalls foreign buyers most often hit.
Foreign Buyer’s Guide
Get the free guide.
Instant download. No spam.
Who Costa Rica works for
Four kinds of buyer end up in Costa Rica, for four different reasons.
The luxury second-home buyer
Signature estates across two coasts.
- Oceanfront Guanacaste (Papagayo, Tamarindo, Las Catalinas)
- Hillside Southern Zone (Dominical, Uvita, Ojochal)
- Golf-anchored Reserva Conchal
- Up to 40% of premium inventory stays off-market
The retiree
Pensionado in a Blue Zone country.
- Pensionado qualifies on $1,000/month retirement income
- Nicoya peninsula is one of the world's five Blue Zones
- Highly rated, low-cost healthcare
- English is standard in luxury communities
The remote earner
Rentista, fiber, and a direct flight from Miami.
- Rentista qualifies on $2,500/month remote income
- Fiber internet in major markets
- Daily direct flights from Miami, Houston, JFK
- Two oceans, eight microclimates
What’s inside
Seven chapters, written with our Costa Rica legal and closing partners.
Contents
- 01
Foreign ownership rules
Same property rights as citizens. No separate foreign-buyer permit. Where the Maritime Zone exception applies and where it does not.
- 02
Tax structure
Property tax of 0.25% on declared value. Capital gains, transfer tax, and what to budget at closing.
- 03
Residency: Pensionado, Rentista, Inversionista
Three programs, three qualification thresholds. Inversionista at $150K of real estate. How buyers actually use them.
- 04
Market areas
Guanacaste (Papagayo, Tamarindo, Las Catalinas), Puntarenas (Manuel Antonio, Dominical), Central Valley (Escazu, Santa Ana).
- 05
Typical price bands by region
Where $500K, $1M, $3M, and $5M actually buy. Updated from our live shortlist each quarter.
- 06
Closing: title, escrow, legal counsel
How a title search works, why the registry is the source of truth, and the closing partners we use.
- 07
The common foreign-buyer mistakes
Working with a single on-island agent. Skipping title insurance. Buying inside the Maritime Zone without understanding concession risk.
Who wrote the guide
Stephanie Gilezan founded Airdomo to do international real estate buyer-side: vetted local partners, no buyer fees, and a direct line to the same legal and closing professionals Airdomo uses on every Costa Rica transaction.
The guide was written with our Costa Rican legal counsel and closing partners. It reflects what foreign buyers actually encounter, not what a generic country overview would suggest.
Stephanie Gilezan·Founder, Airdomo