Buyer's agent in Costa Rica: no licence, so the contract decides.

Is a buyer's agent a licensed role in Costa Rica?

No. No law licenses real estate agents. People who buy and sell real estate professionally must register with SUGEF for anti-money-laundering purposes, and SUGEF states that this registration is not an authorisation to operate. The Commercial Code bars an unlicensed sworn broker from claiming commission; whether that reaches private agents is not established.

So check the person, the company and the property yourself. The fee rules, with the official sources: Costa Rica real estate agent fees.

Who pays the estate agent in Costa Rica, and how much?

The party in whose interest the broker acted, under article 309 of the Commercial Code. The amount is what was agreed, or failing an agreement, the usual and current rate in the market. If you hire your own agent as buyer, you owe their fee, with 13% IVA on it. Our cost page found no published norm for the commission, so get the percentage in writing.

Every other cost of the purchase: Costa Rica property buying costs.

What does a buyer's agent do in Costa Rica?

Finds and negotiates, and on the coast confirms what is actually for sale. The 200 metres from high tide are the maritime zone and belong to the State. The first 50 metres cannot be occupied; the other 150 can only be held by municipal concession, which cannot go to a foreigner with less than five years' residence. Titled land elsewhere a foreigner can buy directly.

A concession is a right of use for 5 to 20 years, not ownership, recorded in a separate register from titled property. A 2,000 metre strip along the land borders is state land as well. How to tell the two apart: title and the maritime zone explained.

What does the notary do in Costa Rica, and do I need a lawyer?

In Costa Rica a notary must be a lawyer with a postgraduate in notarial and registry law. The notary drafts the transfer deed, takes a sworn declaration of the origin of funds at USD 10,000 or more, and files the deed with the Registro Nacional. A buyer abroad can sign through a special power of attorney granted in a public deed.

The checks before the deed, as AEGIS Legal Partners lists them: a registry report on the folio real number, a survey plan (plano catastrado) that matches the registry, the municipal land-use certificate, a water availability letter and proof that municipal taxes are paid. Funds are often held by a SUGEF-registered escrow agent as market practice; no statute makes escrow compulsory. Notary fees follow an official schedule, plus 13% IVA.

Where does independent research fit when buying in Costa Rica?

Before you hire an agent. Brinkman Data analyses every listing for sale in your Costa Rican town and budget, checks rents against real lets, adds the transfer tax and yearly costs, and sends you the five worth buying with a spreadsheet of every listing. It is not an agent, takes no commission and is paid only by the buyer. $499, delivered in 5 days.

The closing costs are known in advance. Transfer tax is 1.5%, owed by buyer and seller in equal parts by law, on the higher of price and registered value. AEGIS puts total closing costs at about 3.5% to 5% or more. Each year: municipal property tax of 0.25% of the registered value, and a solidarity tax on homes whose construction value exceeds CRC 143,000,000 in 2026.

The order that works: research first, then an agent to view and negotiate, then the notary. The full comparison: how to find a property to buy abroad. What an independent analyst does: independent property analyst. A real report, page by page: the sample report.

Header photo: Tamarindowiki, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. All credits: image credits.