A for-sale-by-owner deal in Costa Rica skips the commission and the agent's checks at the same time. The record is public and the checks are cheap. Here are the five that matter, in order, and the document to hold before any money moves.
Buying from the owner in Costa Rica is normal. What makes it risky is skipping the checks the agent would have forced: who is registered as owner, what is registered against the property, whether the plano matches the land, who holds the deposit, and which notary writes the deed. All five are cheap. The first three come from the public record, which starts with the finca number.
A town is typed, a lot is tapped, the Registry answers in seconds. Then every one of the 21 report pages, explained one by one.
In order. The first three come from the public record.
Ask the seller for the finca number (on the deed and on the plano). If they cannot produce it, tap the lot on Folio's free map and read it. Then read the Registry's record: the registered owner must be the person or company you are dealing with.
The certificación literal lists every mortgage, embargo, easement and pending filing with its citas. A mortgage is normally cancelled at closing with part of the price, if everyone knows about it. A pending filing (anotación) is a stop sign until it is explained.
The plano catastrado is the lot's legal shape and size. Compare its area with the Registry's area and with what you see on the ground. Different numbers are a question for the seller before the deposit, not after.
A deposit goes to a SUGEF-supervised escrow company or a notary's trust, against a signed option agreement that names the finca, the price, the conditions and the dates. A seller who insists on cash or a personal transfer is telling you something.
Only a Costa Rican notary can register the transfer. In a private sale the notary is your only professional in the room. Pick yours, pay yours, and give them the certificación and the plano before they draft anything.
The record names a company, a relative, a dead person or a stranger. Companies are normal here, but then the company signs through a representative with registered powers. Anyone else is selling what they do not own.
Anotaciones are documents already in the Registry's queue. It may be the seller's own mortgage cancellation. It may be a sale to someone else. In a private deal, nobody tells you which unless you read it.
Every titled property has a finca number and a plano. A seller with "the papers are at the lawyer" and nothing to show has not earned a deposit.
Not because owners are dishonest, but because nobody in the room is paid to check. The agent's commission bought you a second pair of eyes; without it, the eyes are yours, and the record is where to point them. Folio's free map finds the lot; the $29 report reads the owner, the liens and the plano; the certified documents are what your notary will ask for.
It can be, if you do the checks an agent and a lawyer would have done: confirm the seller is the registered owner, read the liens, match the plano to the land, use a notary for the deed and never pay a deposit to a personal account without a written agreement. The property record is public, so the checks are not expensive.
Get the finca number from the seller (or read it off Folio's free map) and read the Registry's record. The registered owner, person or company, must be who signs. If a company owns it, the person signing must hold a registered power to represent it.
Every titled property has one; it is on the deed and on the plano. A seller who cannot produce it either does not have the papers or is not the owner. Tap the lot on the free map and the finca number appears; then compare.
Not the seller. In Costa Rica deposits go to an escrow company supervised by SUGEF or to a notary's trust, against a signed option or purchase agreement with the finca number, the price and the conditions in it.
Yes. Only a Costa Rican notary public can draft and register the transfer deed. In a for-sale-by-owner purchase the notary is your only professional in the room, so choose your own, not the seller's.
The free map finds the lot and the finca number. The $29 report reads the registered owner, the liens and the plano. The certified documents ($39 to $49) are what your notary will ask for. The $1,000 due diligence covers the rest.
