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Folio / Guides / Agent commissions
No legal rate, no MLS, no licence. Here is what that means for your money

Who pays the agent in Costa Rica, and how much.

What the Código de Comercio actually says about broker fees, what the agencies publish, the 13% tax on top, and the maths on the price you are looking at.

Check a property · $29Run the numbers
6%what the agencies publish
13%IVA added on the fee
$0what the buyer usually pays the agent
0laws that fix a rate
The broker articles, quoted
Five agency pages, quoted
A calculator for your price
Built in Costa Rica
Short answer

Costa Rica has no legal commission rate. The agencies we read all publish 6% of the sale price, paid by the seller, usually built into the asking price and often split with the buyer's agent, with 13% IVA added on the fee (6.78% all in). The Código de Comercio says a broker's fee is what was agreed with the party they acted for, or the usual market rate if nothing was agreed. A buyer normally pays the agent nothing, and pays the transfer tax, notary and registry costs instead.

Código de Comercio, Ley 3284

What the law actually says

The Code regulates the corredor jurado, a sworn broker with a Ministry patente. Three articles decide the fee.

Article 309
La comisión u honorarios del corredor jurado será la convenida con la parte en cuyo interés interviene; a falta de convenio, tendrá derecho a la usual y corriente en la plaza donde la negociación queda consumada. Si en una misma operación intervienen varios corredores jurados simultáneamente o en forma sucesiva, la comisión se dividirá entre ellos en proporción al trabajo efectuado.

The fee is what was agreed with the party the broker acted for. With no agreement, the usual rate in the place where the deal closed. Several brokers on one deal divide the fee in proportion to the work done. This is the article behind every agency's 6%: it is custom, not law.

Article 298
Para ejercer la correduría es necesario obtener una patente especial, que extenderá el Ministerio de Economía y Hacienda. Quien ejerciere el corretaje sin esa patente, no tendrá acción para cobrar comisión de ninguna especie.

Brokering takes a special patente, and whoever brokers without it has no action to collect a commission of any kind. Most real estate agents in Costa Rica are not corredores jurados. What that means for their fee claims in court is a question we have not read the case law on, so we do not answer it here.

Article 308
La intervención de los corredores jurados en los actos mercantiles no es obligatoria para los contratantes, pero si una negociación se iniciare por medio de un corredor jurado, debe concluirse con su intervención, salvo que circunstancias justificadas obliguen a las partes a prescindir de sus servicios.

Using a broker is never mandatory. But a deal that started through a broker must be concluded with that broker, unless justified circumstances force the parties to drop them. This is the Code's answer to the buyer who meets the seller through an agent and then tries to close without one.

Article 296 defines the corredor jurado; article 297 requires Costa Rican nationality, three years in commerce and a Ministry assessment. Article 300 makes a broker liable for false statements, including a false statement of the going price. Read together: the law protects the party who hired the broker, and leaves the rate to the contract.
What the market publishes

Five agency pages, side by side

Read on 26 October 2026. Each card quotes the page; the link opens it. None of these is law.

GuanacasteFlamingo Beach Realty6%Paid by: Seller“This is the standard across Guanacaste, and it is negotiable.”
IVA: VAT shown only on notary feesRead the page
PapagayoPapagayo Real Estate6% + 13% = 6.78%Paid by: Seller“The Seller is responsible for paying the customary 6% real estate commission”, split between the seller's agent and the buyer's agent.
IVA: 13% on the commissionRead the page
GuanacasteSummer Coast Realty6% + 13% VATPaid by: Seller“This commission is generally included in the listed sale price of the property” and is often split with the buyer's agent.
IVA: 13% VATRead the page
NationalGoing Pura Vida6%Paid by: Seller side“Real estate agents are not licensed” and there is “No Multiple Listing Service (MLS)”.
IVA: 13% VAT on the commissionRead the page
Nationalstanbrinkman.comNo rate givenPaid by: The party the broker acted for“Costa Rica's Commercial Code sets no commission rate: a broker earns what was agreed with the party they acted for.”
IVA: 13%, citing Ley 6826 art. 10Read the page
Aerial view of Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, with the beaches, point and the islands offshore

Built into the price

Every agency says the same thing in different words: the seller pays, and the asking price already carries the fee. The buyer's real costs are elsewhere: transfer tax, notary, registry, and the title itself.

Run the numbers

What the commission costs on your price

Type the asking price. The calculator applies the published rate and 13% IVA. Change the rate if you negotiated one.

$
Listing agentBuyer's agent
Split as the agencies describe itart. 309: in proportion to the work

Illustration only. The rate is whatever the listing agreement says; the split is between the agents, not your cost.

Commission at 6%$30,000
IVA at 13% on the fee$3,900
Total the seller pays the agents6.78% of the price at the 6% rate$33,900
What the buyer pays the agentunless the buyer hired their own agent in writing$0
Two sides of the table

Who pays what

Market allocations as the agencies publish them. The purchase agreement can move any of these.

The seller

Pays the agents

  • Commission, 6% as published, plus 13% IVA
  • Shared between the listing agent and the buyer's agent when there are two
  • Agreed in the listing agreement; many agencies work without exclusivity
  • Not the buyer's closing costs, by custom
The buyer

Pays the transfer, not the agent

  • Transfer tax, 1.5% of the registered value, per the agency pages
  • Notary and legal fee, about 1% to 1.25% plus 13% IVA, per the agency pages
  • Registry recording and stamps, about 0.8% to 0.85%, per the agency pages
  • Escrow, a flat fee or small percentage. The escrow company must be SUGEF registered: see SUGEF registration
The agent's fee is the seller's problem. The title, the liens and the maritime zone line are yours, and no commission structure checks them for you.

What this page does not state

  • How Costa Rican courts treat a fee claim by an agent who is not a corredor jurado under article 298. We have not read the case law.
  • Referral splits between agencies, and any bill to license real estate agents. Not read.
  • The current consolidated wording of Ley 6826 article 10. The copy we read is the 1995 text (15% for eighteen months, then 13%); every agency page we read applies 13%.
  • The transfer tax, notary tariff and stamp figures above come from agency pages, not from the statutes.
The part no commission covers

Check the property before the offer

The agent is paid to close. The registry record is what tells you whether to.

Folio property report
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Pulled from the official registry for one titled parcel:
  • The registered owner and the folio real number
  • Liens, mortgages and annotations on the record
  • The survey plan matched to the folio real
  • A maritime zone exposure flag for coastal parcels
Delivered by email
The official record, not a summaryStraight from the Registro Nacional, read by a person before it goes out.
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Folio is not a law firm and not a brokerage. We do not earn a commission on any sale.
Questions

Frequently asked

How much is the real estate commission in Costa Rica?

No law fixes it. Article 309 of the Código de Comercio says a sworn broker's fee is what was agreed with the party they acted for, or the usual rate in the market if nothing was agreed. The agency pages we read in October 2026 all publish 6% of the sale price, and several say it is negotiable.

Who pays the real estate agent in Costa Rica, buyer or seller?

By market custom the seller pays, and the agencies say the fee is built into the asking price. A buyer who hires their own agent under a written agreement can owe that agent's fee. Article 309 puts the fee on the party in whose interest the broker intervened.

Is there tax on the commission?

Yes. The agencies add 13% IVA on the fee, so a 6% commission costs the seller 6.78% of the price. Ley 6826 article 10, in the copy we read, sets the general rate at 13% after a transitional period.

Does the buyer's agent get paid by the seller?

Usually. Summer Coast Realty and Papagayo Real Estate both describe the seller-paid commission being split between the listing agent and the buyer's agent. Article 309 says that when several brokers take part, the fee is divided in proportion to the work done.

Are real estate agents licensed in Costa Rica?

The Código de Comercio regulates the corredor jurado, a sworn broker with a Ministry patente, and article 298 says anyone who brokers without that patente has no action to collect a commission. Most agents work without it, and an agency page we read says plainly that agents are not licensed. How courts treat fee claims by unlicensed agents is not something we have read, so we do not state it.

Can I negotiate the commission?

Flamingo Beach Realty calls 6% negotiable; Going Pura Vida says a top agent is unlikely to come down. If you are selling, agree the rate and the IVA treatment in writing before the listing goes live; if you are buying with your own agent, agree in writing who pays them.

Sources. The statute articles were read in full on 26 October 2026 and are quoted in the original Spanish; the agency pages were read on that date and are quoted as published. Rates change; confirm the fee in your own listing or buyer agreement.
  1. Ley 3284, Código de Comercio, articles 296 to 311 (corredores jurados)
  2. Ley 6826, Ley del Impuesto sobre el Valor Agregado, article 10 (library copy, 1995 wording)
  3. Flamingo Beach Realty, Closing Costs in Costa Rica (2026 edition)
  4. Papagayo Real Estate, Closing Costs in Costa Rica
  5. Summer Coast Realty, FAQ
  6. Going Pura Vida, Selling and Buying Property in Costa Rica
  7. stanbrinkman.com, Costa Rica Real Estate Agent Fees (October 2026)
  8. Sistema Costarricense de Información Jurídica (SCIJ), the official consolidated texts
Photos from Wikimedia Commons: fishermen at sunset, Playa Santa Teresa, by Christopher Crouzet (CC BY-SA 4.0); Manuel Antonio by Mariordo, Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz (CC BY-SA 4.0).
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Folio is not a law firm.
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