Condos

Costa Rica is truly blessed with all its marvelous nature, favorable climate and politically stable situation. Hardy can you find a place better suitable for vocation, retirement or living. There are plenty of amazing homes and condominiums either on the beachfront of Jaco or somewhere higher in the Central Valley, or whatever place you choose. And when it comes to a condo, not only unforgettable holidays are guaranteed to you, but your condo can become a great vacation rental income producer while you are not using it. Your condominium can be a very profitable investment. All the more so, the country provides every opportunity for any kind of investments. Costa Rica can be compared with Switzerland in this respect – it is democratic and provides foreigners with a broad range of property rights hardly found in any other country.

What concerns condominiums, they have recently come into fashion and are rather popular here. In Costa Rica a condominium has a special status and is registered in the "Horizontal Property Section" of the Registro Publico. Any condominium construction stands under the control of certain by-laws, which define all the restrictions and privileges provided to the prospective buyers of the property in the framework of this construction. Condominium ownership represents a fee (absolute ownership) but with certain restrictions stated by the builder.

Every condominium has a list of regulations and after the purchase the owner is obliged to abide by its rules. Generally, these rules refer to the management and owners’ relationships issues. Most condominiums presuppose monthly maintenance fee; many have certain restrictions concerning pets or certain activities. It is recommended for the prospective owners to get to know about all the regulations of their future condominium. It is also advised to make sure that all the fees and bills were paid by the previous owner.

The units of condominium are subject to mortgage as any other property. The whole concept of condominium is new for the real estate market of Costa Rica, nevertheless it is gaining popularity and a lot of conversions (renovation of older buildings into new condos) can be seen recently.

This practice is not always going smoothly, but condos become more and more popular than houses. Despite its attractiveness, it is problematic for a house to provide certain benefits of a condo. In terms of security there is a great risk that during the time of your absence someone can invade your house. Therefore you will be necessitated either to keep a dog or to have a guard. Such a situation is most unlikely to happen in a condo. No matter the size, one of the priorities of a condo design is its security. The condos in the vocational and residential areas provide 24-hour security and guarantee the protection of all your possessions. This usually includes gate guard and internal security system.

Moreover, the majority of condos also provide certain facilities like swimming pools, tennis courts, gyms, barbeque areas and so on. Besides, you split all the amenities maintenance costs among all the condo owners and therefore do not have to pay the full cost of them. As you do not have to bother about any of the property management or maintenance issues; they are the task of condo association.

In Costa Rica you can find condos available in 1 (rarely), 2 and 3 bedroom models. Most of them are complete finished options ready to move in. The prices vary depending on the size, location, nearby amenities, providing view and general level of luxury. They range around $100,000 and higher. The most popular condos are the ones in the San Jose adjoining areas (e.g. Escazu) and in the beach areas.

Condos, as well as single family residences, are becoming more and more popular and high in demand. Nowadays the real estate market experiences the following trend: such vacation or urban properties are either bought for the period of the owners’ absence or used as rentals.

Condos are in general a good way of investment. There are a lot of people coming to Costa Rica and then deciding to either come back, or retire, or at least invest. The property boom is becoming even more pronounced with all the Baby Boomers reaching their retirement age and many of them considering the option of moving to Costa Rica the most favorable and likely. What is good about condos in this respect – they are easy to either own or maintain. So, it is expected, that in the nearest future condos will become only more sought after.