Although not a large country, being only about the size of West Virginia, Costa Rica has a total of eight hundred and two miles of coast line, and a great reputation for its whitewater rafting and kayaking opportunities. And although most famous for its beaches, these are by no means the only attraction in the country. Tourists to Costa Rica also appreciates Costa Rica’s many islands, of which the Cocos Island and the Calero Island are the best known. This country also has a rich variety of animals and plants, which makes connoisseurs all the more interested in visiting it. More than a quarter of the country’s surface is represented by protected forests and reserves, and visitors to the national parks of Costa Rica can enjoy the sight of abundant wildlife.

Costa Rica vacation rentals are available in a wide range of establishments, such as hotels, villas, and other less expensive facilities. You can opt to stay at a hotel, given the wide variety of hotels, but you should not overlook the fact that many hotels are overpriced, and there are other options. Costa Rica villa rentals are a better choice by far, if you want something that meets both your expectations and your budget.

Costa Rica villa rentals are especially recommended to large groups of tourists, whose accommodation at a hotel may prove quite expensive. However, villas are a wise choice for Costa Rica vacation rentals, because no matter how large your group is, the rental price for a villa stays the same. In other words, renting a villa could mean huge savings if you are part of a large group traveling to Costa Rica for their holidays.

Costa Rica’s membership in the newly formed Federal Republic of Central America, now free of Spanish rule, was short lived; in 1838, long after the Central American Federation ceased to function in practice, Costa Rica formally withdrew and proclaimed itself sovereign. The distance from Guatemala City to the Central Valley of Costa Rica, where most of the population lived and still lives, was great. The local population had little allegiance to the government in Guatemala City, in part because of the history of isolation during Colonial times. Costa Rica’s disinterest in participating as a province in a greater Central American government was one of the deciding factors in the break-up of the fledgling federation into independent states, which still exist today. However, all of the Central American nations still celebrate September 15th as their independence day, which pertains to the independence of Central America from Spain.

Some people may think that there’ s nothing like staying in a hotel, as far as the comfort and quality of services are concerned. Well, they could not be farther from the truth, because Costa Rica villa rentals are once again a better choice. How so? Not only is it cheaper to rent a villa, but the quality of accommodation is the same, or even exceeds that of many expensive hotels. Just think that you have an entire villa at your disposal, with multiple bedrooms, living room, kitchen, dining areas, and even a private pool! If you compare all this to a what a hotel can offer for a moderate price, it’s more than obvious that villas are ideal for your Costa Rica vacation rentals.

Other advantages of renting villas include privacy, the possibility to cook your own meals whenever you want, numerous activity options when the weather is bad, a wide range of choices, from rustic houses to five-star villas, and many more.

Costa Rica vacation rentals are now available online, which is a fast and accessible way to plan your holidays.

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For more resources about Costa rica villa rentals or especially about Costa Rica Vacation rentals please review this link http://www.ricarent.com

When we’d settled on Costa Rica the destination we planned to retire to the first thing we did was set a strategy to find a piece of property that met our requirements in terms of size, location and budget. We were pretty savvy shoppers having bought and sold close to a dozen properties in the states so we thought we knew what we were doing. We first looked for foreclosed property in Costa Rica. We quickly realized there wasn’t much in the way of foreclosed homes in Costa Rica since most homes have no mortgage, with most being purchased in the past for cash. The mortgage market in Costa Rica is still in it’s infancy. Typically you can’t get a mortgage on land, only developer financing. In this type of financing, the developer holds the note. Mortgages for finished homes or construction mortgages typically require large down payments in Costa Rica. Banks in Costa Rica want a minimum of 20% of the value of the mortgage as collateral. Fortunately you can typically pledge land you own as collateral for a construction loan which is what many owners in our developments end up doing.

Finding a realtor

You do not need to be licensed to sell real estate in Costa Rica. As a result, nearly everyone will pretend to be a realtor if they think they can participate in a sale and make a commission. There is also no national MLS system in Costa Rica. Listing and commission agreements are not standardized. Realtors are not acting as a “buyers” agent or a “sellers” agent. Most are simply hoping to make a commission. Without a standard system of commissions and referral fees, realtors are reluctant to share their listings with other realtors. That means that most realtors will only show you their own listings in Costa Rica

Finding a Project

Many real estate developers in Costa Rica are very new to the industry. What they soon learn is that development in Costa Rica is highly regulated. Getting permits to subdivide, build roads, install water lines or electric is a challenge. Costa Rica boasts staunch conservation. In recent years the government has created new hurdles to slow the growth by foreign development companies with projects aimed at North Americans and Europeans. Verify the experience of any developer you are considering. See what they have accomplished, not what they say they plan on doing. Visit their projects. Ask about fees, CC&As, and deed restrictions. Some developers require you build in a certain amount of time. Others require that you use their construction services even though they may have little or no experience. Also find out the type of development and titling they are doing. Are they selling agricultural parcels with limited use and value? Are they selling “Parcel Minima” parcels with very limited infrastructure and few requirements for the developer to bring electric, water or roads to the lots. Is the project gated? Gated projects often allow a developer to provide little in the way of infrastructure and services inside the gate. There are no municipal standards applied once inside the gate. Find out what services will be provided and when, before purchasing. Buy what you see, not what they tell you is coming. Be wary of brochures full of artist’s renditions of what a development is going to look like. Paragon Properties is a prime example.

Determining Value – Appraisals

In the US, we are used to having an appraisal done on property as part of the purchase process. Appraisals are rare in Costa Rica since mortgages on properties are less frequent but are becoming more common. Most appraisals are ordered by the bank holding the mortgage. Don’t expect to have an appraisal done or even find an appraiser in Costa Rica. Be your own judge. Educate yourself. Kristina and I took a complete set of courses offered by the Appraisal Institute costing thousands of dollars to learn how to do appraisals. Kristina worked for an appraiser to gain additional experience. Appraisals have three parts; comps which are comparisons to similar property in the vicinity with similar characteristics, income approach which is looking at the income that a property would provide from rentals or lease agreements and cost of construction which looks at the cost of the raw land and any improvement on it based on current construction costs. All appraisals in the states consist of all three methods unless specifically stated to the contrary.

Property Values Past and Present

A few years back nearly every project in Costa Rica was selling like hot cakes. Prices were spiraling up with no end in sight. In the central valley in places like Escazu and Santa Ana, condo prices were approaching $1200 per square meter and some were topping $2000. Builders of quality single family homes were in short supply and the waiting list for construction was growing. Most major hotel chains and a slew of developers pounced on Costa Rica to build condos knowing that 78 million baby boomers were already looking at options. Guanacaste and especially the area around the Liberia International Airport in Costa Rica boomed with high rise and low rise development. Areas like Jaco, once considered a lowly surfing town, sprouted up high rise projects overnight. Nine condo projects were started in Jaco at the same time by builders like Sonesta and Daystar. The “crane” become a common sight, and I am not talking about the bird. Even as far south as Manuel Antonio, high rise projects were breaking ground.

The Shake Out

Then came the slow down as the world economy contracted. Some projects have been abandoned while others have slowed way down. Prices have fallen in these types of projects and also in large developments of single family homes that were built out of speculation. Many of these builders must continue to sell some inventory to stave off bankruptcy. Banks once flush with money were now pulling back load commitments.

Many buyers were stuck with a project that was partially completed. Some developers went bankrupt leaving the owners fully responsible to compete infrastructure. The market lost value in many areas, especially those in Guanacaste and the central Pacific area around Jaco. The southern Pacific area faired the best. The three story height restriction (from Dominical south to Panama) has kept developers of high rise projects away. The limited accessibility kept large projects out of the region and inventory of finished homes remained low. Prices have fallen a bit on raw land without ocean views but ocean view parcels have continued to creep up in price.

Southern Options

There is a two tiered pricing system in Costa Rica, that of Tico style homes and North American style homes in expat communities. Most North Americans don’t do well in Tico style homes or in a Tico neighborhood though some old hippies and such may do so. Housing aimed at Expats offers a variety of choices. High rise buildings with secure parking, upscale residential neighborhoods, large communities like Los Suenos golf residences (expensive) or small projects like the ones dotting the coast from Jaco to Quepos. Further south, these types of developments are harder to find.

Pacific Lots

Our Pacific Lots project is by far the largest and oldest in Costa Rica but we are a single family residential development. Since we only built custom homes, we never had unsold inventory to glut the market. Our developments spread out in the hills overlooking the ocean above the village of Ojochal below us. The neighboring town of Uvita, just to our north, has become a large commercial center in the past few years. Most in our town prefer to have this commercial development nearby and not right in town. We build North American style homes, have no time limit and you are welcome to hire any other builder if you don’t want to use us. See our website for details…

This article written by Stephen Linder, of Pacific Lots of Costa Rica, a premier community for North Americans who have relocated, retired or changed thier life style by moving here.

For more information about Pacific Lots of Costa Rica, our developments & luxury custom homes, our property tours and our community visit our website at http://www.PacificLots.com

If you are looking for rental possessions in Costa Rica, you should consider some points that help you obtain the most excellent property that will make your living relaxed and wonderful:

- Check the property that you will be accommodating on rental basis. You can do this by studying the most-modern pictures of the property. See the interior and the exterior images of the property carefully. These will present you a rough suggestion concerning the property that you will be hiring to reside peacefully in this lovely state of Latin America.

- Make a list of things you need in your rented apartment, like number of bedrooms, washrooms, home furnishings, spacious kitchen, lawns, patio furniture etc. This manner you will know if you and your family can derive pleasure from their living in this awesome state.

- The other major factor to be considered while renting a residential property in Costa Rica is to check if there is easy and quick accessibility to market. The chartered possession should be near the market so as to fulfill your day to day necessities, hotels and restaurants should be close-by to your chartered residence; laundry services, maids, transport facilities etc. should be easily obtainable from the place where you stay.

- You should ask the neighboring people about the locality where you will be spending your vacation. The area in which you will be living for your vacations in Costa Rica must be protected and secured. The neighborhood people will inform you about the safety in nearby area of your rental apartment.

Therefore, these few tips will definitely help you to find a wonderful rental property that will make your living truly comfortable and excellent one. The excitement and thrill of living in this interesting country is worth experiencing once a life time. You will enjoy your living in chartered assets in Costa Rica as these are quite affordable too.

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