When buyer and seller have agreed on the terms and conditions for a specific sales and purchase transaction of a titled property, both parties (or any duly appointed representatives thereof) should appear before a Notary Public to sign a public deed on the official “Protocole Book” of such Notary Public. The Protocole Book is a legal size book with numbered pages and printed lines, where the deed is to be printed and signed.

The payment of the purchase price and any other payments needed are to be made at the time of signature, usually by bank wiring or a cashier’s check. Once the payments are shown or received to the seller’s satisfaction, the Notary Public will also sign the
deed. Upon signature and reception of funds, the Notary will pay all taxes and fees at a government bank called Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) and then file a certified copy of the purchase deed at the National Registry for Properties.

In case the purchase is not to be made immediately for any reason, the parties may start by signing a Sales and Purchase Agreement or SPA, prepared by an Attorney / Notary Public. There will usually be a downpayment of 5 or 10% of the agreed purchase price, to be made by the buyer to the seller. Very specific and important are needed to secure a full understanding and description of any conditions, pending documents, repairs or anything that was agreed by the parties to be done, paid or addressed before closing (usually by the seller) to later sign the purchase deed on the agreed purchase time frame. If an SPA is needed and a downpayment is to be made, we suggest an Escrow service is hired to secure the payment of the downpayment to the seller, if all goes well according to the SPA; or the return of the funds to the buyer, if those conditions are not met. The Escrow service is also useful
when the buyer does not have bank accounts in Costa Rica and the price is to be paid to the seller to an account at a local bank. The Escrow Company will be the one doing the Know Your Client forms and a proper research on the origin of the funds coming into the country, because any incoming amount higher than US$10 000.00 is to be properly justified and it turns out to be complicated at certain local banks. Finally, the Escrow Company will also be in charge of paying each party the agreed amounts upon closing, for instance: the attorney fees, the commission to any realtors, the price to the seller.

The closing fees to be paid on any purchase add up to 4% of the purchase price, all according to an official table of fees to be calculated according to the purchase price. This includes municipal taxes, stamps and legal fees.

It is the buyer who usually chooses the Notary Public because he /she will be the person of trust who will handle the due diligence, drafting of the SPA and the purchase deed, making the payments at the Public Registry and properly registering the property on the buyer’s name, be it a Company or an individual.

On the other hand, if the purchase price is not to be paid in full, and there is going to be a mortgage on the property, then it is the seller who will choose a Notary Public of his own trust to ensure that the mortgage is done correctly and that it is duly registered at the Public Registry.