Secure your financial assets as an expat in Costa Rica

i hired an appraiser who worked for the government authorized housing savings and loan bank 22 years ago since i was aware of the lack of data and integrity in the real estate market since there is no license required

unlike the states there is very little information available

outside of the central valley the infrastructure is not reliable in many areas such as quality of water, electric availability, cable and internet service, broken bridges, police protection,

20 years ago the gated condo complexes started appearing in large numbers since security had become a major issue and the 1st ones were around $70,000 with usually a clubhouse and pool

today those same condos are around $150,000 although in some more distant areas still $100,000

the beach areas are more expensive generally

if i was new to this country i would look in the internet for angela jimenez rocha certified appraiser who has done over 8000 valuations for the banks and private clients

My experience dealing with CR banks is their approach is so paranoid and their understanding of how property sales documentation in the US has changed in the last 5 years is so limited that it is impossible to work with the banks here.  As a result I have transferred fund out of CR.   I have also transferred funds to Panama from the US and received it in my Panama account in one day.  In CR it has never arrived in less that one week.

It is hard to recommend doing any business in CR unless one operates behind a Tico with existing banking accounts and funding levels.

Some of this paranoia is due to the US Congress passing the Patriot Act and it's follow-up.  Some is due to the rigidity and blindness of the banking system here. 

We purchased a home in Tamarindo, in a gated community called Senderos.   We had the most positive experience, and we are completely happy and delighted with our home.  Senderos is very professional and reliable and I found them very transparent and easy to deal with.   Their homes are beautiful, you can google them.

I highly recommend Senderos and we love Tamarindo, it's a very nice beach town.   We walk over from our home to the beach and there are lots of cafes, etc.  The Garden Plaza is next door, with the very North American Auto-Mercado grocery which has pretty much everything you are familiar with.

I can honestly say we are delighted with our purchase and with Costa Rica.  We are from Canada.