Foreign soccer players, foreing brokers and foreign real estate agents working in Costa Rica meanwhile they are on a tourist visa


Just recently, the news reported that many of the most famous international soccer players that are playing in Costa Rica for the local teams of the most important clubs, are playing for their teams meanwhile they are just on tourist visas.  The government acted and they will not be allowed to play any more games until their immigration status changes and they have a valid working visa.
Costa Rica is indeed a very unique destination and we are visited by people from all around the world, many of whom decide to live in our country for a while or more permanently.  As explained in the example above, some even decide to work, even though they are just on a tourist visa.  With a very strategic location and all of its natural ingredients, Costa Rica is also a very desirable destination for second home ownership and investment.  This is of course not new to foreign brokers and real estate agents.
I have two comments to make in regards to dealing with international real estate agent and foreigners acting as real estate agents while they live in Costa Rica on a tourist visa: 
1.  Our main danger is speculation with prices, as a result of a lack of expertise in the local market, because this has seriously damaged our market and international image, creating a bubble which at the end has to affect the projections of ROI for any one along the investment chain.  The sad experience of the USA and other countries, with the real estate market, has to make us all reflect that real estate experts have an important responsibility in working hard to keep our markets healthy.  We can of course not change everyone´s expectations, but if we at least keep our own portfolio healthy, by advising our clients (both buyers and sellers) in the right direction and keeping everyone´s feet on the ground, then we are doing our job as real estate professionals.   The bad side of the story is that usually, brokers and real estate agents coming from other countries to work in real estate in Costa Rica do not have the expertise and knowledge of the local market, and in most cases, they are not even “real” brokers or real estate agents, they are just tourists that have found in the Costa Rican real estate market a working area where they can spend their time and make some money, meanwhile they live in paradise, in most cases, without paying any taxes to the local government. 
2.  On the other hand, real estate brokers and agents from the USA and anywhere in the world are welcome to come to Costa Rica, we are a democratic country, but please keep in mind that we also have our internal laws, regulations on owning property,  regulations on building, regulations on payment of taxes, a seismic code that has to be observed, ethics code for real estate, real estate taxes that have to be paid to the government and a commercial code, these are just a few among the many of the aspects that a “real” real estate expert has to understand when selling real estate in our country.
My company Costa Rica Luxury Estates has worked for over 20 years in serving the needs of the high end market in Costa Rica and our main focus is the marketing of million dollar homes, and I think I have seeing mostly everything when it comes to making business with other brokers and fogeign real estate agents, and the sharing of information with them, and also when it comes to working with all kinds of clients, for example, those who at the end are only gathering information for someone else´s interests.  
If you or anyone you know is planning to come to work to Costa Rica in the real estate market, you should know that this market is a very tough market and you will hear experiences from buyers, developers and brokers for whom paradise turned into hell due to all kinds of situations caused mostly by wrong advise or the fact that they were surrounded by the wrong kind of people.  
Not everything that shines is gold.  If things are not done right, you might end up in jail.  Right now our government is more demanding and serious about tax collection and observing that foreigners living in Costa Rica on a tourist visa comply with their immigration status.  My advice is not to take the risk, as the regulations are stricter than ever and the Ministry of Hacienda (IRS) is doing everything to make sure real estate agents pay their taxes, and work according to local regulations for property transfer and the collection of the sales tax from any transaction.
Yalile Alpizar, President/Broker/Owner
email:  yalile@clecr.com

Comments

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