Do you need a lawyer to buy property in Costa Rica?
Technically, Costa Rican law does not force you to hire your own lawyer to buy property. But you absolutely need your own independent attorney — not the lawyer your realtor or the seller recommends, whose incentive is to close the deal, not to protect you. Independent counsel runs the title study, holds your money in SUGEF-registered escrow, and is free to tell you to walk away from a bad title.
Is a lawyer legally required to buy property in Costa Rica?
No — not strictly. Costa Rican law does not compel a buyer to retain their own attorney to purchase titled property. The transfer of ownership is executed by a notary through an escritura pública(public deed), and the parties are not legally forced to each have separate counsel. But “not required” is not the same as “safe.” If you skip your own independent lawyer, the only legal professional on the deal is working for the other side — and has no duty to protect your money.
For a foreign buyer wiring six or seven figures across a border into a country whose registry, language and procedures you do not know, the practical answer is unambiguous: yes, you need your own attorney. The question is not whether — it is whose.
Why not use the realtor’s lawyer?
Because that lawyer is paid to close the deal — not to protect you. When your interest and the seller’s interest collide, a lawyer who was introduced by the person selling you the property cannot fully sit on your side of the table.
The most repeated warning to foreign buyers in Costa Rica is simple: do not use the lawyer your realtor or seller recommends. Their incentive is the closing. Yours is a clean, safe title. Those are not always the same thing — and when they diverge, an “independent” lawyer who owes their referral stream to the realtor will not be the one telling you to walk.
Their fee and future referrals often depend on the deal closing — a structural incentive to smooth over red flags, not surface them.
They may quietly represent both the buyer and the seller, so no one is exclusively protecting you.
A defect in the title — a lien, an overlapping plan, a squatter claim — is inconvenient to a closing but critical to you.
If the deal later goes wrong, the lawyer introduced by the seller is not the one who will fight for your ownership in court.
Whose lawyer is on your side of the table?
The difference is not competence — it is who the lawyer is accountable to. Here is how the two compare on the things that actually protect your money.
| Your independent attorney | The realtor’s / seller’s lawyer | |
|---|---|---|
| Accountable to | You alone | The party who referred them |
| Incentive | A clean, safe title in your name | Closing the deal |
| Will advise you to walk from a bad title | Yes | Rarely — it kills their fee |
| Holds funds in SUGEF-registered escrow for you | Yes | Not necessarily neutral |
| Defends your ownership if the deal goes wrong | Yes — the same lawyer, end to end | No — they were the seller's side |
Runs an independent title study
Pulls the property's records at the National Registry (Registro Nacional) to confirm the seller truly owns it, that the survey plan matches, and that there are no mortgages, liens, easements, judicial annotations or overlapping claims registered against it.
Holds your funds in SUGEF-registered escrow
Your money sits with a licensed, SUGEF-registered escrow agent under anti-money-laundering supervision — not in the seller's, the realtor's or the recommended lawyer's personal account — and is released only when the transfer is verified.
Will tell you to walk from a bad title
An attorney who works for you — and only you — is free to say the deal is not safe and to advise you to walk away. A lawyer whose fee depends on the closing has an incentive to close it anyway.
Drafts and registers the transfer
As a notary vested with public faith, I prepare and execute the escritura pública that transfers the property and register your ownership so your title is legally effective and recorded in your name.
How much does a lawyer cost to buy property in Costa Rica?
The customary closing and notary fee is roughly 1.25%–1.50% of the purchase price, plus 13% IVA(Costa Rica’s VAT). Treat that as a customary range, not a fixed statutory number — the notarial arancel (tariff) is set by scale and should be confirmed for your specific transaction before you rely on it.
| Service | Typical fee (USD, +13% IVA) |
|---|---|
| Customary closing / notary fee | ~1.25%–1.50% of purchase price |
| Full independent buyer-side representation | 1.5% of price · floor US$5,000 |
| Standalone title due diligence | from US$900 (from US$2,500 if maritime / concession / complex) |
| Strategic Valuation Session (paid first step) | US$350 · creditable to your engagement |
Independent counsel is not a second layer of cost bolted onto the deal — for most buyers it replaces the closing agent the other side would have chosen, and the marginal spend is small next to the price of the property it protects.
Property due diligence & title search
Exactly what I check in the Registro Nacional before you wire a single dollar.
ReadIs it safe? The 3 scams
The documented scams — and how independent counsel prevents each one.
ReadClosing costs, escrow & taxes
What you really pay, and how SUGEF-registered escrow protects your funds.
ReadBack to the guide for foreign investors.
Is a lawyer legally required to buy property in Costa Rica?
Not strictly. Costa Rican law does not force a buyer to retain their own attorney to purchase titled property, and the transfer itself is executed by a notary through an escritura pública. But 'not required' is not the same as 'safe.' Without your own independent attorney running the title study and holding your funds in escrow, you are trusting the seller's side to protect your money — which they have no duty to do.
Should I use the lawyer my realtor or the seller recommends?
No. That is the single most repeated warning to foreign buyers in Costa Rica. The lawyer your realtor or seller recommends is incentivized by the closing — their relationship, and often their fee, depends on the deal going through. Independent counsel is accountable only to you and is free to tell you to walk away from a bad title.
What does an independent attorney actually do for me?
Four things a closing agent working for the other side will not reliably do for you: run an independent title study at the National Registry, hold your funds in a SUGEF-registered escrow account, advise you to walk if the title is defective, and draft and register the transfer so your ownership is legally effective in your own name.
How much does a lawyer cost to buy property in Costa Rica?
The customary closing/notary fee is roughly 1.25%–1.50% of the purchase price plus 13% IVA (VAT) — verify the current arancel before you rely on a number. For full independent buyer-side representation I charge 1.5% of the price (+IVA), with a floor of US$5,000; a standalone title due diligence starts at US$900 (from US$2,500 for maritime, concession or complex titles).
Can the same lawyer represent both the buyer and the seller?
It happens, and it is exactly the arrangement to avoid. A single lawyer or notary handling both sides cannot fully protect your interests when they conflict with the seller's. For a cross-border purchase where you may never meet the other party, your own independent attorney is not a luxury — it is the safeguard.
Do I have to be in Costa Rica to hire a lawyer and buy?
No. You can engage an independent attorney and grant a scoped power of attorney authorizing me to run the due diligence, sign the escritura and close on your behalf without you traveling. Everything is handled in English.
Get your own lawyer before you wire a dollar.
We start with a Strategic Valuation Session (US$350 +IVA, creditable toward your engagement — there is no free call). I review your purchase, the real risks and the path forward, in English, with one lawyer accountable to you and no one else.
Book a Strategic Valuation Session