TEAM CR - escrow accounts - costa rica real estate investment buyer independent agent title escrow service account management

There are several ways we can set up and escrow account for your purchase of property in Costa Rica, just as there are several safe ways we can meet payment obligations for closing and transfer of Title for property.

Prior to establishing any form of escrow account, you must determine the "buying structure" you wish to use for property purchases, and have that "buying structure" in place for the actual transfer of titles into same

We very strongly recommend that you establish a Costa Rica Sociedad Anonima or S.A. Corporacion for the purchase of real property and a separate S.A. Corporacion for the purchase of vehicles - this approach will give you protection of limiting your liability to the value of the S.A. Owner - in other words, if you were to hit some kid on a bicycle, he can take the car but with separate Corporacion can not get the house - OK ?

There are people who will tell you it is not necessary to set up a S.A. Corporacion to purchase real property and they are technically correct - it is NOT a requirement - but without S.A. in place, your liability is exposed to your personal accounts from around the world - AND - just as importantly in our opinion, you as a "resident" in Costa Rica may NOT order water, electric or telephone service for your property - however, you as a S.A. Corporacion MAY order these utilities in the name of your S.A. Corporacion -

Now, let's talk logistics for a minute - the truth is, even if you purchase an "off the shelf" corporacion, it will require 7 to 10 days for the change of ownership to be recorded by the central government "Registro" agency and you CAN NOT legally purchase property until you are in fact the recorded owner of the S.A.

Our associate attorneys will set up your own new S.A. Corporacion for $250/$300 or you can purchase a shelf Corporacion for $500 - $700, and either way, it will not be in your legal posession for 7 to 10 days after submission to the Registro - our recommendation is start you own new and fresh S.A. for purchase of your property and separate S.A. for your vehicle(s) - this assures there can be no "pending" negatives ...

As an aside,be aware that a S.A. Corporacion requires 4 participants (but voting power can be limited to one,two, three or all members) - most folks start up with individual or couple and use our family or their attorney's family to fill in as needed - then, later on, we can be replaced by your family members as they visit in Costa Rica and sign up to replace our family
or attorney's family members as the case may be ....

Now, you have arrived at a decision point = are you going to stay in Costa Rica for 30 to 45 days till the hard copy of your S.A. Corporacion makes it way through the system and back to your attorney ? - or - are you going to appoint a "limited power of attorney" here in Costa Rica and return home ? - to explain ; we recommend using a "limited power of attorney" which means this specific individual has the authority to purchase property and order utilities in the name of your S.A. corporacion AT YOUR SPECIFIC DIRECTION and the "limited power of attorney" will NOT allow the person to sell, trade or otherwise convert anything - only buy, and you can be pretty well assured there wil be no purchases made unless and
until you provide the capital for such - pretty safe deal and the "limited power of attorney" can get your water, electric or telephone and that is 3 less headaches to deal with ( ask Bob what this means )

Remember too that we can help you set up a bank account when you get your S.A. Corporacion so you could transfer funds from your home account to your CR account and pay closing costs from that CR account -

OK, now you are all set and have your papers in order so that you can literally accomplish everything you need from back home by international wire transfer or if you have the schedule flexibility simply plan to fly back down for closing and again for utility initiation - we will discuss in detail which is your personal best option at the appropriate time -