Costa Rica property reports
Know what you’re buying before you buy it.
Enter the property number. Get a plain-English report on owner, debts, land size and red flags, based on public records from the National Registry.
Card or PayPal · Delivered within 2 hours (business days) · English, Español, Deutsch
- Registered owner
Owner: J. Mora — add the seller’s name to compare.
- Liens and mortgages1 mortgage found
- Land size vs listing12% smaller
- Land typeTitled
Don’t get caught out
What the listing says isn’t always what the Registry says.
These are the most common ways buyers lose money in Costa Rica. Every one of them shows up in the public record.
The seller isn’t the owner
Listing says
Owner: the person showing you around
Registry shows
RISKOwner: a company you’ve never heard of
Hidden debts
Listing says
“Free and clear”
Registry shows
RISK1 mortgage + 1 court embargo
Less land than promised
Listing says
1,200 m²
Registry shows
CHECK1,056 m² (12% smaller)
Beachfront you can’t own
Listing says
Titled beachfront lot
Registry shows
RISKMaritime-zone concession
Illustrative examples, not real properties.
Every report reads these registry entries: Folio real, Hipotecas, Gravámenes, Embargos, Plano catastrado, Zona marítimo terrestre, Servidumbres, Anotaciones, Área registrada, Propietario.
- Folio real
- Hipotecas
- Gravámenes
- Embargos
- Plano catastrado
- Zona marítimo terrestre
- Servidumbres
- Anotaciones
- Área registrada
- Propietario
How it works
Three steps. No lawyer’s office, no Spanish needed.
- 01
Enter the property number
The folio real number from the listing or the seller. Not sure where it is? We show you.
- 02
Choose a report and pay
Card or PayPal. No account needed — or create one to save your reports.
- 03
Get your report
A clear report in your inbox, with every red flag explained. Delivered within 2 hours (business days).
- checks in every report
- 0
- report languages
- 0
- per report, no account needed
- $0
- delivery on business days
- 2 h
checks in every report
report languages
per report, no account needed
delivery on business days
What we check
What every report checks
The records are public, but written in registry Spanish. We turn them into clear answers.
Who really owns it
The registered owner, person or company, compared with the person selling to you.
Debts and liens
Mortgages, embargoes, easements and annotations that stay with the land when you buy it.
Land size
The registered area in square metres, compared with what the listing promises.
Land type
Fully titled property, or signs of a maritime-zone concession you can’t truly own.
Red flags
Blocked records, survey plan mismatches and anything else that should slow you down.
Next steps
Specific questions to ask the seller, and what to hand to your lawyer.
Plain language
Registry Spanish in. Plain answers out.
What the record says
HIPOTECA DE PRIMER GRADO A FAVOR DE BANCO ··· MONTO: ··· CITAS: 2019-··· VENCE: 2034
What your report says
DebtThere’s a first-priority bank mortgage on this land. It has to be paid off and cancelled before you buy.
Illustrative examples. Your report uses your property’s real record.
Paradise is real. So is the fine print.
Costa Rica has some of the most beautiful land on earth, and a public registry that most buyers never read. We read it for you.
See the land
The lot, the way the Registry sees it.
Every titled property has a survey plan, the plano catastrado. We check that it matches the record, compare the registered area with the listing, and flag land that sits inside the maritime zone.
- Registered area vs listing
- Survey plan number and consistency
- Maritime-zone (ZMT) warning signs
Registered area
0 m²
Listing says 1,200 m²
Illustration. Not a real property.
We cover every titled property in all 7 provinces:
- San José
- Alajuela
- Cartago
- Heredia
- Guanacaste
- Puntarenas
- Limón
Pricing
One report. One price.
Every report is based on public records and written in plain language. Delivered within 2 hours (business days) for the registry report.
Property Report
The full registry report, delivered by email.
$20per property
Delivered within 2 hours (business days)
Get my report · $20What you get
- Owner, debts, land size and land type
- Red flags in plain language
- Questions to ask the seller
- PDF in English, Español or Deutsch
Founder
“Nobody should have to gamble their savings on a piece of land they can’t check.”
— Luca Bock
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Ask the seller or agent for the “folio real” or “número de finca”. It usually looks like 5-123456-000: the first digit is the province, then the property number, then a suffix for shared ownership. It’s on the seller’s title documents, the registry certificate (“certificación literal”) and often in the listing itself.
Not buying yet? Get our free Costa Rica land-buying checklist.
10 practical steps for buying land in Costa Rica as a foreigner, on one page.
Information report based on public records. Not legal advice.