Company Background Information

Land Assurance, Inc., is an American-owned company incorporated in Costa Rica. We offer real estate security,management and improvement services to foreign owners of land in Costa Rica. We do this by referring them to a trusted local company which also offers pre-purchase services for potential purchasers. Because this third party is not involved in acting as sales agents for buyers or sellers, you can be sure that your interests will come first. The idea is also to help you benefit from the local prices that this company charges.

Once you've already become the proud owner of Costa Rican real estate, a whole host of new pleasures and challenges opens up for you. We are here to help you deal with all the challenges so you can be free to rake in the pleasures of visiting your own piece of Paradise. From tailor-made contracts for unique clients, like an ocelot sanctuary, to one-time only emergency services for landowners involved in that periodic hurricane, flood, or fire, we'll try to help anybody, anytime.

But mainly our clients are just folks who live away from their land, and can't be here all year to look after their real estate investment the way they'd like to. So we help them out. It's that simple. The four options, Standard Services, Special Services, Reforestation and Potential Land Purchase, cover most of the specific jobs we do. If you need something that we have not included, just ask; it is our business to be at your service.

The Risks of Buying and Maintaining Land in Costa Rica

Often, buying land in Costa Rica can be a complex, time-consuming, and bewildering experience. And it can be a nightmare when one has the misfortune of picking poorly or buying wrongly. Caveat emptor , or "let the buyer beware," is certainly not a concept to be ignored in this part of the Third World, except at one's peril. The number of subtle details hidden in any given transfer of title is rivaled only by the likelihood of their turning prickly on you before closing.

The same can be true after you have bought your land; at the very least, possessing and maintaining it productively gets expensive as time goes on. Often, these costs rise higher than projected, as transportation, food, and lodging expenses keep on heading north. And, over time, unanticipated local snafus can cause irritants. Some of these can even be capable of clouding your clear title to your land, as in the case of organized squatters, water or land easements taken without your knowledge, border squabbles, survey irregularities, and so on. In our experience, certain situations tend to crop up again and again when the owners don't reside on their property here in Costa Rica all year round to keep an eye on their investment.

When Things Go Well

On the other hand, most of the time things turn out OK. Fortunately, we have many clients who, despite being unable to come check out their place more than once or twice a year, in fact bought wisely, are blessed with saints for neighbors, and (so far) have had no problems with their land here-to them we say, congratulations. And all the more reason for them to stay with Land Assurance! Because you don't need problems to let Land Assurance fill in for you while you're away-all you've got to want is to save yourself aggravation, time, and most of all, money.

How Land Assurance Can Save Owners Time and Money

If you are a real estate owner who lives far from your own property (typically abroad), we can save you time, and money. That's because we will refer you to the management company run by Ing. Alex Barrantes, a topographer and attorney. We have worked with him for many years and are certain of his honesty and integrity. By virtue of his presence here, his appropriate use of the latest in high tech, and his specialization in land oversight, his company is able to perform supervisory checks of your property much more efficiently and cost-effectively than you could on your own. By pooling your resources and putting them to work for a number of land-owners like yourself, we can help knock down the costs for all our clients. For locally-based prices, his company can maximize your protection and minimize your hassle all year round.

How Land Assurance Can Help Raise the Value of Your Investment

The most important aspect of land ownership is what you make of it. It's easy to buy on impulse, but getting the most out of your investment down the road, over the long haul, is what really counts. Land Assurance is pioneering an expertise in ecologically correct ways of improving the value of your real estate. Imagine having selected portions of your land reforested with fine local hardwoods for a grand total of under two or three dollars per tree-all costs included. Please refer to the section Reforestation for more information on how you can use Land Assurance to dramatically boost the value of your investment.