Mortgage Loans in Costa Rica: Make Them Your Ally!

In some everyday situations, the term mortgage loan comes up and is sometimes even synonymous with a solution for some of our problems, but obtaining it turns out to be a titanic task.

The first thing is to really know its meaning, here is an easy and colloquial definition: it is a money loan where the asset itself being requested answers to the lending entity, or in practical terms, if the operation is for construction, remodeling, or the purchase of a home, a lot, or a personal vehicle and you do not pay, that asset will become the bank's property.

In Costa Rica, a large number of financial entities provide these types of loans, from both private and public banks to cooperatives. You can visit their websites or contact a representative to confirm if they offer this modality and obtain their conditions.

When you go to make a comparison to choose the best option, aspects such as the interest rate percentage, commission amounts, annual fees, and penalties can tip the scales, since the higher they are, the greater the amount to be paid in the installment.

Requirements to consider

There are documents that are very general and, on the contrary, there are others that we are not used to having at our fingertips. Your payment capacity and the use of them depend on the purpose you seek; let's start with the simple ones:

-Copy of both sides of your valid ID.

-Income certification or proof of income provided by the human resources department where you work, in addition to the employer contribution statement issued by the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (C.C.S.S.); you can request it here: https://aissfa.ccss.sa.cr/afiliacion/. It is required to demonstrate one year of employment continuity.

In the case of being a self-employed worker, the document is prepared by a public accountant for a period that must cover the last 12 months.

Now the slightly more complex actors:

-Purchase and sale option: it is used when you choose to acquire an already built home and is simply the contract signed with the seller where the value of the asset and the validity of the operation are fixed by mutual agreement. It must be a maximum of three months; it can be agreed upon for a longer time, but what is indicated in it constitutes a promise of fulfillment and has a legal nature.

-Survey map and registration study: in this type of appraisal, the expert obtains important data, such as location, farm number, legal boundaries of the property, or the registered owner. It can be downloaded with the subsidiary number through the National Registry page http://www.registronacional.go.cr/.

-Municipal tax certification: it is issued by the corresponding local government and aims to show that one is up to date with the payment of these obligations.

It is recommended to go to banking fairs and events such as ExpoConstrucción where conditions improve and you have the ease of comparing options, or giving a significant amount as a down payment so that the monthly installment is not so high and the ease of payment is not at risk.