Pre-construction is a purchase of a promise, priced like a building. The reward, when the developer is real and the contract is tight, is a home that did not exist when you committed, sometimes at a number that finished homes nearby no longer offer. The risk is that you funded an operating account, a rendering, and a delay. Costa Rica has a specific regulation for forward sales. It is more protective than a handshake and less protective than people assume when they see the words “escrow” and “bank” in a brochure. See Buying guide.
Where the deposit is supposed to sit
Under the forward-sale regulation, as amended in July 2022, buyer deposits should sit in a trust account at a bank supervised by SUGEF, held by a supervised fiduciary, and the sales plan should have authorization from the consumer ministry, MEIC. That is a different object from a wire to the developer because “that is how we do the reservation.” Developers often ask for a large share before delivery. Brokerage notes describe 30 to 50 percent up front as a common request. The request does not retire the trust-account rule. Milestone payments can be sensible. An unstructured deposit into operations is how buyers become unsecured creditors.
A condo unit does not have its own registry number until the condominium deed under the condominium law is filed. Anyone selling you “unit 4-B, folio already issued” before that deed exists is ahead of the registry. Individual titled lots are a different sequence. Ask which one you are in.
The red flags are boring, which is why they work
No environmental viability where the project needs it. Land that is not owned by the developer, or that is pledged. Finishes described as “similar” or “equivalent.” A developer with no finished building you can walk through. A discount that expires while your lawyer is still reading. None of these require cynicism. They require a pause.
At delivery, a holdback of about 5 to 10 percent for punch-list items is typical and useful. Attorneys cited in building guides also describe a five-year guaranty for defects in materials and workmanship. The legal citation for that guaranty was not re-verified for this page. Ask your lawyer to confirm it before you treat five years as a right you can waive casually. The holdback you can see in the contract is the protection you do not have to take on faith.
Permits, water, and the clock
Verify the water letter, the permits, and the approved plans as if you were building the house yourself, because in a sense you are financing it. A land-use certificate, SETENA environmental viability when the project crosses the thresholds, CFIA-stamped plans, and a municipal permit are the spine of a legal building. Clean files often take a few months to permit. Coastal or complex ones take longer. Construction itself runs many months to a couple of years. From a raw lot to move-in, a common planning span is 18 to 30 months. An off-plan building with a promised date inside a single season deserves the same scrutiny as a missing trust account.
Published construction costs on this coast span a wide range. The cost question in this FAQ keeps those ranges, from a basic build through coastal custom work. They are bids waiting to happen, not a price list, and they are a reason to prefer a finished house when the render is doing more work than the contract.