Due Diligence Before Buying a Lot in Guanacaste: The Checklist

Most bad land purchases on this coast fail on one of five points — and every one of them is checkable before you sign. This is the same checklist we tell buyers to run against us.

1 · Water — check this first

Guanacaste is the dry coast. A lot without a legal, physical water supply is a picnic spot, not a home site. Demand proof that water is installed and running — not “coming soon”, not “planned”. A water letter or working connection you can open yourself beats any promise.

2 · Title

Your lawyer pulls the folio at the Registro Nacional: current owner, liens, annotations, easements. Clean title is non-negotiable; “title in process” needs a very good explanation and a structure that protects you until it lands.

3 · Land use (uso de suelo)

The municipality certifies what a parcel may be used for. Residential construction on agricultural-conforming land is standard in rural Guanacaste — but you want the certificate on file, not an assurance.

4 · Access and roads

Is the access road public or private? If private, is your right of way registered? A graded road cut to every boundary — built before the first lot sold — tells you the developer spent money before asking for yours.

5 · Boundaries on the ground

Walk the lot with the plano catastrado in hand. Fences and survey maps should agree. Where they don’t, resolve it on paper before closing — never after.

The meta-check

A serious seller hands you a document pack covering all five points and invites your lawyer to attack it. Hesitation on any single item is the loudest answer you will get.