Local & Trusted Offices in Costa Rica and the United States
We build in English & Spanish
Santa Cruz · Guanacaste · Due diligence · Vetting · Power of attorney
Trusted eyes — and, when you need it, a signature — on the ground for owners who cannot be here.
Owner's representative in Santa Cruz
Near the beach in Santa Cruz, the first question about a lot is what kind of land it is. Within the maritime terrestrial zone, the first 50 metres from the high-tide line are public and the next 150 are generally held under municipal concession rather than titled ownership, so the boundary has to be checked against the plano catastrado and what is on the ground. Away from the beach, the gating item is usually water: in the Tamarindo and Flamingo corridors the ASADA's availability letter decides whether a house can be connected at all. We check both, along with SETENA triggers on larger or vegetated lots, before you commit. Already building? We also take over stalled projects here, auditing the contract, the CFIA bitácora and the payments against work done. The Santa Cruz area guide covers the market; our guide to buying property in Costa Rica covers the legal steps.
Building in Santa Cruz
Coastal lots need attention to the maritime terrestrial zone boundary, and larger or vegetated sites frequently trigger a SETENA filing. Water availability from the local ASADA is a genuine gating item in the Tamarindo and Flamingo corridors — confirm it before design.
Salt air is the governing specification driver. Every ferrous component, rail system and HVAC coil needs marine-grade selection. The dry season is severe, which changes both landscape strategy and water storage sizing.
The most scalable coastal-luxury market in Costa Rica. Strong rental demand supports pool villas and second homes, with buyers arriving through Liberia.
Overview
Not every project needs full management, but every remote owner needs someone local they can trust. Our owner's representative service is focused help on the decisions that carry the most risk: evaluating a lot before you buy it, estimating what your plans will really cost, vetting an architect or builder before you sign, or stepping into a project that has gone off track. For clients abroad we can also act under a limited power of attorney, so signatures, permits and payments do not have to wait for your next flight. When you want ongoing oversight rather than focused help, full project management covers the whole build.
Local practice
Whatever the service, the underlying method is the same. Structure is reinforced concrete block and beam or light-gauge steel, sized against the seismic zone your lot sits in. Overhangs are deep enough to keep driving rain off the walls. Foundations are raised and drained. Timber is treated or naturally resistant, and detailed to stay out of ground contact.
These are not preferences. They are what has been shown to survive here, and they are why we do not simply execute a set of plans drawn for a different climate without redesigning the parts that would fail.
See the full build standardField notes
Residency, the Caja, taxes and costs — plus the part only a builder tells you: Florida teaches you wind and humidity, and Costa Rica grades you on earthquakes first.
Read the article →Offer, escrow, title study, notary, registry — the real sequence of a Costa Rican purchase, and the checks a builder runs on a house before you sign.
Read the article →Local questions
Start with the estudio registral and the plano catastrado, then check the lot against the maritime terrestrial zone boundary on the ground. Land inside the restricted zone is generally held by municipal concession, which carries its own conditions and eligibility rules, so your lawyer should review those before you commit. We check the physical and permitting side alongside.
Salt air is the governing specification driver. Every ferrous component, rail system and HVAC coil needs marine-grade selection. The dry season is severe, which changes both landscape strategy and water storage sizing.
We build throughout Santa Cruz, with most of our work concentrated in Tamarindo, Playa Langosta, Senderos, Hacienda Pinilla, Playa Flamingo and Reserva Conchal. The most scalable coastal-luxury market in Costa Rica. Strong rental demand supports pool villas and second homes, with buyers arriving through Liberia.
At a minimum: the estudio registral for ownership and liens, the plano catastrado against what is on the ground, the uso de suelo, legal access, slope and drainage, and whether water and power can actually be connected. A lot that fails any of these can be expensive or impossible to build on, and almost all of it can be checked within the due-diligence period of the opción de compra-venta. In Nosara and Santa Teresa, water availability alone can decide whether a lot is buildable; our guide to buying property as a US citizen covers the legal side.
Owner's representative elsewhere
Santa Cruz enquiries
Send us the plano catastrado and we will come back with what the Santa Cruz municipal rules actually allow on that lot, a realistic cost band, and a permitting timeline for this cantón specifically.
Replies within one business day. Consultations in English or Spanish.
