Foreign buyers ask about a Costa Rican mortgage because the alternative is wiring a seven-figure sum into a country they have visited twice. The honest answer is that local credit exists, banks advertise housing loans, and non-residents are the harder file. Banks lend more readily to legal residents. A non-resident application is slower, more documentary, and less generous. Published rate ranges and loan-to-value figures do not line up across brokers and bank pages, and there is no official average dollar-mortgage rate to hide behind. This page does not print a rate. Ask the lender who would actually fund you. See Buying guide.
What the application feels like
Local names buyers encounter include BAC, BCR, and DAVIbank, the former Scotiabank operation. Chris does not arrange the loan and does not prefer one of them on your behalf. What they share is a process: identity, income, and the property file, with foreign documents often needing an apostille and an official translation. Underwriting adds weeks on top of a cash closing. If your purchase agreement assumes a fast closing, a bank application is how that date slips.
Currency is the quiet risk. A loan in colones repaid by a salary in dollars, or the reverse, is a second bet on the exchange rate. Match the currency of the debt to the currency of the income. The colón’s strength in 2026, covered in the short answer on this FAQ, is exactly why that match matters.
Cash, and borrowing where you already bank
In the luxury band, roughly the homes from one million dollars up through several million, most buyers pay cash. That is a description of this market, not a requirement of the law. Others borrow at home: a securities-backed line, a home-equity line, or a refinance of a house they already understand. The advantage is a lender who already knows you. The disadvantage is that the collateral is an asset you cannot afford to lose if the Guanacaste plan changes. Read the cross-default clauses before you pledge it.
Seller financing and developer payment plans are common enough to plan for, and dangerous enough to register properly. They belong in a written instrument with the amount, the schedule, the security, the moment title passes, and the default. Short terms can hide a large balloon. Sample rates on individual listings are advertisements, not the market, so they are not repeated here. Your attorney confirms the instrument. Your tax advisor confirms what the interest does to you at home.
A self-directed IRA can hold foreign real estate only inside a narrow set of U.S. prohibited-transaction rules, and only with a custodian who will take title. That is its own page. It is not a mortgage, and it is not a way to live in the house.
If a lender does proceed, ask who the borrower of record will be, whether a Costa Rican company is required, and what happens to the mortgage if you later transfer the house into your personal name for an immigration filing. Those two goals fight each other often enough that they should be designed together. Bring the draft term sheet to the same attorney who will read the folio. A rate quoted in a chat is not a commitment, and a commitment is not a registered lien until the notary has done the work.