Your Properties on the Costa Rica MLS

A new internet site lets you access real estate offerings in Costa Rica
La Nación, sábado 4 de noviembre 2006
Gloriana Goméz.

Houses, properties and condos on sale, information about farms, apartments, commercial real estate and on and on... If you are searching for a property with certain characteristics or simplya good investment opportunity now you have a new website that can help you reach your objective.

It is the Multiple Listing Service of the Costa Rica Chamber of Real Estate Brokers a website that will permit you to find a wide variety of real estate offerings in Costa Rica which includes homes, offices, farms and hotels.

According to Chamber President, Emilia Piza, only real estate brokers affiliated to the Chamber can list properties on the site, which gives users security about the property they are going to buy.

In fact, say Piza, brokers represented on the MLS, which are more than 80 now, have to meet certain requirements in order to have their properties online.

“That way, for example, they should have a title study and a drawing of the property prior to the signing of a contract which gives them the right to promote the sale or rent of the property on the website”, said Piza.
The Costa Rica real estate database is online since last July, and to date, includes almost 400 properties, according to data from Amerisol, the company in charge of design and giving technical support to the site.
Tony Murillo, general manager of the company, said that more than 25 properties per week are being added.
“The growth in visits to the site has been the fastest of any of the sites we manage. On average, 600 visits are received per week, and in October, the number of visits duplicated those of the previous month” he commented.

What can be seen? 
The MLS has a friendly design, with easy navigation which makes access to the listings quick.
You can do a Quick Search looking for activity (rent, buy), by type of property (homes, commercial, farms), by price range and location. Also a Detailed Search that allows to analyze all characteristics of the properties (area, exact location, topography, registry informatio, size of property, constructed area, whether it is in front of a public street, is ocean view, forms of payment allowed, etc.)
Besides, said Piza, each property must have at least five photographs. “When the user finds what he is seeking, the user can contact the broker directly”, she said.
Murillo, for his part, pointed out that the site has a comparison engine, which allows the user to compare similar properties side by side.

But even further than allowing instant access to the database, the Costa Rica MLS allows the user to enter the details of what they are looking for.
“The system forwards this information to all the brokers in the property database, which makes the probability of someone finding the property they are looking for quite high”, said Piza.

Updating Without a doubt this is a key aspect of keeping the listings current. The general manager of Amerisol indicated that each affiliate broker has a control panel – for their personal use – where they can 'upload' their listings and properties that they have for rent or sale. “There they can fill in all the details of the property and even acompany them with photographs.”
He added that the system is very intuitive to use, which allows each real estate broker to manage their listings simply. The site is in English and Spanish, which is useful for a local as well as global audience.
If you desire more information about this technological tool, you can visit http://mls-cr.com or the Real Estate Chamber's site at http://camaracbr.or.cr

A Quick Look at the Costa Rica MLS...
1- The http://mls-cr.com is a site that allows instant access to the largest database of properties for rent and sale.
2- You can search by region, city, price, size and characteristics which shortens the time required to find the property you seek
3- Once you find the property you are interested in, you can contact the broker that lists itdirectly
4- Te site also has a comparison engine which makes it easier to compare similar listings side by side
5- The 'Offer' and 'Looking for' features are an innovation that has been very useful for users – this is a free service.