Where to live in San Jose

Residential letting is governed by the Ley General de Arrendamientos Urbanos y Suburbanos, Ley 7527, in force since August 1995, and it is markedly more tenant-protective than most of the region. Article 70 gives a housing tenancy a minimum term of three years — a shorter term written into the contract is void, and the tenancy renews for a further three unless properly terminated. Rent adjustment for a lease in colones is governed by article 67 and is tied to inflation, and for a lease agreed in a foreign currency the rent may not be increased at all during the term. That last point is worth reading twice: a great many Escazú and Santa Ana leases are written in US dollars, and a dollar lease is a fixed-rent lease for its whole life. Ley 7527 does not fix a statutory cap on the security deposit for housing, so what you pay is a matter of agreement — the market norm is one month's deposit plus the first month, and the return terms are whatever the contract says, which is why they belong in writing.

1. 1

   Rent short-term in two different parts of the valley before committing

   The Central Valley is a single conurbation with radically different characters and commutes across it, and the difference between Escazú and Barrio Escalante is a whole way of life rather than a preference. Take a furnished place for a month in the west and a month in the east if you can, and drive or bus your actual commute at eight in the morning. Rush hour here is genuinely bad and the map will not tell you.

2. 2

   Decide the lease currency deliberately — it fixes your rent for three years

   Under Ley 7527 a lease agreed in a foreign currency cannot be increased during its term, while a colón lease is adjusted annually by reference to inflation. If you are being paid in dollars and can agree a dollar lease, you have locked your housing cost for the full three-year term. If you are paid in colones and sign a dollar lease, you have locked the number but taken on the exchange risk. Do the arithmetic before you agree the currency, because it is the single most consequential clause in the contract.

3. 3

   Know that you have a three-year term whether the contract says so or not

   Article 70 gives residential tenancies a minimum three-year term and voids any shorter period written into the agreement. Landlords sometimes present a one-year contract; the law overrides it in the tenant's favour. It also means the landlord must give proper notice before the end of a term to prevent automatic renewal. Understand this as your protection rather than as a commitment trapping you — the tenant's ability to leave is a separate contractual question you should also settle.

4. 4

   Get the deposit terms into the contract, because the statute does not supply them

   Ley 7527 does not fix a deposit cap for housing, and there is no statutory protection scheme. The market norm is one month's deposit plus the first month in advance. Write into the contract what the deposit covers, the timeline for its return, and how deductions are evidenced. Photograph and date every room, every appliance and every existing mark on the day you move in and email the set to the landlord so it is acknowledged.

5. 5

   Ask what the condominium fee covers and whether water is included

   Most modern buildings and gated developments charge a monthly condominio covering security, gardens, pools and often water. In Escazú and Santa Ana it can add USD 150–300 a month and is quoted separately from rent. Ask for the actual figure and whether an extraordinary levy is pending. Ask separately about electricity: it is expensive here, and a house with air conditioning or an electric water heater has a running cost that a viewing will not reveal.

6. 6

   Write down your address in the way the country actually uses

   There are no street addresses. Before you move in, get the landlord to give you the standard landmark-based description — so many metres in a compass direction from a named point — and keep it in your phone. Every utility connection, delivery, bank form and internet installation will ask for it. A property that is hard to describe is a property that is hard to have things delivered to, and that is a legitimate thing to weigh when choosing.