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February 10, 2009 ? Costa Rica real estate brokers, pensionados and rentistas alike have been carefully monitoring the situation with the proposed new immigration bill in Costa Rica.? If the proposed bill was to pass, it could mean some tough time ahead for the for the real estate industry in Costa Rica.

One of the reasons the real estate industry is booming in Costa Rica is that it is a place where a foreigner can afford to live in year round warm weather and lead a semi-luxurious lifestyle at an affordable price.? This is in part due to the strong value of the dollar and the cost of living in Costa Rica which is around $350 a month for a regular Costa Rican.

Of late, the Costa Rican government has been trying to pass a new immigration bill where the main issue in question is raising the minimum monthly income requirement for pensionados and rentistas.? For a pensionado (a retired person), it would mean a raise from $600 to $1,400 a month and for a rentista (a renter) from $2,000 a month to $5,000 a month.

If the new bill was to pass, it would mean fewer foreigners purchasing property in Costa Rica for several reasons.? The first is that many people chose Costa Rica because the cost of living is lower and that a retiree?s pension used would cover all of their needs and more in Costa Rica while being able to live in a year round warm climate.

Thus, of the pensionados who could afford to purchase a house in Costa Rica less of them would be able to meet the monthly income requirements under their pension plan and it would even be worst for a rentistas.

For the current pensionados and rentistas, the committee will be taking testimonies for the proposed immigration law today.? The main issue in question will be whether the law is retroactive or not and to make sure that it is clearly stated in the new bill.? If the new bill is not retroactive then current pensionados and rentistas are urging that it be clearly stated in the bill.

Either way, if the proposed immigration law was to pass, it would make life tougher for real estate brokers in Costa Rica.? The current global economy is already making it harder to find home purchasers locally and from abroad.

Not going into the how it would affect the Costa Rican economy and whether the proposed bill would be better or worse for Costa Rica, one thing is for sure, the real estate industry would no longer be as profitable as before due to decrease in property prices.

In short, Real estate purchasers would now be mostly Costa Rican who before, could not afford the current price of prime real estate in Costa Rica.? As the prices of these real estate properties would eventually drop to a price more fit for the local cost of living many real estate brokers would no longer be able to maintain a high profit margin.

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Frank Donavan is a professional internet writer with over 50 years of experience.? Frank has recently moved to Costa Rica and started his own Real Estate business after on and off for 5 years in the real estate industry.? You can contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it