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Know What A Perito Is?
By
Lic. Angela Jimenez Rocha
For those not native to Costa
Rica it is not a dog but an
inspector.
Banks and other lending
institutions usually do not
trust their own in house
employees to do valuations so
they hire outside "peritos" to
value any hard assets from real
estate to diamonds to cars etc.
before they will make loans.
The most common job of a perito
in Costa Rica is valuation of
property and it takes not only
the eye of an engineer but also
that of an architect and real
estate agent rolled into one
person to create the most
informed valuations.
For an existing house the perito
will take the land value per
square meter and the square
meter house values less the
official College of Engineers
and Architects depreciation
schedule based on the type of
construction and age. Where the
real art of appraisal comes into
play is the so called 'L curve'
that most lenders use here.
The L curve has to do with
demand for certain areas and the
eye and nose of the perito about
potential resell values if the
lender is forced to take back
the property.
Unlike the U. S., red lining
seems to be common here and many
lenders avoid certain areas.
In Costa Rica, there are 3 main
types of lenders for property.
1. Private Banks
2. Government Banks
3. Mutuals and Co-ops
There are numerous private
lenders who charge much higher
rates than thosew listed above
and often non-residents use this
type service since the
requirements of the 3 main
lender types are much stricter.
One interesting item is that the
Mutual lenders in Costa Rica are
not allowed to sell properties
for more than the outstanding
loan value. This is called
'lucre' in Spanish meaning they
are not allowed to profit from
foreclosures. This is because
the government authorized
Mutuals ( Savings and Loans) are
for purpose of helping the
public rather than acting as
profit center.
Today there are only 3 main
Mutual Lenders left after much
consolidation thru the years as
the government has tightly
regulated the Mutuals who also
offer some of the same deposit
services like banks and are
fully guaranteed by the
government.
The Mutuals typically make much
smaller more tightly controlled
loans with far less default rate
than almost any other type of
financial instituition.
What does this mean to a
borrower? If you get a loan from
a Mutual you can almost be
certain you did not overpay for
the property.
Angela Jimenez Rocha has been a
"perito" for 17 years after
graduating as an architect,
first starting with the
government of Costa Rica to
inspect projects the government
was funding. After that she
worked with several Mutual and
Coop Lenders. Angela can
be contacted at 382-0970 or
check her web site
www.orbitcostarica.com/certifieda.htm
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