The short answer
Titled land is recorded in the National Registry under a folio real, and a foreigner owns it with the same rights as a citizen. Possession rights (derecho de posesión) are an occupancy claim with no registered title. That land is cheaper and can sometimes be titled later, but it carries real risk.
Titled land
Titled land has a folio real number and a recorded survey. You can see who owns it and what is registered against it, you can insure and mortgage it, and the sale is recorded in your name.
Possession rights
With possession rights, nobody holds a registered title. The seller transfers a claim based on having occupied and worked the land, usually backed by private documents and the word of neighbours.
It is common in remote rural areas, near borders and close to protected areas, and it is the main reason some parcels look far cheaper than the land around them.
The risks
Because there is no registry record to rely on:
- You cannot independently confirm that the seller is the only claimant
- Two people can hold papers for the same ground
- Banks will not lend against it
- Land inside a protected area or belonging to the state cannot be titled at all
- Titling it is a court process that requires years of documented possession and can take a long time
How to tell which one a lot is
Ask for the folio real number and look it up. If there is none, or the answer is that the title is in process, treat the lot as possession rights until an attorney shows you otherwise.
Is it ever worth buying?
Sometimes, for a buyer who understands what it is. It needs an attorney's review of the chain of possession, confirmation that the land is outside any protected area, and a price that reflects the risk. It is not a purchase to make from abroad on photographs.
CheapLand marks every possession-rights lot clearly on its listing.
Questions buyers ask
Yes. A foreigner owns titled land with the same rights as a Costa Rican citizen, in their own name or through a company.