How We Charge
Three components, disclosed before you sign, and nothing that appears for the first time on a statement.
The three components
Management pricing in Costa Rica is not standardized, which makes comparing quotes harder than it should be. Ours is set out in three parts.
A one-time setup fee
Paid once, before the house goes live. It covers the work that only happens at the start: building and optimizing the listing, professional photography, interior and exterior signage, and the guest book for the house.
A flat monthly management fee
For ongoing care: the oversight, the vendor coordination, the maintenance schedule and the reporting. It is charged whether the house is booked that month or not, because the work happens either way.
A commission on booking revenue
A percentage of what the house actually earns, so the part of our income that moves is the part tied to how well the house performs.
Work outside the scope of management
This is the category that causes most of the friction between owners and managers: purchases on your behalf, capital repairs, bringing in a new vendor, hands-on labor by the team.
That work is billed separately, and quoted or itemized before it starts wherever that is practical. Not as a line item on a statement three weeks later.
A word on comparing quotes
Be careful with anyone quoting a single low percentage and nothing else. Setup, oversight, maintenance coordination and guest support still have to happen. If that work is not in the fee, it is either being billed somewhere you have not seen yet, or it is not being done.
Questions about fees
- What does property management cost in Costa Rica?
- Ours has three parts: a one time setup fee before the house goes live, a flat monthly management fee, and a commission on booking revenue. We confirm the figures for your house in writing after the walk-through. Work outside the scope of management is billed separately and quoted before it starts wherever that is practical.
- Is the monthly fee charged when the house is empty?
- Yes. Inspections, pool and garden oversight, vendor coordination and reporting continue whether a guest is in the house or not, and an empty house in this climate needs that attention most.
Tell us about your home.
Message the team on WhatsApp, or send an enquiry, with where the house is and how you use it. We answer in English and Spanish, usually within minutes.