There exists those of us that want a property in Costa Rica despite the issues we are discussing here.

Our rep at Lendbase never called to apologize or ask if a prepayment penalty was an issue for us.

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It really shines a clear light onto the issue.

Any legal issues I should be aware of in this situation? 

That means there is not really an effect on the debt to income ratio neither positive (income) or negative (loss) but rather simply making that payment  non issue. 

The HOA can decide to do a special project or make a short 3 story elevator more hurricane proof ($800000) or have issues after a hurricane and then you are definitely not ahead of the game.Please connect with me and I can maybe point you in a better direction.

Hence my hesitation, the price tag is so big and the inventory so low there isn't much room for error.

I ran into a few issues with lenders.

There's a good chance the issue(s) you face has already been discussed and answered.Ask questions in the appropriate forum.