BajaNomad - Attorney for property purchase??

Attorney for property purchase??

djh - 11-22-2005 at 04:21 PM

Hola Nomad Amigos y amigas.

I'm trying to purchase a small lot in Loreto.

I need to locate an attorney in Loreto or LaPaz who can ethically and reasonnably represent me. I've contacted two... one in LaPaz didn't want to be bothered, and the other in CSL was prohibitively expensive... (as in waaaaay worse than ANY US atty. I've ever hired.)

A recommendation of a reputable, ethical, dependable, and fair atty. who deals with real estate would be appreciated! (some of those terms seem mutually exclusive with "atty.", I know, I know....

)

Oh yea... and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! Even in a world as conflicted and wierd as this one is... happiness = being thankful for what you have (misery = constantlywanting what you don't have).

Please Email me direct! davidjameshunt@hotmail.com

Attorney for property purchase??

djh - 11-22-2005 at 04:22 PM

Hola Nomad Amigos y amigas.

I'm trying to purchase a small lot in Loreto.

I need to locate an attorney in Loreto or LaPaz who can ethically and reasonnably represent me. I've contacted two... one in LaPaz didn't want to be bothered, and the other in CSL was prohibitively expensive... (as in waaaaay worse than ANY US atty. I've ever hired.)

A recommendation of a reputable, ethical, dependable, and fair atty. who deals with real estate would be appreciated! (some of those terms seem mutually exclusive with "atty.", I know, I know....

Attorney for property purchase??

djh - 11-22-2005 at 04:24 PM

Hola Nomad Amigos y amigas.

I'm trying to purchase a small lot in Loreto.

I need to locate an attorney in Loreto or LaPaz who can ethically and reasonnably represent me. I've contacted two... one in LaPaz didn't want to be bothered, and the other in CSL was prohibitively expensive... (as in waaaaay worse than ANY US atty. I've ever hired.)

A recommendation of a reputable, ethical, dependable, and fair atty. who deals with real estate would be appreciated! (some of those terms seem mutually exclusive with "atty.", I know, I know....

Beware of the snakes!

dawkid - 11-22-2005 at 05:49 PM

Just like in the U.S., most attorneys in Mexico are CROOKS but your best bet is to contact someone that has done the same transaction and hired a trustworthy atty., there are a lot more oportunities for people to scam you south of the border, for instance; some of the transactions that a citizen can do on it's own in the U.S. can't be done in Mexico unless you hire an atty. and a notary and there always seems to be "hidden" charges also there isn't seem to be goverment regulations in some of these professions thus the abuses and scams...I'm mexican living in CA for about 25 years and a couple of years ago I had to go back and help my mom with some properties and the whole thing was a nightmare, one of the things I had to do was to change the title on a house ,
I went to consult 2 different attys. and got 2 different answers and prices, I then went to another atty. and again got a different answer, finally thru a friend a consulted with his atty. friend and he told me something different and also said that there isn't an established percentage by law as to what an atty. can charge for any one transaction, all this running around left me angry, confused and frustrated, later on I hooked up with one and he wanted to charge me about
$ 7000 to change the title from one family member to another, it wasn't even a sale but a simple transfer of ownership from my mom to her brother, I was so angry I told my uncle that I wasn't about to pay this snake 7 grand for him to simply stamp a seal on a piece of paper, the property in question was worth only about $40,000 and I left without doing it, many of these transactions can be done by the owner here but in Mexico the system is geared to feed scumbags and maggots like attys., the only thing they produce is gridlock and massive red tape, be careful who you hire and good luck finding an honest one.

comitan - 11-22-2005 at 05:54 PM

dawkid

In my opinion you could have just taken the title to a notario and gotten it changed for a small amount of money.

I didn't know who to believe

dawkid - 11-22-2005 at 06:01 PM

None of these people told me it was that simple and since a got very different answers I couldn't trust any of them, I had been gone a lot of years and didn't have any contacts in town.

comitan - 11-22-2005 at 06:28 PM

There can be many people ahead but in the end its the notario that does the title work. Remember this is just one dummies opinion.

[Edited on 11-23-2005 by comitan]

comitan - 11-22-2005 at 06:47 PM

Larry

Are you bored in Moscow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lencho Are you a croo... I mean a lawyer?

dawkid - 11-22-2005 at 06:59 PM

On my post I said "most" not "all' attys., if you're an honest one , you should agree with me...if the good attys. made an effort to clean up their profession, I'm sure the public's opinion would change, I always said that the luckiest person in the world is the one that has 3 brothers and one brother is a doctor, one is a mechanic and one is an atty., me ,I would be happy just to have a distant cousin that's an atty.

I agree Lencho,

dawkid - 11-22-2005 at 07:19 PM

and I wasn't trying to discourage anybody from buying land in Baja, it seems that in Baja there are more reputable realtors , and it has to do with the fact that mostly non-natives are buying the land, scamming them would be economic suicide, still, be very careful who you do business with.

djh - 11-22-2005 at 07:31 PM

Hello? Did anyone have an actual recommendation (besides sending all attys. to da moon...?) :lol:

Skeet/Loreto - 11-22-2005 at 07:42 PM

I would suggest Alex at Baja Realty. He will set you up with Miguel izquerido in La Paz. both are very trustworthy/Honest and fair in Priceing. Skeet/Loreto

Bruce R Leech - 11-22-2005 at 07:49 PM

Miguel izquerido in La Paz. you get what you pay for.

Bruce R Leech - 11-22-2005 at 07:50 PM

Miguel izquerido in La Paz. you get what you pay for.

vandenberg - 11-23-2005 at 07:47 AM

David

Give Alex Ogilvie at realtybaja@prodigy.net.mx a buzz and I'm sure that he'll be able to guide you in the right direction.

longlegsinlapaz - 11-23-2005 at 08:20 AM

DJH

In my personal experience & opinion, unless there's a KNOWN problem going into the deal, using a lawyer to purchase property in Mexico simply adds another level of confusion & makes mucho dinero for the lawyer! I've purchased 2 properties in the past 6 years...just using a notario....Notario #7, Castro/Castro in La Paz...without any major problems.

And an update for those who haven't dealt with Miguel Izequrido lately, he recently switched professions...he's no longer a lawyer...he's now a Notatio! So DJH, if you choose to use Miguel, you'd get the benefit of his legal knowledge while just paying the notario fees! :bounce:

Edit typo

[Edited on 7-19-2010 by longlegsinlapaz]

Capt. George - 11-23-2005 at 09:18 AM

DAVID

MY NOTARIO IN SR IS ALL YOU NEED...YOU'RE CREATING ANOTHER LAYER OF HAVOC FOR YOURSELF....ALSO SR IS A LOT CLOSER TO LORETO.

I WOULD NOT GO BACK TO LA PAZ FOR A NOTARIO EVER AGAIN! e ME AND i WILL EXPLAIN.

GEORGE

Capt. George - 11-23-2005 at 09:20 AM

notario allll youuu neeeeed

Skeet/Loreto - 11-23-2005 at 10:20 AM

There is one very inportant thng to remember about when dealing in Legal Matters in Baja.

Always go to the Capital City to do business, that is where the Power Lies.

Alex in Loreto, Miguel in La Paz have always been very good to deal with. I dealt in Real Estate in Loreto for nearly 12 years. i would use them anytime in the future. Skeet/Loreto

Please u2u me if you have private Questions.

Marinero - 11-23-2005 at 12:24 PM

Wow! This is not a lawyer-friendly discussion. I do agree that in Mexico using an attorney for routine land matters generally is not necessary and the combined experience of a good local real estate agent and a Notorio Publico will yield good results mostly. I would remind everyone that American title insurance is available in baja, at least in some areas, and should be obtained if available. As far as changing existing titles, between family members, usually title insurance is not necessary. Still the Notorio is your best bet. Seek one of good reputaion.

Reeljob - 11-23-2005 at 01:00 PM

For everyone (who needs it) on american title insurance, I use the following:

Stewart International
Mexico Division
1990 Post Oak Blvd.
Houston, TX 77056

You can talk to Tanya Harris-Saenz - 800-729-1900 x4439 or 713-232-4439

elizabeth - 11-23-2005 at 01:02 PM

A Notario Publico IS a lawyer, but with additional special training. This is very different from what we know in the US as a Notary Public. A Mexican Notario Publico is responsible for the legality of the content of the document while the US Notary Public only certifies the identity of the signer.

I wish I had found this site

dawkid - 11-23-2005 at 10:05 PM

before, all this advice is great and it would've saved me a lot of unnecesary headaches, I'd rather deal with a Notario anyday, it is a lot harder to find an honest lawyer than to find a sober virgin in Cancun during spring break.

djh - 11-29-2005 at 12:45 PM

Thanks for all the feedback... I've initiated a dialogue with the SR Notario.... After all the good advice, I'm going to skip the whole atty thing!
Muchas Gracias Nomads

Why would you want one of those?

Dave - 11-29-2005 at 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dawkid
it is a lot harder to find an honest lawyer than to find a sober virgin in Cancun during spring break.

Sober?

Why?