Selling a Baja Home

First of all, we are not selling our home in Bahia Asuncion right now. However, there are some personal family issues that may put us in the position of selling--we hope not. We love Bahia Asuncion.

But, just in case we like to be prepared and have a few questions we know some of you can answer.

1. We would probably not use a realtor, but would find the buyer on our own. However, we would use our agent for handling all the paper work---notario, change in bank trust etc. Do people usually pay a set fee for this service or a percentage of the price?

(We really trust this agent and he handled all our trust etc. papers for us long distance and there is no notario in Bahia Asuncion or Vizcaino)

2. Who holds the money while the paper work, including the paying of taxes, is being completed?

3. After the buyer is found, how long does the process take?

So bascially, we are looking for how the process works.
When we bought our place in Bahia Asuncion, it was VERY informal. We gave the contractor/owner a deposit and then before everything was complete, we simply wired the balance to his Mexican bank account and a few months later, our bank trust was complete. It was all done on a handshake and trust.

Thanks for your information.

Diane

Oh yeah! Ask some easy questions for which there is only ONE definitive answer, why don't ya!

Casa #1: Sold via a realtor 4 years after I built it, took exactly a year, got my full asking price, paid 6% commission. I carried about 30% balance due for a year. Wouldn't do that again; I hurt myself by limiting the funds I needed when I needed them for const of casa #2.

Casa #2: I gave myself 6 months to see if I could sell it on my own to keep the then 8-10% real estate commission in my own pocket. A friend created a website for me & I went to all the free Baja sites I could find & posted an ad pointing to the website. Sold in 4 months, accepted $15K under my original asking price. Zero commission.

Notario fees are based on a fee schedule & on top of that you'd have to pay your agent whatever his going rate is for the time involved...there's quite a bit of legwork to get copies of all the documentation the Notario requires & it's cheaper for your agent to do it than to pay Notario to get it all. There are some fees that are your responsibility & some that are the buyers responsibility. For instance, buyer pays to have fideicomiso transferred to their name. Seller pays almost 30% in Capital gains tax on the profit you make, buyer pays 2% Acquisition tax on the sales price. I hope you kept ALL the receipts for any $$ you spent to finish it! There's a legal way to readjust the value up prior to the sale (I spent about $5K to save $90K in cap gains taxes on casa #1. There's an old thread with a lot more details, try a search for Capital Gains Tax).

Time-line is the closing date buyer & seller agree on, typically a minimum of 30-45 days out from signing sales/purchase agreement.

Amount of down payment can vary depending on buyer/seller negotiation, but in my experience, minimum of 10% passes from buyer to seller at signing of sales/purchase agreement & can be specified as non-refundable if the buyer backs out. Escrow accounts as we know them, don't exist here. Balance is due to be turned over at the Notario's during final signing...where I believe it's mandatory that all individuals reflected on old & new fideicomiso be in attendance for signing; not sure if agent podar will fly for that.

Process can be as short as 30-45 days if everything is legal on the property & all the ducks are lined up correctly with smiles on their little faces! If problems are encountered, all bets are off on how long it can take to resolve & finalize. I've heard horror stories of years rather than months. Mine have typically taken 45-60 days.

Hopefully this is clearer than mud...feel free to ask more questions if I lost you anywhere.

Paulina,
Our dogs will probably go into full rebellion if we have to sell.

Zac, we also hope it won't happen for a VERY long time. We hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Longlegs----thought you needed a project this morning. Going shopping now, but will digest your information later.

What? You mean there is no ONE answer?

Thanks as always for taking the time to write out such detailed information. We really hope we can file your post in the back of the file drawer to be used maybe never.

Thanks!

Diane

10% commission has been standard here for several years by most realtors, the one I used on the sale of my first casa stays a little under the norm & the last firm info I got was 2 years ago when my FBSO sign out front drew realtors in like flies....they all told me 10% at that time. One agreed it MIGHT be possible to negotiate it down to 8% when he found out my asking price was $375K.

jdtrotter, Good luck with your sales prospects. Know you worked hard for 'em and deserved 'em thru your hard labor.