BajaNomad

Mexican Real Estate Lesson #3

surebought - 12-11-2009 at 08:06 AM

So you want to buy some property in Mexico. You have an agreement on price and square meters. If it is rural land, you have gotten a surveyor to mark the boundaries and write the legal descriptions. Now its time to hand over to the seller no more than a $1000US deposit in front of a Notary who will then draw up an Official Receipt that he will enter into his Ledger Book, but not record. In the body of the document is the total price and a specific payment schedule for the rest of the payments with all amounts and dates. And of course it contains the surveyors map that marks the boundaries. Most Mexicans do not know that this binds them legally to sell the exact amount of property for a specific price. He can't get out of it, but you can if you want to and get your deposit back. What happens a lot of times is the seller goes and tells his family that he finally sold that land he's been trying to sell for twenty years. They say he's giving the property away and all hell breaks loose. He goes back to the buyer and says he made a mistake: its really much less land and wants to renegociate. Then he finds he is bound by the Official Receipt. And there is a 100 other things that can go wrong in a Mexican Real Estate transaction. The Official Receipt is the best way to start the process off and it puts the buyer in the drivers seat from the start.

k-rico - 12-11-2009 at 08:09 AM

Excellent! Thanks.

Lauriboats - 12-11-2009 at 08:39 AM

Great information! I will remember that if I ever buy again. Thank you.

Santiago - 12-11-2009 at 08:49 AM

Love it. Where's #1 and #2?
What if it's NOT rural land. Is there something that takes the place of the surveyor's legal description?
How do large parcels get divided into smaller parcels? Does the owner first have to get approval for the lot split from the Municipality or can the owner/buyer simply create the parcel at the time of the sale by your method?
Why does a parcel even need surveying - didn't the current owners have to get a legal description when they bought it? (I suspect this is a stupid question)

arrowhead - 12-11-2009 at 08:49 AM

I must have missed lessons #1 and #2. Did they mention that your #3 won't help you one bit if:

1. The land happens to be ejido land and it has not been regularized.
2. That even if the land was regularized, the ejidatarios still have a first right to purchase the land back.
3. The seller does not have good title to the land, so you have to get the notario to research the land title first.
4. If there are people squatting on the land, you many never get title to it, even if you pay for it.
5. The land happens to be in the federal zone.
6. The land is in the restricted zone and is too large a parcel to have a fideicomiso.

Santiago - 12-11-2009 at 08:55 AM

AH: your points are well taken but I think SB's post was with respect to binding the seller to the agreement and he did mention there were 100 other things that could go wrong. You've only listed 6 so we await the other 94.....

arrowhead - 12-11-2009 at 09:01 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Santiago
AH: your points are well taken but I think SB's post was with respect to binding the seller to the agreement and he did mention there were 100 other things that could go wrong. You've only listed 6 so we await the other 94.....


True, but he also said the best way to start the process is to pay $1,000 and get the receipt. My first 6 should come BEFORE the $1,000.

Santiago - 12-11-2009 at 09:11 AM

Good point.

surebought - 12-11-2009 at 09:25 AM

Arrowhead is right, but that gets into the 100 things that can go wrong in a Mexican Real Estate transaction that I spoke to. I started with number three for a reason. If people want me to expound further on this I will. I am not in the Real Estate business because I do not enjoy the inherent conflict that goes with it. Remember, there are no Grant Deeds, no Escrows, no effective Title Insurance, and no specific moment when title changes hands..(I'll give you the key). My advise is always don't buy Mexican Real Estate at all. Rent a place until you learn the ropes if you must. Ejido and Federal Zone are even more complicated. Run like rats when you hear those two words. And I could write a Book just on Feidicomisos(I probably didn't spell that right).

Santiago - 12-11-2009 at 09:54 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by surebought
I started with number three for a reason. If people want me to expound further on this I will.

Yes
Quote:
Originally posted by surebought
... and no specific moment when title changes hands..(I'll give you the key).
Quote:


Wow, I suspect you're not joking, but somehow I wonder if you're totally correct. Take for example a large track of new homes being built in TJ:
The developer subdivides and builds 1000 homes, puts up flags, signs and opens a sales office. Young family comes in and wants to buy unit #69 and signs whatever paperwork is necessary to start the purchase process. EXACTLY WHEN does the developer allow the family to move in and "get the keys"?
Surely there is a clear moment in time when the posession of the home changes from the developer to the buyer? Surely????
Why do I hear laughter?????

Osprey - 12-11-2009 at 10:15 AM

Notsosurebought, you bring us excellent information. Perhaps if you lurked a while before registering and beginning to contribute, you noticed there were many Nomad retiree/expats who came down here, did not rent, bought land and/or homes and are happily ensconsed, secure and unafraid in their proprietorship. I'm one of almost a million now in Mexico. My caveat to you is to be careful with your caveats.

Keep the good stuff coming. I doubt you can discourage anyone on this board who has tasted and swallowed the place.

surebought - 12-11-2009 at 11:53 AM

OSPREY: I know one guy who bought land and put in a Grape Plantation and kept it for five years and sold it and made a profit. I am glad that you know some contented people who bought property in Mexico. If they didn't exist, we would have to invent them. But you lessen your chances of making a big mistake if you just follow a few simple procedures. This is what I am trying to point out to the nomads. No one does this though from my experience and thats why there are problems that never get solved. The problems sometimes wait and don't show themselves until it is time to sell. Some regions of the Country are worse than others. Sometimes the problems pass from generation to generation. The Great T. Michael Bircumshaw who used to say, "Don't leave you brain at the border." In other words, why would it be a negative idea to keep you wits about you when acquiring property Mexico.

Skeet/Loreto - 12-11-2009 at 01:06 PM

Again I will repewat the following about my Experiences in Real Estate in Loreto::

My wife and I formed a mexican Corp. after a number of Mesicano people wanted us to buy their Property and resell to the Americans/Canadans.

Bought sold at least 18 peices of property in Loreto. Followed the rules .

1. Every piece of property was handled by Miguel Izquiredo of La Paz
2. All Property researched through Clerk of the Supreme court.All buyers and Sellers have never had any complaint at all that I know off.

No Ejido Property Ever I was advised never to try and Buy Ejido Property..

Skeet/Loreto
Ranchosonrisa S. A De Cv

DENNIS - 12-11-2009 at 01:21 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by surebought
The Great T. Michael Bircumshaw



Remember him, folks? He bought the English language newspaper, Ensenada News And Views, form Jean Luc Bitterlin around 1989, then changed the name to The Baja Sun. I thought he opened a southern edition as well. Then, he just closed it up and moved on.
Never could understand why he didn't sell it. Maybe nobody wanted it.