Outline Property Purchase Procedure

Out­line Prop­erty Pur­chase Procedure

If you have hired a lawyer (which is rec­om­mended but not com­pul­sory) then he/she will likely act as an inter­me­di­ary between you and the Notary Pub­lic / Seller.

The exact process will vary in each case, but you (or your lawyer) will fol­low a process that goes along these lines:

Find a prop­erty you like; agree a price verbally

Agree­ment to sell/buy, with detailed costs, inclu­sions and exclu­sions, as well as dead­lines, is set out in an ini­tial “Con­ve­nio de Compra/Venta” (sale agree­ment), at which point a deposit (5–10%) is paid by the buyer and can­cel­la­tion penal­ties are set (usu­ally equal to the deposit) if either party pulls-out.

If the prop­erty is inside the 50/100km coastal/border zone, you will need to set up a trust.
Next, you seek per­mis­sion from the For­eign Secretary’s office (a for­mal­ity) to buy land. You will be asked to sign the “Calvo Clause”, which states that you will not seek for­eign juris­dic­tion in deal­ings with your prop­erty transaction.

If you are buy­ing from a devel­oper (e.g. a new hous­ing estate) advise the Notary Pub­lic who will ensure the developer’s per­mits are in order

Get a copy of the Land / Prop­erty Deeds from the seller. The Notary Pub­lic will check these out.
Ask the Notary Pub­lic to check that the land is not Ejido land, as dis­cussed ear­lier An offi­cial appraisal of the Land (Avaluo) needs to be car­ried out; your Pub­lic Notary can arrange this.

You Notary Pub­lic (or lawyer) will ask for offi­cial doc­u­ments that can include (but are not lim­ited to): Photo ID (pass­port), Birth Cer­tifi­cates, Mar­riage Cer­tifi­cates (if appro­pri­ate), and your visa (could be a Tourist Per­mit) to show your stay in Mex­ico is legal.

The seller will need to present to the Notary Pub­lic doc­u­ments includ­ing (but not lim­ited to): orig­i­nal prop­erty deed, up-to-date tax receipts for the prop­erty, pub­lic util­i­ties bills (shown as paid), plus up-to-date details of land-service fees (shown as paid)

Cap­i­tal Gains Tax is paid by the seller, unless you have agreed to pay CGT as part of the buy­ing agree­ment. The Notary Pub­lic will state how much this is.

Pay­ment is made (see note below) at the time when the deed is signed over to you, and this is done at the Notary Public’s office.

The Notary Public’s and Solic­i­tors (if applic­a­ble) fees are paid at this time as well, as well as other taxes asso­ci­ated with land pur­chase (see Taxes, below)

Pay­ment: Whether you are pay­ing with cash or via some kind of financ­ing you (or your lawyer rep­re­sent­ing you) will need to have the agreed funds avail­able for hand-over at the Notary Public’s office on the date the deeds are signed across to you.

Money Trans­fer Dec­la­ra­tion: Cash or mon­e­tary instru­ments (of any kind) with a value of or exceed­ing USD$10,000 MUST be declared when you enter Mex­ico (and the enter/exit the USA — even if you are in tran­sit to Mex­ico from else­where via the US). There are no lim­its on how much you can trans­fer in or out of either coun­try — but sums over the US$10K limit must be declared on a spe­cial form.