Buying property in PV

[sky_in_pv_1976]

I was talking to my director at work, whos husband is from Mexico.

She told me that HE can buy property in Mexico, however she can not, and it is because she is a woman.

Is that a fact? Or was she making that up. (She's known to make stuff up)

[tgammon]

Sky1018_pv (Aug 04, 2004 08:45 a.m.):
I was talking to my director at work, whos husband is from Mexico.

She told me that HE can buy property in Mexico, however she can not, and it is because she is a woman.

Is that a fact? Or was she making that up. (She's known to make stuff up)

If she is not Mexican...it might have more to do with that than the fact she is a woman....but I am not sure...

[randyintucson]

Non-Mexicans can buy property in PV, but can not own it. It would be owned by a 50 year renewable bank trust which the buyer would be the beneficiary of. If the buyer later resells the property, the new owner would then get another 50 year renewable bank trust. If you are interested in following the market, check out mlsvallarta.com

[sky_in_pv_1976]

Interesting!!!

[webmaster]

Actually there's a good article (summary) on the subject right here on PuertoVallarta.net:
http://www.puertovallarta.net/news/articles.php

Greetings

Mogens

PD: Women and men can buy properties in Mexico

[webmaster]

Ah and another thing, I am moving this thread to general travel tips, as it is not an off-topic conversation, it'll be useful for someone else under General Travel Tips.

Greetings

Mogens

[matt]

Hi All,
Just to expand on Randy's comments: Gender is not the issue. Under Mexican law, foreigners cannot directly own land in Mexico which is either 50 kilometers from the coast or 100 kilometers from an international border. For these cases, you either need to quickly marry a Mexican, or go with the bank trust (called a fideicomiso). However, if you want to buy something further inland, you can purchase the property directly in your name.

The fideicomiso is not difficult to set up; however, the bank will charge you a yearly fee for their services. It is good for 50 years and is renewable. But, since the fideicomiso program was initiated in 1972: I guess we are almost two decades away from the first homeowner showing up to make his renewal???

P.S. There is another useful feature of the fideicomiso. After you check out of this world and head for that "great margarita happy-hour in the sky", your designated survivor (listed on the paperwork), can easily transfer the property into his name. There is no need for him to go through a complex probate court proceeding.

[sky_in_pv_1976]

So - it's kind of like paying a mortgage for 50 years, and never owning the property?

[sky_in_pv_1976]

Oh - and your telling me that when I am ready to retire - and decide to buy a house in Mexico - I'd better hurry and get divorced, and then quickly marry a Mexican?? LOL!!! Maybe I should do it now while I'm young and still have my looks. ROTFLMAO!!

[matt]

Hey Sky, Don't let your wife read this! You can hold off a few more years on that reitrement, if you want, because PV has lots of available women of all ages. You don't necessarily have to be young or have youthful looks. It's true, but I'm just joking in your own happily-married case, of course

I'm no expert in the matter, but the bank trust is supposed to bring you all the rights of home ownership, including: selling it to someone else, passing it on as an inheritance, remodeling it, etc. You don't need to get the bank's permission to do these things. It's just that technically, the the home is held in a trust and not directly in your name. I don't know the reason for Mexico's laws on foreign property ownership. I suppose they don't want large groups of foreigners (or other nations) acquiring all the land around Mexico's periphery (possibly over a period of many, many years) and isolating the interior of the country from outside access. Who knows?

P.S. They do have home mortgages in Mexico, but I don't know how easy it is for a non-working foreigner to get one. I suspect that most PV house sales are done in cash. New condo's might be different, if the developer's have some kind of financing package.

[sky_in_pv_1976]

Hey Matt - I don't have a wife. In most states marrying those of the same sex not allowed. In other words - I am a woman

[matt]

Ooops! I better reword my last message:
Hey Sky, Don't let your husband read this! You can hold off a few more years on that retirement...........

[sky_in_pv_1976]

LOL!!! I guess "Sky" could go either way - and I really didin't specify!! ;P

[marcos]

The 'Real Estate' section of the PVMirror (I think the URL is PVMirror.com) has some outstanding articles on the process of purchaseing real estate in Mexico. I'm an agent here in the US and the process is very different.

[north]

Yes, the process is very different in Mexico. The realtors are not licensed. You may get lucky and get an experienced realtor. Then again, your realtor may have been driving a taxi yesterday.

Do not get fooled by the big American franchises. Read the fine print. "Each office is independently owned and operated". You will be dealing with a local person, not a big American company. If you have a problem, the American headquarters does not want to hear about it. They could not care less what happens in Mexico. There are layers and layers of corporate structure that insulate the American entity from the Mexican offices.

It is common practice in PV for realtors to keep the sales commission whether or not the deal ever closes. You will find that your earnest money payment conveniently equals the amount of the realtor's commission. There are no escrow accounts, as we know them, in Mexico. Once you have made that first payment you will never see your money again, whether or not you ever get your property.

Yes, I know that there are thousands of happy foreign property owners in PV. However, if your deal goes bad you will find that there are hundreds of ways to get cheated. Your realtor and his commission will be long gone. You will be left alone to find, hire, supervise and pay a Mexican lawyer in a country where you do not know the language or understand the culture. And, you will be doing all this from thousands of miles away. Don't think for a minute that the judicial system, or anybody else, will do anything to help you. You will have years of litigation, at your expense, in front of you.

Stay happy. Be a renter not an owner in PV.

[Judimex]

Dear " North." Wow, are you ever in need a of a lesson in Real Estate. I suggest before you start to attack the realtors of this town or Mexico in general, you should get your facts straight. To start with, many of the realtors are licensed. The important thing is that all the property transactions go through a notary "Notario publico" to make sure everything is legal on both the side of the buyer and seller. Second point, all the offices here are independantly owned and operated like they are in the States/Canada. Read the fine print of what exactly? These many real estate offices in our town would not still be in busniess if they are stealing money left right and centre and not supplying a service. You go with who you feel comfortable with, franchise or not. Many are owned and operated by Americans or Canadians anyway so i really don't understand your point. I have NEVER heard of a realtor keeping the sales commision whether the deals closes or not. There are Escrow accounts in Mexico the very same as in the States. Write to me if you want more info on this. I think you are a little ingorant as to how property is bought and sold here. I will be more than welcome to share what little i know with you. My husband is a realtor. He works for Re/Max at the marina. He is Canadian and so is the owner. I know they, as are proabably many other of professionals in this town who are outraged at your outburst of verbal diarrhoea. Do you honestly think this multi-million dollar a year industry would continue here with such corruption?

[Judimex]

Sky1018_pv (Aug 05, 2004 09:20 a.m.):
So - it's kind of like paying a mortgage for 50 years, and never owning the property?

No, nothing like paying a mortgage. You own the property but it's through a trust.

[north]

Dear Judy--I may have been naive, but I was not ignorant. I am one of ten Americans who bought units in a development in 1999-2000. These units were sold by two different real estate agencies. Both are prominent members of AMPI. To date, none of the ten of us have spent even one night in our units. The developers moved into one of our units two years ago. We have had years of protracted litigation through the Mexican Courts at a cost that would gag you. There are at least five different Mexican law firms and one American law firm involved in this battle. We have been sitting for five years unable to complete the purchase, sell or live in our units.

No notario has ever been involved on our behalf because there has never been a closing that involved us. The ten of us paid the developer anywhere between 20 and 90% of the cost of our units. I, in fact, paid him 93%. The developers did get three different notarios involved when they transferred all the units in the building to their wives, children, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles etc.

I understand that all realtors are individual owners. However, I think there is a different expecatation when you are buying from a big American franchise as opposed to "Joe's Realty".

In terms of ignorance, or naivty, we all had completion bonds. Little did we know that the developers were cancellling them without our knowledge or permission. We were sitting with over a million dollars in completion bonds when the deal went into default. When we went to the bonding company to collect, we found out they had all been cancelled. We all had a licensed city inspector giving us supposed "independent progress reports" before we made our progress payments. The inspector has testified in Court that the reports were not written by him, but rather by the developer. All the reports were in English, and Faxed to us by our realtor. The inspector does not read, write, speak or understand English. The developer is fluent in English.

Both real estate agencies most definitely did in fact take their full commisssions up front and out of our earnest money payments. Both agencies refuse to return any of the commissions. They both say "The deal is between you and the developer. We have nothing to do with it. You will have to settle the matter with the developer". We could sure us the commission to pay our legal fees. I have not had any contact with my realtor for years.

If your husband is a member of AMPI he can find out all the details on this matter. Many complaints have been filed with AMPI since 2000 and they are well aware of the facts.

I am sorry that you think that I am engaging in verbal diarrhea. I know what I am talking about. I am one of ten who have been living a life of heartache and financial devastation for the last five years. The nightmare never ends. Of course there are thousands of happy real estate transactions in PV. However, when a deal goes bad you will find out that there are hundreds of ways to be cheated. You will be left alone to find, hire, pay and supervise a lawyer in a foreign country.

[north]

Dear Judy--Here is another thought for you. All ten of the purchase contracts in this development were in default as of December, 2000. All ten purchasers are now four to five years late in taking delivery of their condos.

Since December 2000 two more AMPI realtors have listed units for sale in this development. How can that be? They know that ten contracts are in default and yet they are trying to sell more units?

The original two AMPI realtors who sold units to the ten of us called the development one name. The third AMPI realtor advertised units under a different name. The fourth AMPI realtor is now calling it a third name. What is the purpose of all these name changes?

There is am AMPI realtor (the fourth) who is advertising a unit for sale in this development on the internet right now. I suppose it is also offerred for sale on the MLS. Will prospective purchasers be warned about what has gone on in this development and the ten of us who have been to hell and gone with these developers? How do you think that makes the ten of us feel? If you want to talk about who is "outraged" I will be happy to tell you who is "outraged".

[el_camino88]

well you can buy property if you have an fm-3, which you will get if you have a job in mexico. that's my plan.