Transcription
Welcome to my channel, everyone. This is Mora in Mexico. And if you don't know my backstory, I am a foreign resident in Mexico, and I just bought a house. I'm very excited about it. It's been a great experience, and I'm so happy to be here.
But I have learned a few lessons, and I want to relay some stories and advice about buying property in Mexico. But I am not a professional or an expert in any way. These are just stories and advice about my own lessons learned in my own transaction here in Mitakan.
So, when I decided to buy a house in Mexico, I thought I'd done everything right, but it turns out that someone really essential to the process died in the middle of the transaction. I had an outdated deed, and I didn't know it. And the whole thing got delayed, and before you know it, it was kind of a mess. I almost paid $20,000 before anyone had even verified the correct property was on the deed. It's been a crash course in how things really work, and I want you to learn from my mistakes instead of repeating them.
First, let me explain some of the important people in a real estate transaction. Real estate agents are not always licensed and regulated in Mexico. So, if you have your own agent, verify their experience and qualifications. I look for properties on my own, so I didn't have a real estate agent on my side. And that's why it's even more important to have your own lawyer in a transaction. A real estate lawyer is a regular licensed attorney to hire to represent only you. Their job is to protect your interests, not to oversee the transaction for the government. They can review contracts before you sign, investigate the property's history, and verify the deed, advise on risks, zoning, inheritance issues, or communal land, negotiate terms, or help set up escrow. They are like your personal advocate in the process.
A notario publico in Mexico is not the same as a notary public in the United States. They are highly trained lawyers appointed by the government with special authority. In real estate, the notario is the one who verifies ownership and checks the public registry for liens or debts, prepares and certifies the deed, collects and pays taxes and fees related to the sale, and registers a transaction with the government. In short, no property for sale in Mexico is legally valid without a notario's involvement.
So, I felt really comfortable and secure in buying a house here in Mexico, mainly because I thought I had done my homework and also because the seller's agent broker was such a highly competent person with a stellar reputation of doing things right around here and with a background in law. She also had an assistant or partner helping out too, who is a little bit less experienced, but he was also very awesome. So we all signed the purchase agreement, and though it's not very common here, the agent broker offered the use of an escrow account, which usually is not really done that commonly in Mexico. Many people just send the 10% deposit to the actual sellers or they allow the agent or broker to handle it. But it was my first time buying a house in Mexico, so I was happy to pay the fees for an escrow. And it turned out to be a good idea. Obviously, this is done more often in the United States, and I would highly recommend using an escrow service if at all possible in your transaction.
In a tragic turn of events, the seller's agent broker, Liliana Gonzalez Castro, died unexpectedly. She was very well known and recommended in the area as an expert at real estate with a background in law, and in her hands, I felt like all the details were being looked after. She even wrote a book on buying properties in Mituakan that is currently for sale on Amazon, which I bought and read, and had a course on Udemy for learning about the subject. Those links are in the notes below. So the loss of her sent the transaction into a bit of a tailspin. There were people grieving, and it was a very sad time. On top of that, it was only caught about 5 days before our closing that the sellers had furnished the agents with an outdated deed, which meant that the whole thing was not valid, and we basically had to start all over again.
In Mexico, there is no title company. So, it was up to the notario to catch this mistake. And luckily, they were highly competent and did catch the mistake, so we could do this thing the right way.
So, here are 10 mistakes that you don't have to make.
Number one, not hiring your own lawyer. Partway through the process, the professional who had been guiding the whole thing was no longer available. And I realized too late that I should have had my own attorney from the start. And that gap, that mistake caused me critical clarity at some important moments. I then got my own lawyer, and she's been super helpful. She was really essential in helping me understand what was going on with the new deed and understanding what needed to happen next. So, do get your own lawyer. You need someone on your side.
Mistake number two, skipping the deed check. The whole thing got delayed because the agents had an outdated deed. If I had known from the beginning to check with the Registro Publico, I could have checked the deed myself, or if I had had an attorney of my own, she could have checked it for me. But as it was, it took getting all the way to the office of the notario before anybody figured it out. Luckily, they were super competent and they caught the mistake.
Mistake number three, accepting a very vague purchase agreement. My original purchase agreement didn't have correct lot measurements, nor did it have a correct street number. And all of this would have cost us more delays if it hadn't been caught to begin with, and we corrected it. Many addresses in Mexico don't really have addresses. There could be a vague street name. There could be no street number. It's important to be very specific when you're buying a house. Of course, you don't want to buy just some house in some neighborhood. You need the purchase agreement to be specific. What are you doing? What are you doing?
Mistake number four, putting your deposit in the wrong hands. Luckily, my 10% deposit was in escrow and not, as some people report, in the hands of the actual seller or the agent or broker. Using an escrow account is advisable. I felt a lot more in control knowing that my money, when we were delayed, was in the hands of a third party with clear and written instructions on how to disperse those funds. If there's any disagreement or things go south, you don't want to be in the position of trying to get your money back from a seller who doesn't agree with you.
Number five, not speaking directly with the notario. For weeks, I just got information from the agent, and sometimes it was incomplete or wrong. And I would have cleared up a lot more confusion if I had demanded a meeting with the notario, which I eventually did to clear up all the questions I had. When we finally met, it cleared up everything and allowed us to continue.
Mistake number six, not saving all communications. And this may sound like a given, but I think it's really important to have everything in writing and save all communications, including WhatsApp, text, text messages, emails, everything. You might not know later when you might have to prove a fact or clear up a misunderstanding when it comes to communication.
Number seven, underestimating delays. I thought I'd move in to the new house on September 1st, and really, I did, but it's only because we managed to negotiate an early possession agreement, and I was able to pay some more money towards the down payment of the house in order to get the keys and move in early. If we hadn't been able to do that, that lovely rental I was in, I would have been stuck in there, and the new tenants would have had a problem because I had promised to be out by September 1st. I needed to be out, and luckily for me, it all worked out. But there can be delays, so make sure you have housing available. Delays can be common: missing paperwork, government slowdowns, family issues, whatever it might be, make sure you have a backup housing plan.
Number eight, and this has to do with the last point, moving in early without protection. I agreed to pay a substantial amount of cash to the sellers in order to get the keys early. But if I had done this without proper verification of the deed, along with my attorney's okay and the notario's agreement, this could have been a real risk. So, if you work out some kind of agreement to take possession of a house early, make sure you have all your bases covered and have it all in writing.
Mistake number nine, forgetting the human side. A real estate transaction here isn't just about paperwork. It's also a relationship issue. Through delays and grief, I watched how the seller's agent, Alio, was determined to get this deal done, and he worked through grief and hardship. Trust here is huge. And if you treat people just like a transaction, things can stall. If you get impatient or angry, things can really stall. So keep that in mind because as Americans, we often want just cold, hard facts, everything in contract. But here, things are a little different. I think the key is to build trust, build relationships, but also verify everything in paperwork with your notario.
Mistake number 10, not being flexible. Even experienced buyers can get caught by shifting timelines, missing paperwork, or even unexpected family issues. Back home, the system feels airtight, but in Mexico, it's more fluid. At one point in my process, I noticed I had no copies of some of the paperwork and documents. I felt like demanding that I get them, but I was assured that I would get them in the end, and I chose to believe that. If you're rigid, you'll be frustrated. Flexibility is not optional here. It is survival. And yes, I did get the paperwork in the end.
Here's some extra tips. Don't rely on the MLS because there is no national MLS in Mexico. Many online listings are outdated or even fake just to attract leads. So obviously, you want to see everything with your own eyes. I've seen many properties listed online that look nothing like the real thing. And so you should see everything in person. I thought this was a given until my bank told me when I asked them to wire the funds. They wondered if I had seen the property and told me that some people buy properties sight unseen.
Another thing is to budget for extra costs. You can count on a resale of a house being from 5 to 8% in Mexico being notary fees, taxes, processing fees. So, count on that. And most deals here are done in cash. I've heard that about 90% of deals in real estate here are done in cash, meaning only 10% get mortgages. There are mortgages to be found, but I understand they're very expensive, averaging about 14%.
To wrap up, I just want to say that buying property here is a little bit different than it is back home in the United States. A lot functions on trust. And there are times when you need to trust in the goodwill of the seller, the good faith of the agent. And if you don't feel that, if you don't have that, then I would back out of the deal. Of course, trust is not the only thing. You need paperwork. You need documentation. You need this all to be legal in order to feel comfortable and have it worked out well in the end. So verify every document, get your own lawyer, and verify that the notario is doing a really thorough job. That balance of trust along with hard verification can turn the dream of having a Mexican property into a beautiful reality.
[Music]