If you’re interested in living in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.The first thing you need to find out is where you would like to live. Puerto Vallarta has a fantastic variety of living environments on offer. Marina Vallarta, Down Town PV, North of PV, South of PV etc.... Naturally, you will also need to find a property that suites your needs.

Once you have found the your perfect place and the ideal dream property, there are several procedures you need to fulfill in order to successfully own or obtain the rights to that real estate. With accurate information, you can safely buy real estate in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Here we have outlined the general buying procedure.

Holding Title

The first thing you need to do is, to make sure that the seller legally owns or holds title to the property. Likewise, you will also need to check that the owner is actually in the legal position to sell the property. As anywhere, you shouldn’t rely on information provided by the seller. Instead you should see the proof for yourself!

1. The seller must be able to provide a copy of the public deed (“escritura publica”) stating legal title of the property.
2. He or she must also have a lien certificate (“certificado de libertad de gravamen”) with a legal description of the property. A Mexican lawyer or title insurance company should also be able to check this for you.

Hire a Real Estate Lawyer

It is always a good idea to have your own real estate lawyer throughout the buying process rather than using that of, for example, the seller or real estate agent. After all, a lawyer that you contract will be working for you and act in your best interest rather than anyone else’s. Your lawyer will be able to review conditions, identify any problems, give you advice, formalize the transaction etc. When hiring a lawyer, you should check that they are actually licensed to practice law in Mexico (You most ask to see the documentation called “cédula professional”, an official license provided by the Ministry of Education by which people become “licenciados”, verifying this).


Making Your offer

After you have checked that the seller holds title and is legally able to sell the property the next step for you to do, as the buyer, is to make an offer to the seller. This should be done in written form (a purchase contract) and it is great to have this in both Spanish and English. The buying process only begins when the seller accepts the offer made by the buyer and when both parties have signed the contract. Usually the offer is accompanied with a 10% deposit of the offer price. Once the seller accepts the offer, the buyer is normally expected to deposit (check or money wire) half of the closing costs as agreed upon in the ‘Promise to Buy’ contract.

Transferring Deposits

It is important to note here that all deposits you make throughout the buying process should go to the public notary or closing agent. This is always the safer option. You should never hand over any money directly to the seller. In fact, money is only be transferred to the seller and likewise the property is only transferred to the buyer, when the contracts are signed or "closed" in front of the public notary at a later stage.

Public Notary

After the offer has been accepted, the public notary (a government-certified lawyer) will handle and notarize all the closing documentation necessary for the proper transfer of real estate. This includes the registering of wills, appraisal of property for tax reasons, certificate of title search, the formation of corporations etc.

Bank Trust and the Restricted Zone

When it comes to the Restricted Zone, the only legal way a foreigner can buy property is through a bank trust ( Fideicomiso). The buyer can appoint the Mexican bank of their choice to act as a trustee on their behalf. As a trustee, the bank will actually legally own the property. However, all the rights to the property will exclusively be held by the buyer. What this means is that the buyer will be able to use, improve, rent or even sell the property as though they directly owned the property.

Registration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

With any real estate acquisition, foreigners always need to register the ownership at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The rights to ownership are granted when the foreigner agrees to comply with Mexican law and to waive their rights to foreign government intervention. By doing so, the foreigner is considered as a Mexican National with the corresponding rights. In the case of acquisition of property in the Restricted Zone, it is the bank that requests the acquisition of the property at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Closing the Transaction

The signing of contracts or “closing” the transaction must happen in front of the Notary Public. Just before this is done, the remaining amount needs to be deposited (once again these should be to the accounts of the notary or escrow closing agent). With the signing and certification of the contracts, the deposits are transferred to the seller and the property to the buyer. It is common practice that the buyer pays the closing costs involved including acquisition tax, notary fees and other expenses. After signing the contracts and depositing the payments, the transfer of the property should not take longer than 45 days. And then that property is yours to enjoy!

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Good luck and Happy buying!!!

PV Sale By Owner Administrator