I’m by no means an expert on buying property in a foreign country, but here are a few of the most commonly asked questions I get:

Q: “I heard you can’t actually own property in Mexico.”

A: This is the first comment I get when talking about our land purchase, and it is partially true. If your property is within the “restricted zone” of Mexico (64 miles from a border or 32 miles from ocean/sea at high tide), you cannot own title to the property outright. Instead, a Mexican bank will establish a trust called a Fidecomiso of which you will be designated as the sole beneficiary.

Q: “What happens when the Fidecomiso term ends?”

A: Our Fidecomiso term is 50 years, so we will need to renew it in 2066, if we are still alive. Otherwise, if something happens to both of us, the trust/ownership transfers to the person we designate as our secondary beneficiary.

Q: “If you don’t really own the land, can the Mexican Government take it from you?”

A: Essentially, no. If you dig through the internet, you can find a few outlier horror stories, but for the vast majority of cases, the Fidecomiso works just like a regular bank trust. No-one is legally able to improve, use, rent, sell or assign beneficiaries except the primary beneficiaries.

Q: Do you need residency to buy land?

No, but you will need it for the build. I’ll cover this in my next post.