Real Estate in Mexico and Central America
Friday, January 4, 2008 | | |The real estate business in Mexico and Central America is different from the way it is conducted in the USA.
Some similarities include a variety of legal formalities, (with professionals like real estate agents generally used to help the buyer); taxes must be paid for (but generally lower than the USA); legal documents will ensure title, and a neutral party as a title company will handle documentation and money to make good exchange between the parties. Increasingly, U.S. Title companies are doing work for U.S. buyers in Mexico and Central America.
Prices are often much cheaper than most regions of the USA, but in many places prices and many houses are more expensive than the USA, an example being Mexico City. U.S. banks have begun to provide housing loans for properties in Mexico, but so far, not for other Latin American countries.
An important difference of USA is that each country has rules regarding where foreigners can buy. For example, Mexico, foreigners can not buy land or houses within 50 km of the coast and 100 kilometers of the border, while in Honduras, May they buy beach front property. There are also various special rules regarding certain types of goods: the community kept ejido-agricultural goods-cannot be sold to anyone, but that does not prevent them being sold.
Many websites advertising and sale of Mexico and Central America real estate exist, but May need to be researched.
Some similarities include a variety of legal formalities, (with professionals like real estate agents generally used to help the buyer); taxes must be paid for (but generally lower than the USA); legal documents will ensure title, and a neutral party as a title company will handle documentation and money to make good exchange between the parties. Increasingly, U.S. Title companies are doing work for U.S. buyers in Mexico and Central America.
Prices are often much cheaper than most regions of the USA, but in many places prices and many houses are more expensive than the USA, an example being Mexico City. U.S. banks have begun to provide housing loans for properties in Mexico, but so far, not for other Latin American countries.
An important difference of USA is that each country has rules regarding where foreigners can buy. For example, Mexico, foreigners can not buy land or houses within 50 km of the coast and 100 kilometers of the border, while in Honduras, May they buy beach front property. There are also various special rules regarding certain types of goods: the community kept ejido-agricultural goods-cannot be sold to anyone, but that does not prevent them being sold.
Many websites advertising and sale of Mexico and Central America real estate exist, but May need to be researched.
