Knowing what you’re buying is common sense for a reason, so if it applies for groceries it should very much apply for real-estate and property, especially when it comes to purchasing in a foreign country. Such is the case with Mexico, and even when considering the restricted zone laws there’s still plenty to know about the inner workings of the neighboring country, which is exactly what I’m here to talk to you about today: the four types of property ownership in Mexico and what to look out for.
Original Properties of the Mexican Nation.
Any form of natural site falls under this category. National parks, jungles, forests, mountains, marshlands, volcanoes, wetlands, you name it. More often than not these can’t be neither sold nor tampered with, with most being protected natural areas, and public spaces beyond private property.
Property as Decreed by the Mexican Nation
This applies to the Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone, a strip of land 20 meters back from the high tide zone along the coasts. Alongside it are Mineral, Water and Oil deposits. All of these are property of the Mexican government, although you can obtain concessions for their use in very specific scenarios (likely not real estate related).
Social Properties of the Mexican Nation and the Problem of the Ejido.
These come in two: Communal and Ejidal/Ejido. Communal properties are government owned lands, and you’ve probably seen a fair share during your trips to Mexico. These are the town squares, cultural hubs, and ancient, historically-significant buildings, and as such, are not for sale, unless stated otherwise.
Now, what’s an Ejido? To make a long, convoluted, and needlessly complicated story “short” an Ejido is a federal-owned patch of fertile land that’s borrowed to the farming communities. These communities can work the land, live off the land, but they hold no rights of property. No one can truly own an Ejido, and there are no Ejido owners, only possessors, therefore Ejidos cannot be sold, only transferred in possession to other Ejidatarios. What’s an Ejidatario? In layman’s terms: a farmer or citizen that lives close to the Ejido, and one that needs to go through a lengthy process (9-10 years) to earn the title, which is, of course, government granted.
As such, Ejido’s are a huge time investment and have far too many restrictions to be viable. Being possessors, nothing you build in an Ejido will be of your property, and that’s basically a complete lack of insurance. Many an attempt has been made to purchase one of these public spaces, but most end in elongated court cases that will inevitably lean in favor of the Ejidatarios, and since any form of “purchase” is considered illegal, it is also unwise to try to worm your way around the fine print. Seriously, don’t.
In short, unless you’re a farming connoisseur, you should reconsider whatever Ejido-related projects you may have. It might not be worth the trouble. It really won’t.
Private Property and Co-Property
The one you’re looking for. Private property can be bought, sold, rented, inherited, awarded by judicial decree, and even acquired as a gift. However, did you know there’s also co-property?
Co-property is 100% what’s on the box: a property owned by family members, rather than a single person. These usually come in the form of old titles, and heirs and what have you. Say, for example, a couple purchases a ranch about 100 years ago and then said property is now property of the extended family.
This means that for someone to buy the property, everyone must agree to the transaction. As you can guess, this can lead to troublesome scenarios, where an unknown family member may object in the middle of a process, costly legal procedures, and all that not-so-good stuff.
So, to close things off, whenever you set your eyes on a property, no matter how amazing it may look or how promising a project it may be, always, and I do mean always double check the title, the ownership, and the area it’s built on. You don’t want to end up in the middle of a family feud, shady business or worse, an ejido dispute.
Remember, stay sharp, and keep your head on the game!