How money should move in a Mexican purchase
Escrow is not standard practice here, which is exactly why it has to be imposed deliberately.
Escrow is not legally required in Mexico and is not standard local practice. That is precisely why it has to be imposed deliberately on a cross-border purchase rather than assumed.
Two things distinguish real escrow from the word “escrow”:
- The agent is genuinely neutral — not the broker, not the seller’s lawyer, not anyone with a stake in the deal closing.
- Funds sit in segregated, insured accounts — not in a company’s local operating account, where they are indistinguishable from working capital.
Wire fraud is the most common way foreign buyers lose money, and it rarely looks like fraud at the time. Instructions arrive by email, from a familiar address, and are wrong. Independent callback verification of wiring instructions to a number obtained separately — never a number in the email — is the control that prevents it.
Title insurance is optional in Mexico and available, including through underwriters licensed to write there. It converts a title assurance into an indemnity, which is what gives a buyer recourse rather than an argument if a defect emerges after closing.