The restricted zone and the fideicomiso
Where foreigners can hold title directly, where they need a bank trust, and what that costs.
Mexico’s constitution bars foreigners from holding direct title within 50km of any coastline and 100km of any international border. This is the “restricted zone.”
Inside it, a foreign buyer acquires through a fideicomiso — a trust in which a Mexican bank holds title while the buyer retains the right to use, lease, improve, sell, and bequeath the property. The trust runs 50 years and is renewable. A Mexican corporation is the other route, and which one fits depends on the buyer’s circumstances.
Outside the zone, foreigners hold title directly, exactly as a Mexican citizen would.
Typical fideicomiso cost: roughly USD 2,000–3,000 to set up (SRE permit, bank setup, first trustee fee), then roughly USD 500–1,000 a year.
What catches people out: the zone is drawn from the coastline, not from whether somewhere feels coastal. Mérida reads as an inland colonial city and sits inside the zone. Assumptions about a location are unreliable; only the determination is.