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Six ways a foreigner loses money in Mexico. We close all six.

Below is our entire due diligence protocol: all 43 checks, in the order we run them, with what each one prevents. Not a summary. The actual list.

We publish it because the protocol isn’t the product. Running it is.

The Metropolitan Cathedral across the Zocalo, flag at half-mast in the foreground

The title isn't clean

We insure it. If the title fails, you're covered — not arguing.

We trace the chain of title at the Registro Público from first principles, pull the certificado de libertad de gravamen, and check for liens, arrears, litigation and easements before you are exposed. Where cover is available the title is insured before closing, not discussed after.

Checks 01–10

See these checks in the full protocol →

The deposit disappears

Your funds never move to a private account. Escrow, every time.

Funds move through a neutral escrow agent — not the broker, not the seller's lawyer — into segregated, insured accounts rather than a company's operating account. Wire instructions are verified by independent callback to a number obtained separately, which is the control that actually stops wire fraud.

Checks 28–30

See these checks in the full protocol →

The seller can't legally sell

Identity, capacity, spousal consent, and inheritance all verified first.

Identity is verified against title, capacity confirmed, marital regime and spousal consent established, inheritance status checked where the property was inherited, and any power of attorney validated for scope. A sale voided later by a spouse or an heir is not recoverable by argument.

Checks 11–16

See these checks in the full protocol →

The property can't legally be yours

Restricted zone determined, and the fideicomiso structured correctly the first time.

Restricted-zone status is determined per property rather than assumed from the town. Where a fideicomiso is required we structure it correctly the first time, obtain the SRE permit in the right order, select the trustee bank and model its lifetime cost.

Checks 24–27

See these checks in the full protocol →

The contract has teeth you can't read

Your own attorney reviews every document — in English — before you sign.

The contrato de promesa is reviewed before any deposit moves. An independent attorney — separate from the notario, who is neutral by design — reads every document in English before it reaches you, and the final escritura is checked line by line against what was agreed.

Checks 35–39

See these checks in the full protocol →

Nobody answers when it goes wrong

One advisor, accountable for the whole transaction, start to finish.

One advisor owns the relationship from the first call through registration. Partner firms are introduced by name and role, and a problem with any of them is ours to resolve rather than yours to chase between parties.

Checks All 43

See these checks in the full protocol →

All 43 checks, across 7 phases.

Costs and timelines are real numbers, not ranges we’re comfortable with. Expand any check to see what it prevents.

Title and legal status

10 checks

The certificado runs USD $50–100 and takes 3 to 10 business days, stretching to 2 or 3 weeks in busy coastal markets.

  • 01Escritura pública obtained and reviewed

    PreventsBuying against a deed that does not exist or was never properly executed

  • 02Chain of title traced at the Registro Público

    PreventsA break or forgery upstream that voids your ownership years later

  • 03Certificado de Libertad de Gravamen obtained

    PreventsInheriting mortgages, liens, or debts attached to the property

  • 04Ejido land determination

    PreventsThe most common catastrophic loss: communal land that cannot legally be sold to a foreigner

  • 05Prior transfers examined for gaps

    PreventsA defect that surfaces years later, when you try to sell

  • 06Existing fideicomiso reviewed

    PreventsAssuming a trust you cannot use, or that expires sooner than you think

  • 07Litigation and dispute search

    PreventsBuying into an active legal fight

  • 08Easements and servidumbres identified

    PreventsDiscovering someone else has a legal right to cross or use your land

  • 09Condominium regime and HOA arrears

    PreventsAssuming another owner's unpaid dues

  • 10Predial confirmed current

    PreventsAssuming years of unpaid property tax at closing

Seller and capacity

6 checks

  • 11Seller identity verified against title

    PreventsPaying someone who does not own it

  • 12Legal capacity to sell confirmed

    PreventsA sale that is voidable for incapacity

  • 13Marital regime and spousal consent

    PreventsA spouse later voiding the sale, which is common and devastating

  • 14Succession status where inherited

    PreventsBuying from an heir who has not legally inherited yet

  • 15Power of attorney validity and scope

    PreventsA representative signing without real authority

  • 16Corporate seller authority and standing

    PreventsA signature that does not bind the company

Physical and regulatory

7 checks

  • 17Survey against registered medidas y colindancias

    PreventsPaying for land that is not the land you are getting

  • 18Licencia de construcción verified

    PreventsBuying unpermitted construction subject to demolition or fines

  • 19Occupancy and completion certificates

    PreventsA building that cannot be legally occupied

  • 20Uso de suelo confirmed for intended use

    PreventsBuying to rent, then discovering rental is not permitted

  • 21ZOFEMAT concession where applicable

    PreventsAssuming you own beachfront that is federal zone

  • 22Utility accounts and arrears: water, CFE

    PreventsInheriting utility debt, or discovering there is no legal connection

  • 23Independent physical inspection

    PreventsUndisclosed structural defects

Ownership structure

4 checks

  • 24Restricted zone determination

    PreventsAttempting a structure that is not legally available to you

  • 25Fideicomiso vs. corporation analysed

    PreventsThe wrong structure, which is expensive and slow to unwind

  • 26SRE permit obtained

    PreventsA trust that cannot be constituted

  • 27Trustee bank selected, fees modelled

    PreventsUnexpected recurring annual costs

Funds and tax

7 checks

Escrow is not legally required in Mexico and is not standard local practice, which is exactly why we impose it on every transaction.

  • 28Escrow agent neutrality verified

    PreventsThe 'escrow' turning out to be your seller's agent holding your money

  • 29Funds held in segregated, insured accounts

    PreventsYour deposit sitting in a company's working capital

  • 30Wire instructions verified by independent callback

    PreventsWire fraud, the most common way foreigners lose a deposit

  • 31Source-of-funds documentation prepared

    PreventsA transfer blocked or frozen mid-transaction

  • 32FX strategy and transfer path agreed

    PreventsLosing meaningful value to spreads and timing

  • 33Tax exposure modelled, ISR, acquisition tax

    PreventsA closing bill nobody warned you about

  • 34Title insurance bound where available

    PreventsHaving no recourse if a title defect emerges after closing

Contract and closing

5 checks

The notario público formalises the transaction, he is not your advocate. Your own attorney reviews everything independently.

  • 35Contrato de promesa reviewed before any deposit

    PreventsCommitting on terms you have not understood

  • 36Independent attorney review, separate from the notario

    PreventsRelying on someone whose job is not to represent you

  • 37Notario selected, your right, not the seller's default

    PreventsClosing before a notary chosen by the other side

  • 38Final escritura reviewed line by line

    PreventsSigning terms that were altered late in the process

  • 39Closing costs itemised in advance

    PreventsSurprise costs at the table, when refusing is hardest

After closing

4 checks

  • 40Registration at the Registro Público confirmed

    PreventsAn unregistered deed, legally fragile

  • 41Predial transferred to the new owner

    PreventsTax debt accruing in your name, unnoticed

  • 42Fideicomiso annual fee schedule established

    PreventsA lapsed trust from a missed payment

  • 43Utilities transferred

    PreventsService cut off, or debt left in a stranger's name

43 checks — every one completed before you commit to anything.

Take the protocol with you

All 43 checks as a PDF — the same list on this page, formatted to print and keep beside a purchase.

One email with the PDF. No list, no drip, unless you ask for it.

How the deposit moves, and how wire fraud empties it instead.

Escrow is not standard practice in Mexico, which is exactly why it has to be imposed deliberately. This is the mechanism, and the pattern it exists to stop.

The verified path

  1. You

    Send the deposit once

  2. Escrow agent

    Neutral third party

    Segregated, insured account

    Wiring instructions verified by an independent callback — never a number taken from the email.

  3. Notario

    Confirms conditions are met

    Authorises release

  4. Seller

    Receives funds

    Only after close

The unverified path · why the callback is check 29

  1. “Urgent — new wiring instructions” arrives by email

    From a familiar-looking address

  2. Funds land in the attacker's account

    Not escrow, not the seller

  3. Gone.

    No wire recall. No recourse.

The top row is checks 28 through 30. The bottom row is what they prevent — wire fraud is the most common way foreign buyers lose money, and it never looks like fraud at the time.

The notario público is not your lawyer.

In Mexico the notario público is a state-appointed official who formalises the transaction. Foreign buyers routinely assume he is protecting them the way their own attorney would. He is neutral by design, and neutral in practice.

That misunderstanding is the gap where the worst outcomes happen. It is why check 36 exists, and why we never treat the notario’s review as a substitute for your own.

Most people should talk before they shop.

These 43 checks apply once you have a property in view. If you haven’t got that far, if you’re still deciding whether Mexico is right at all or where in it, then that’s the conversation to have first.

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