It’s inevitable. Just before you leave Manzanillo, you find yourself looking around, thinking, “I could live here.”
Owning a slice of paradise has never been easier. Puerto Santiago’s trained and educated sales support team will walk you through the entire process. The moment you arrive at Puerto Santiago your journey begins. Experience the culture, live your dreams, and own a piece of Mexico’s last perfect place.
Purchase Process for a Developer - Master Bank Trust:
The following process is the most ideal way to purchase land in Mexico:
- Legal Review: The potential developer hires an attorney to conduct a
thorough review of the property to ensure that the title is free and clear
of any encumbrances and that all the permits and concessions have
been secured for the property. The lawyer then completes and registers
an Urban Partial Plan (construction, engineering, and architectural files),
secures a property valuation, and negotiates a purchase agreement.
- Title Insurance: After the legal review, the title insurance company
conducts its own legal review to ensure that all the documents provided
by the potential developer are true and complete. After doing so, the title
insurance company issues a Title Insurance Policy for the property.
- Bank Trust: After the Title Insurance Policy is issued, the potential
developer applies for the creation of a bank trust that will hold the
property "in trust" for the developer. However, before the bank trust is
created, the bank conducts its own legal review to verify for a third time
that all of the documents are valid.
- Purchase: The final step is to purchase the property and register the bank
trust with the title insurance policy in the Public Registry, which publicly
confirms that there is a new, legal owner of the property. Puerto Santiago followed this exact process and has a complete Legal Binder for verification.
Individual Bank Trust:
After the Master Bank Trust is created, the process is even more streamlined for
individual lot and condominium buyers. Essentially, buyers (foreign and Mexican
residents) purchase a lot or condominium from Puerto Santiago knowing that
the property is fully-entitled, insured and free of any encumbrances. The buyers
and Puerto Santiago sign a legally binding purchase agreement. Thereafter, the
individual lot or condo buyer secures his/her own Bank Trust by the bank that
holds the Master Bank Trust. This individually created and legally binding Bank
Trust can be sold, transferred or assigned freely. The individual lot or condominium
buyer would thereafter register his/her Bank Trust at the Public Registry, at which
point the city (Manzanillo) would begin charging the buyer real estate taxes*.
An alternative used by many buyers is the option to hold off on the creation of
the Bank Trust to avoid paying the property taxes until they are ready to begin
building on the lot or living in the condominium. Buyers that are interested in this
option would need to tell Puerto Santiago, so that this condition is made part of
the purchase agreement. Notwithstanding, the moment the buyer has a signed
purchase agreement on his/her own lot or condominium, Puerto Santiago cannot
sell, transfer or assign the rights to that lot or condominium.
*Note: Property taxes on unsold lots are taxed at much lower rates than urbanized and sold lots because the unsold lot is simply part of the overall Master Plan and receives a gross tax rate (e.g. 300m2 lot pays approximately $300 per year in taxes versus $30 if it was still part of the unsold lot inventory).
