Buying Land in Cabo and Top Mistakes To Avoid

by Fletcher Wheaton

A Cabo Real Estate Horror Story (That Didn’t Have to Happen)

I want to share a story—not to throw anyone under the bus—but as a warning so this doesn’t happen to other people. I’m going to keep some details vague because I’m still working with the client, but the lesson here is critical.

Earlier this year, I was contacted by a father and son from California. They were looking to buy a condo in a beach community just outside of Cabo. Very straightforward request.

They told me:

“This is the area we want. This is the condo we want to see.”

So we toured it, wrote an offer, negotiated the price, and got it done. Clean transaction. No issues.

But here’s where something felt… off.

The reason they wanted this specific condo was because they had already purchased two beachfront lots nearby. The plan was to live in the condo while watching their future home get built.

That immediately raised a quiet red flag for me.

They had used another agent to buy the land—but asked me to help with the condo. I found it odd, but I didn’t push. I wasn’t going to turn down business, and at the time, there was no obvious problem.

Fast forward about a month and a half.

It’s after 5:00 pm. I get three back-to-back missed calls from the son. That never happens. I text him and call back as soon as I can.

His first words:

“Fletcher… our beachfront lots are listed for sale.”

That obviously made no sense.

So I start asking questions. And very quickly, the real issue comes to light.

The Land Was Never Surveyed

No survey.
No confirmation of boundaries.
No verification of what they were actually buying.

At our company, a survey is mandatory for land—or at the very least, it must be strongly recommended and documented. Especially outside of Cabo.

Why?

Because many parcels here were measured decades ago—sometimes in the 80s or 90s—using stakes, ropes, and estimates. Today, we use geospatial and GPS-based surveys that are far more accurate.

Without a survey, it’s extremely common to see a ±5% difference in land size.
Sometimes you get more land.
Sometimes you get less.

But in this case?

It was much worse.

After digging deeper, it turned out they hadn’t purchased beachfront lots at all.

They had purchased third-row lots.

Completely different property.

Same buyers.
American listing agent.
American buyer’s agent.

The sell-side agent was marketing land that was not what was being sold.
The buy-side agent physically showed land that was not the land being purchased.

And now everyone’s talking about lawyers.

Here’s the hard truth:
Litigation in Mexico—especially on real estate—is slow, expensive, and uncertain. Even when you’re right.

The best solution isn’t to “fix it later.”
The best solution is never letting it happen in the first place.

I had nothing to do with that land transaction. I’m just watching it unfold from the outside. But in hindsight, that quiet feeling I had—when they used one agent for the land and another for the condo—makes a lot more sense now.

These are good people. They’ll probably make the best of it. But I’ve seen this story before.

And often, this is the moment when people: