Can a Mexican Buyer Purchase a Property From an American Seller in Cabo Real Estate?

One of the most common situations we see in Cabo is a Mexican buyer purchasing a property from an American seller. Since most foreign owners hold their property in a fideicomiso (bank trust), the first question is always: How do you extinguish the fideicomiso, and what’s the process?

The good news is that extinguishing a fideicomiso is straightforward. The seller provides an instruction letter to the trustee bank stating that they wish to cancel the trust and work with a specific notary. From there, the bank processes the cancellation. Since the new buyer is Mexican, they don’t need a trust, so the property can transfer directly into their name.

In these cases, we usually handle the transaction as two separate closings—one for the seller and one for the buyer. The seller takes care of the costs of extinguishing the trust, and those payments (including bank fees) are almost always made in U.S. dollars. This part of the process is generally quick and simple once the instruction letter is submitted.

On the buyer’s side, the transaction can be completed in pesos or dollars, depending on the terms of the offer. In most cases, if the seller is American, they’ll prefer dollars, which speeds things up. Since the buyer is Mexican, we skip the step of creating a new fideicomiso, which makes the closing faster and more efficient.

This process can feel confusing at first, but once broken down, it’s actually very straightforward: cancel the trust in dollars, then transfer the property directly to the Mexican buyer under the agreed terms of payment.

Alejandro Donnadieu – alejandro@caborealestate.com

Mariana Plowes - mph@bajalegalgroup.com