The Land-Buying Checklist: Print This Before You Fly

Buying land in Mexico is not complicated so much as unfamiliar. The steps are fixed — offer, promise, notario, registry — and every one of them leaves a document behind. The buyers who struggle are not the ones who lack money or nerve. They are the ones who arrive without a list and improvise around people who do this every day.

This checklist is that list. It is written to be printed, folded into a carry-on, and worked through stage by stage. Each item is a small task with a clear answer. When you have the answer, check the box. When you do not, slow down — that is the item telling you something.

Here is the whole checklist on one page. Each row is a document or a task; the stage column tells you when it belongs. The sections after the table explain the details.

Stage	Document or task	Why it matters
Before you fly	Copy of the escritura or title document	Confirms what exists on paper before you book anything
Before you fly	Predial receipts, last three years	Shows the property tax is paid and current
Before you fly	Zoning certificate (uso de suelo)	Confirms your plans are allowed on the lot
On the ground	Survey (levantamiento topográfico)	Matches the boundaries on paper to the land
On the ground	Notes and photos of the access route	Records the road and any easement questions
At the notario	Certificado de libertad de gravamen	Proves there are no liens on the property
At the notario	Promesa de compraventa	Fixes price, deposit, and completion date in writing
At the notario	Closing-cost estimate in writing	Removes surprises on signing day
After closing	Registry entry at the Registro Público	Makes the deed officially yours
After closing	Predial account in your name	Ensures future tax bills come to you

The method

How to use this checklist

Print the page. Take the table with you to every meeting and every visit. Work top to bottom, and do not jump ahead — each stage assumes the one before it is finished. If an item cannot be checked, write down why. That note is often the most valuable thing in the file.

One honest expectation up front: from first visit to registered deed, a straightforward purchase on this coast usually takes two to four months. Lots with clean escrituras and cooperative sellers move faster. Anything involving an acta de posesión, ejido land, or an inheritance chain takes longer, and the checklist will show you why.

The checklist is not about finding problems. It is about knowing what you are buying before your money moves.

For the legal background each item rests on, the companion reading is our 17-point due diligence checklist, which goes deeper into title, legal, physical, and financial checks. This piece is the lighter, printable version.

Stage one

Before you fly: desk work you can do from home

The point of this stage is to arrive knowing what you are looking at. Every task below can be done from your kitchen table, and together they decide which lots are worth your flight.

• Ask for the documents before you book anything. The seller or broker should be able to send the escritura, the predial receipts, and a copy of the lot plan. If none of these exist, that is the first answer.
• Check the title type. An escritura pública is a registered deed. An acta de posesión is a possession document. Ejido land is community-owned. Only the escritura is clean and bankable; the others mean conversion work, sometimes impossible. The differences are laid out in Escritura vs Acta de Posesión vs Ejido.
• Look up the property at the Registro Público de la Propiedad. The Public Registry of Property is the state's official record. You may need the registry number from the deed, but a quick check tells you whether the lot appears at all.
• Verify the broker is licensed. A licensed Mexican broker works under state rules and can be held to them. Ask for the license number and check it. A broker who hesitates is a short conversation.
• Know the restricted zone. Land within 50 kilometers of the coast cannot be held directly by foreigners. The purchase goes through a fideicomiso — a bank trust — with setup costs of roughly $500–1,000 USD and a small annual fee. Budget for it before you fall for a lot.
• Sort out your money. Coastal land sales are cash transactions in practice. Funds move through the notario's account at closing, never to a seller or broker directly. And keep the 5–8% on top for closing costs in mind when you compare prices.
• Book enough time. Plan at least a week on the ground, and if you can, come in the rainy season — roughly June through October — so you see how the land drains.

Stage two

On the ground: what to check in person

This stage needs shoes and daylight. Paper can be perfect and the land still wrong, so verify the things that only exist in person.

• Walk every boundary. Corners should be marked and distances should match the deed. On jungle lots a few meters of drift is a future dispute with a neighbor. If anything feels off, ask for a survey — a levantamiento topográfico.
• Confirm the access is legal, not just habitual. If the road to the lot crosses someone else's land, there must be a recorded easement, a servidumbre de paso. A track used for years can be closed, and your lot becomes landlocked.
• Ask where the water comes from. A well, a piped supply, or a cistern — and what a legal connection costs. Same for power and internet. The gap between "the neighbor has service" and "this lot has a legal connection" can be significant.
• Meet the neighbors. They know the history of the lot: who has claimed it, whether there have been disputes, and how the rains behave. People on the coast are direct about this if you ask plainly.
• Meet the notario in person. A notario público is a licensed lawyer appointed by the state and personally responsible for the validity of the sale. A good one will take thirty minutes to walk you through the file. A seller who avoids the notario is the biggest red flag on this coast.
• Compare the seller's ID to the deed. Letter by letter. Mismatches happen in inheritance chains, and every mismatch is a problem you would inherit.
• Pay nothing on the spot. Deposits belong in the promesa de compraventa, signed with the notario. Handing money to a seller on a hilltop is how deposits get lost.

Stage three

At the notario: signing day, without surprises

By this stage the lot has passed your checks, and the sale is being assembled by the person whose job it is to make it legal. Your job now is to read, ask, and keep every paper.

• Read the promesa de compraventa. This purchase promise fixes the price, the deposit — commonly 5–10% — the completion date, and what happens if either side backs out. Read the clause about your deposit if the title fails. In a fair deal it comes back; in a bad deal it was the point.
• Get the closing-cost estimate in writing. Your notario can prepare it before the signing: the state acquisition tax (ISAI, roughly 2–5%), notary fees (1–2%), registry fees (about 0.5–1%), and an appraisal (avalúo) of roughly $200–500 USD where required. A fideicomiso adds the bank's setup and annual fees.
• Know how signing works. The escritura pública is read and signed before the notario, who keeps the original in their protocol and gives you certified copies. Funds move through the notario's account. You sign when the money is in place, not before.
• Bring your paperwork. Passport, proof of the wire, and, for restricted-zone lots, the fideicomiso paperwork the bank prepared. If you cannot attend in person, a power of attorney (poder) can be arranged in advance — but plan it early, because it needs its own notario.
• Ask about timing. The notario will tell you how long registration takes in their district — typically a few weeks to a couple of months. Write the expected date down. It is normal for this to be the slowest part.

Stage four

After closing: the paperwork that keeps it yours

The sale is done, but a few items keep the purchase clean. None of them is urgent; all of them matter.

• Follow the registration. The notario files the escritura at the Registro Público de la Propiedad. Ask for the registration number when it lands, and keep it with the deed.
• Move the predial into your name. The annual property tax is billed by the municipality, and the account should follow the deed. The amounts are modest on most coastal lots — a few hundred to a few thousand pesos a year — but they are yours now.
• Keep the fideicomiso current. If you bought in the restricted zone, the bank trust carries an annual fee. Pay it on time; a lapsed trust is a headache that is easy to avoid.
• Mark a return visit on the calendar. Land on this coast does well with eyes on it. Walk the boundaries again after the rains, and consider a local caretaker if you will be away for long stretches.
• Separate building from buying. Construction permits (licencia de construcción) are a different process, handled by the municipality when you are ready to build. The checklist ends here; the build has its own list.

The one-pager

The one-page version: print the table

If you remember nothing else, remember the table at the top of this article. Print that page alone, fold it into your passport, and work it top to bottom. The rest of the article is the explanation; the table is the tool.

For the timeline behind the stages — how long each step really takes, and where the delays live — see How Long Does Buying Land in Mexico Actually Take?

The takeaway

Bottom line: arrive with the list, leave with the deed

None of this is exotic. There is a registry that keeps records, a notario who is responsible, and a piece of land you can walk. The checklist exists because deals on this coast fall apart for the same few reasons every year, and every one of those reasons was visible before the deposit moved.

Clean deals feel slow and slightly boring. That is the feeling of things going right. When you are ready to look, browse the lots we list — each with its real price and title type stated plainly — or start with the one-page buying guide. The Slow Coast curates the land, introduces you to licensed brokers and notarios, and never holds your money. Print the list. Pack it. Work it in order.